Sunday September 14. 41 new of 14 species; 5 recaps. It’s the calm before the storm as the remnants of Hurricane Ike are headed our way. Bird of the day is Blackpoll Warbler with 17 banded.

Monday September 15. 101 new of 19 species; 25 recaps. New species Philadelphia Vireo, Cape May Warbler. After the wind subsides, we have a good day with 39 Blackpolls and 25 Magnolia Warblers banded. Dick O’Hara enjoys our first Cape May Warbler of the season. Greg Lawrence comes in late afternoon and we get a real flurry of activity with 36 birds caught in one of our double-high nets!

Tuesday September 16. 173 new of 33 species; 14 recaps. New species Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Western Palm Warbler. We have a great crew with Jon Dombrowski as BIC with Aggie Windig, Doug Smith, Ruth Stork, Gary Herbert and Kathy Habgood. We have great variety with Nashville, Northern Parula, Chestnut-sided, Black-throated Blue, Yellow-rumped, Blackburnian, Western Palm, Bay-breasted, Blackpoll, Black-and-white, American Redstart, Ovenbird, Northern Waterthrush, Mourning, Common Yellowthroat, Wilson’s Warbler and 60 Magnolia Warblers! Steve Maley and Doug bring a load of woodchips for the Rob van der Stricht trail.

Wednesday September 17. 66 new of 17 species; 25 recaps. The day begins with a beautiful adult male Connecticut Warbler. Bird of the day is Magnolia Warbler with 29 banded.

Thursday September 18. 75 new of 23 species; 17 recaps. New species European Starling. It’s like a scene from Hitchock’s “The Birds” around mid-day as hundreds of starlings descend on the banding station. Hundreds get caught in our nets, but most manage to escape. In the midst of all the activity, a Red-tailed Hawk arrives to survey the situation. We end up banding 22 starlings – our bird of the day!

Friday September 19. 58 new of 17 species; 15 recaps. We have lots of people enjoying our birds, including three visitors from ARC. Gray-cheeked Thrush is bird of the day with 13 banded.

Saturday September 20. 59 new of 10 species; 17 recaps. New species Red-breasted Nuthatch. . We have many visitors from the New York State Ornithological Association (NYSOA), followed by a bus-load of Dr. Sara Morris’ Field Biology students from Canisius College who spend the morning learning about migration monitoring and stopover ecology. Later, we hold an informal ceremony for the new “Plantings For the Birds” Kiosk, which is dedicated to the memory of Margaret and Clarence Klingensmith who were members of the Allegany County Bird Club. Bird of the day is Blackpoll Warbler with 44 banded.

Note: BIC = "bander-in-charge"