Pictorial Highlights, 1st half April 2003

POWDERMILL NATURE RESERVE
PICTORIAL HIGHLIGHTS
First Half of April 2003

Wednesday, April 9 through Sunday April 13, 2003: Just five new species were added to the spring banding list this week: Downy Woodpecker, Belted Kingfisher, Brown Creeper, Brown Thrasher, and Northern Saw-whet Owl. The owl was caught late Saturday night using tape playback. A few attempts to call in migrating Saw-whets earlier in the spring had been unsuccessful.

The honor and experience of banding our first NSWO of the season went to visiting ringer, Professor David Norman, on his last night at the Powdermill banding station before returning home to Cheshire, England. As we have said here before (but it bears repeating!), Dr. Norman provided indispensable help to us before, during, and after the back-to-back Eastern Bird Banding Association annual meeting and North American Banding Council evaluation workshop, both held here at Powdermill from 4-8 April.

Dr. Norman, who first visited Powdermill last fall, quickly became a fixture at the Powdermill banding lab this spring, generously sharing his broad knowledge and experience with our interns and visitors and providing constant encouragement and inspiration to us all--thank you, David, for all your help. We look forward to your next visit to the Powdermill banding lab, or to trying our own hands at ringing with you on the other side of The Pond, whichever comes first!

Prof. Norman takes a budding field ornithologist, Master Jeffrey Lanzone, under his wing. Jeffrey is the son of Mike Lanzone who currently is working with Powdermill's Bob Mulvihill on a photographic guide to the ageing and sexing of North American birds.

Although not a new species for the spring, an after second year male Eastern Bluebird was the first of its age/sex class banded at Powdermill this spring. Although the banding area provides little suitable habitat for this species, a few bluebirds seem always to be attracted early in the season to a Tree Swallow nest box placed at the edge of one of our small ponds, right next to net number two of our pond net set.

Monday, March 31 through Tuesday April 8, 2003: It was an exceptionally busy week leading up to the 80th annual Eastern Bird Banding Association meeting, held at Powdermill and the nearby Hidden Valley resort 4-6 April 2003. After the long hard winter, we could not have readied the Powdermill banding station in time for this meeting without a great deal of help. First and foremost, we thank our friend and neighbor Doug Craig for going far above and beyond the call of duty. Doug repaired and replaced hundreds of feet of boardwalks and bridges throughout our net lanes in order to make these ready and safe for many visitors. We also were helped a great deal by our excellent crew of banding interns, Brian Jones, Adrienne Leppold, and Annie Lindsay, all of whom set aside other responsibilities and gave up precious weekends and spring breaks from school in order to chip in. Mike Lanzone filled in during the week doing a variety of tasks, and his attention to detail was very much appreciated. Last but not least, Dr. David Norman, our friend ringing colleague from Cheshire, England arrived a week ahead of the meeting and offered his help at every turn.

A total of nearly 100 people attended the EBBA meeting (click here for a brief summary and gallery of photos from the meeting), and, following that, seven North American Banding Council Trainers used facilities at the Powdermill banding station for administering an extensive field practical to six Bander Candidates who had earlier passed their written tests. The weather during the field practical on 7 April was far less than ideal, but everyone persevered and learned a lot, and while not all passed, the sincere efforts of six Bander Candidates to improve upon their skills through subjecting themselves to this demanding process, and their uniformly excellent attitude throughout the process, deserve the praise and respect of all their fellow banders (and ringers).

Front Row (left to right): Bander Candidates Bob Hogan, Sharon Schwemmer, Puppy (unofficial Bander
Candidate mascot), Brian Jones, Tom LeBlanc, Adrienne Leppold, and Annie Lindsay
Back Row (left to right): NABC Trainers Sara Morris, Mary Doscher, Hannah Suthers, Bob Leberman,
Bob Mulvihill, Betsy Brooks, and Mary Gustafson

Eight new species were among the 166 birds banded during the nine day period from 3/31-4/8. Bird of the week was Fox Sparrow--38 were banded (12 on 4/1 and 10 on 4/2), bringing our spring 2003 total for this species to 66. Many FOSPs were examined during the EBBA meeting, including an especially clearcut after second year (ASY) bird pictured below (photo by Mike Lanzone). Note the very broad, blunt tail feathers and dark, richly colored flight feathers of its wings.

Also very good were our first two Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers of the season (a brightly plumaged SY male, with red throat in top photo below) and an SY female, the latter being examined by visiting Swiss ornithologist and moult expert, Dr. Lukas Jenni (bottom photo below by Mike Lanzone), who was the keynote speaker and a workshop presenter at the EBBA meeting (click here for more about the meeting).

Other new species for the spring included (top to bottom in photos below) Eastern Towhee (ASY male), Louisiana Waterthrush (SY-U; photo by Mike Lanzone), and Ruby-crowned Kinglet (ASY-M photo by David Norman).

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