Sunday September 27.  61 new bandings of 8 species; 5 recaps.  We have rain at dawn so wait to open nets.  We conclude the NABC Bander and Trainer evaluations.  Congratulations to Dave Alexander (Duluth, MN), Amy Finfera (Watertown, NY), Maren Gimpel (Chestertown, MD), Ryan Kayhart (Vergennes, VT), Nigel Mann (Oneonta, NY), and Dan Small (Chestertown, MD) who earned their Bander-level Certification.  And congratulations also to Dave Alexander (Duluth, MN) and Annie Lindsay Crary (Phenix, AL) who earned their Trainer-level Certification.   We have a two-hour break from the rain and raise 20 nets and get over 50 birds in two net-runs. 

Monday September 28.  7 new of 3 species; 4 recaps.  Cindy Marino and Marian Klik are BICs but we have to close nets for the day when heavy rain showers move in.

Tuesday September 29.  12 new of 4 species; 2 recaps.  It’s raining at dawn so we call everyone and tell them not to come in.  Kelly Dockery and Ryan Kayhart put up a few nets between showers and manage to catch 12 birds.

Wednesday September 30.  92 new of 19 species; 22 recaps.  Bird of the day is White-throated Sparrow with 49 banded.  Finally, it turns colder and there is no rain in the forecast for 24 hours!  We banded a beautiful Orange-crowned Warbler and Northern Parula.  Dominic Sherony works on data-checking from previous seasons for most of the day.  Richard Joos joins in the banding on his way from Ithaca to Toronto.

Thursday October 1.  166 new of 19 species; 37 recaps.  New species Hermit Thrush.  Bird of the day is again White-throated Sparrow with 70 banded.  We have a nice day to begin the month.  Dick O’Hara visits and enjoys seeing a good variety including some of the many kinglets we band.

Friday October 2.  100 new of 13 species; 20 recaps.  New species Bicknell’s Thrush.  Birds of the day are White-throated Sparrow with 43 banded and Golden-crowned Kinglet with 32 banded.  Jeanne Skelly comes in to help us with our busy early net-runs including 21 birds in just one elevated net!  We are thankful for our internet connection which allows us to keep radar on and know to close all the nets for the day in late morning.  But we still band 100 birds including our first Bicknell’s Thrush of the season, and appreciate the help of Scribes Kathleen Holt and John Lehr.  We all enjoy reading Laura Kammermeier’s excellent article on bird migration in this week’s issue of the City Newspaper. 

Saturday October 3.  104 new of 11 species; 22 recaps.  Bird of the day is again White-throated Sparrow with 56 banded.   We have a visit from a Girl Scout troop in the morning that get to see many White-throated Sparrows banded along with three species of vireos and a Black-throated Blue Warbler.

Note: BIC = "bander-in-charge"