Pictorial Highlights_ 051925

POWDERMILL NATURE RESERVE
PICTORIAL HIGHLIGHTS
May 19-25, 2003

Sunday, May 25, 2003: With ten banded, today's most numerous species was Cedar Waxwing, which also topped the week's banding list with 32 banded. After CEDW, the most common bird to band this week was Magnolia Warbler (28 banded this week, but just one was banded today). Adding today's total of 52 birds banded, the week netted us 335 birds of 51 species to band (119 of these birds and 15 of the species being wood warblers); we also recorded an additional 69 recaptures during the week.

Recaptures of previously banded birds can provide valuable information on the stopover biology of migrants. For example, six Magnolia Warblers recorded as having maximum fat deposits ("3" on our scale of 0-3) when they were recaptured this week, had been banded originally 5-10 days prior (avg. 8 d) with little or no visible fat ("0" or "1") and had gained an average of 1.8 grams of body mass (range, 1.2-2.2 g), or about 25% of their lean body mass. That these birds amassed large energy reserves during this time (especially considering the protracted unseasonably cold and wet conditions) attests to the attractiveness (i.e., the quality) of the habitats in our banding area for refueling migrants.

Last week, Mike Lanzone's reflexes were quick enough to capture this photo of a MAWA taking off immediately after being released from our weighing tube through the small sliding exit door installed in the window next to our banding desk.

In contrast, CEDWs, like the one pictured below looking back in through the sliding door, sometimes are in no particular hurry to leave.

Saturday, May 24, 2003: Among 55 birds of 23 species banded today, tops (each with six banded) were Cedar Waxwing, "Traill's" Flycatcher, and Canada Warbler (female, left, and male, right, pictured below).

Among our recaptures yesterday and today were two third year (TY) woodpeckers, a Northern Flicker and Downy Woodpecker. Both showed the typical mixture of retained (more brown and worn) juvenal inner primary coverts and fresher (blacker and less worn) second basic outer primary coverts (i.e., molted in the birds' second fall after hatching). The age of both birds was confirmed as TY when we checked their original banding records and found that both had been banded as hatching year (HY) males in fall 2001 (i.e., making them, by definition, SY in 2002 and TY in 2003).

Thursday-Friday, May 22-23, 2003: On Thursday, as part of our ongoing studies of the breeding biology of the species, interns Brian Jones and Annie Lindsay banded our first nestling Louisiana Waterthrushes of the season. LOWA nestlings fledge when they are ten days old, and can be banded as early as seven days old. The nestling pictured below is about nine days old. The first egg in this clutch of five LOWAs probably was laid on or about April 26 (one egg laid a day; average 14 day incubation period, beginning with the last egg laid).

We banded two Baltimore Orioles on Thursday, one of which had an extraordinarily dull plumage (it looked more like a second year male Orchard Oriole than BAOR, because it was pale orange and had a black throat but little or no black hood (photo below and bird on left in second photo below). A more typical SY male (bird on right in the second photo) was caught a little later in the day.

We had a great variety of birds on Friday--35 species, including 11 wood warblers, four flycatchers, three swallows, and two shorebirds, Spotted Sandpiper (two birds) and our first American Woodcock (a second year female) of the season (photo below by Brian Jones).

Wednesday, May 21, 2003: No new species were banded today, and wood warbler diversity was on the low side compared to recent days. Magnolia Warblers, however, with 10 more banded today, continued their strong spring flight. Also showing a good flight as a group this spring has been the Empidonax flycatchers--nine Traill's were banded today, and this "species," along with Least and Yellow-bellied (photo below), have all been banded in well above average spring numbers already this year.

Ruby-throated Hummingbirds also are staging a particularly heavy spring flight at Powdermill. With 71 RTHU banded so far this spring (three today, two of them males like the one pictured below), our current spring total is well above the long-term spring average of 43 and already our fifth highest spring total in 42 years. Our capture and banding of hummingbirds is always incidental to our routine mist net operation--there are no hummingbird feeders in the banding area.

Reminding us that spring won't last forever (today it felt like it hadn't even arrived yet!), a notable banding record today was of our first hatching year (HY) bird of any kind--a House Finch whose fleshy gape and one persistent tuft of natal down on its head were conspicuous badges of its immaturity!

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