The seventeenth consecutive year of fall banding at the Kaiser-Manitou Beach Banding Station began on 13 July and ended on 13 November 2002. Banding was conducted by licensed banders Elizabeth Brooks, Jon Dombrowski, Kristina Hannam, Erin Karnatz, Robert McKinney, David Semple, Susan Smith, John Waud, and Martha Zettel.Banding assistants were Jessie Barry, Chara Batchelder, Kelly Dockery, Luke Donius, Charley Eiseman, Pat Lovallo, Anna Ludi, Cindy Marino, Doug Smith, and Chris Villone. Banding was carried out every day between 26 August and 11 October, except for 27 September when the remnants of Hurricane Isidore dumped heavy rain on the area. Banding was also conducted on nine days prior to and 13 days after the intensive banding period, for a total of 67 days. 

There were 4,098 birds banded of 90 forms. Three male and five female Ruby-throated Hummingbirds were released unbanded. The season’s capture rate was 30.1 birds/100 net hours, barely half what it was last fall (58.1 b/100 nh). Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Yellow Palm Warbler, and Nelson’s Sharp-tailed Sparrow were new species for the cumulative fall list that now stands at 120 forms. 

The best day was 8 October with 291 birds banded, 75% of the total being Ruby and Golden-crowned Kinglets, Hermit Thrush, and White-throated Sparrows. Days with 150+ birds banded were 184 on 29 September, 184 on 6 October, 183 on 9 October, 170 on 25 September, 164 on 3 October, and 156 on 4 October. By contrast, there were eight days in fall 2001 when over 200 birds were banded, including one with over 300 and one with over 400 birds handled. The greatest species diversity occurred on 4 October when 33 species were banded. 

Up to 45 twelve-meter nets and four six-meter nets were used, most in the same locations as in previous years. Included in the 44 twelve-meter nets were six double-high net assemblies. Capture time (hour after sunrise to the nearest 0.5 hour) and net location were recorded for each bird handled. Total net hours (13,623.15) was the second highest in 16 years (range 714 in 1988 to 14,518 in 1999). The birds/100 net hour capture ratio in fall 2001 was 30.1 (15-year average = 64.6; range 40.0 in 1994 – 98.0 in 1988). 

The hatching year percentage of all birds banded was 81.5% (eight-year average = 83.6, range 74.5 – 92). Species banded in record-high numbers in fall 2002 included Brown Creeper, Gray-cheeked / Bicknell’s Thrush, Gray Catbird, Western Palm Warbler, Ovenbird, Mourning Warbler, Fox Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Lincoln’s Sparrow, and Baltimore Oriole. Northern Mockingbird was captured for only the second time ever in fall. On the negative side, Rusty Blackbird was missing after being captured in 15 of the past 16 years and House Finch was missing for the first time since 1989. 

It was a frustrating fall with day after day of hot, sunny weather with winds from the southwest – fine spring banding conditions! Nets had to be closed within 3.5 hours of sunrise on many days because of the heat and humidity. And when a cold front came through, it was short-lived and birds seemed to move right on past the lakeshore. 

EDUCATION AND RESEARCH 

Four students from the Rochester Institute of Technology successfully completed a five-week, 1-credit Bander Training Course at the Observatory. They were: Bryan Correa-Berger, Ruthanne Hoffner, Brian McGrath, and Peter Mulroy. 

Dr. Kristi Hannam, Assistant Professor of Biology at SUNY Geneseo, and SUNY Brockport graduate student Brendan McCabe conducted pilot research projects at the banding station this fall. 

From 13-15 September, the Observatory hosted a North American Banding Council Bander Certification Evaluation Session for the Eastern Bird Banding Association. The successful candidates were David Hauber (Coudersport, PA), Erin Karnatz (Batavia, NY), and David Semple (Rochester, NY). Participating Trainers were Betsy Brooks, Mary Doscher, Sara Morris, Bob Mulvihill, and Bob Yunick. 

Students from Kristi Hannam’s “Animal Behavior” course at SUNY Geneseo spent a half day at the banding station, as did students from John Waud’s “Great Lakes” course at RIT. Girls from Girl Scout Troop #814 of Hilton as well as many individuals visited the banding station on an informal basis. Pat Lovallo presented a program on bird banding as part of the Preserving the Earth Through Education workshop at Brighton's French Road School.

There were over 1,028 birds recaptured during fall 2002, and they were all measured, fat-scored and re-weighed. Twenty-two percent of the same-season recaptures were White-throated Sparrows. 

ECTOPARASITES AND ABNORMALITIES 

Avian Pox lesions were found on three Hermit Thrush, an American Robin, a Magnolia Warbler, a Black-throated Blue Warbler, a Common Yellowthroat, and six White-throated Sparrows. Hypoboscid flies were found on a Hermit Thrush, a Song Sparrow, and two White-throated Sparrows. Ticks were discovered on a Gray-cheeked Thrush and a Lincoln’s Sparrow. A 12.5 mm diameter tumor was found on an American Robin’s abdomen and a pea-sized tumor was found on the foot of a Field Sparrow. Three White-throated Sparrows, a Gray Catbird, and a Warbling Vireo had bill abnormalities. 

SEASON HIGHLIGHTS 

Highlights of the fall 2002 season included long walks with Delaney in her stroller; Ann Adams’ expert electrical work; all the gasps over the freshly housecleaned banding lab; releasing a Monarch Butterfly tagged by Cindy Marino; a visit from Bander Training Class grads Julie Freeman and Bill Michalek; watching Karen Taylor revive a Blackpoll Warbler with her sugar water feeder; Chris Villone’s sprint to the net for the Yellow-billed Cuckoo; dry net lanes; the beautiful Red Bat; the excellent captures in the field nets; a Marsh Wren and Nelson’s Sharp-tailed Sparrow in the same morning; the excellent Rockafellow digital photography; the Sharp-shinned Hawk that was the first bird for the RIT class; Greta’s good humor over her ‘catching net’; and the eagerness to learn and enthusiasm of all the new scribes. 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 

Our excellent fall banding assistant was Charley Eiseman. Thanks to Tom Muller for mowing paths and to Jim Gillette for mowing the field, and to Doug Smith for all his habitat management and for housing visiting banders. Appreciation to the following individuals who helped scribe, tended net lanes, or assisted with other aspects of our educational or banding operation: Ann Adams, Virginia Duffy, Judy Engerman, Marilyn Guenther, Gretchen Hawley, Donna Hilborn, John Lehr, Carolyn Marrocco, Janice Marsden, Ed McCrea, Chita McKinney, Shirley Meston, Loretta Morrell, Dan Niven, Jeanne Skelly, Greta Stephany, Ruth Stork, Kathy Taddeo, Andy and Karen Taylor, Barb Wagner, and Laurie Zagmaster. Thanks to Bob and Charlene Reed for housing and to Bill and June Kaiser and the Genesee Land Trust for permission to band on their land.