Thursday April 16 – 2 new of 2 species; 1 recap. New species Song Sparrow and Common Grackle. Today we got the banding station set up for the spring season. During the mid-morning, large flocks of Black-capped Chickadees and Golden-crowned Kinglets were moving through the banding station. We usually don’t try to capture any birds while we are setting up, but the flocks were tempting. But the ‘net results’ were just two birds, neither of them kinglets or chickadees!

Monday April 20 – 4 new of 4 species; new species Eastern Phoebe, Black-capped Chickadee, American Robin, and Dark-eyed Junco. Cindy Marino is Bander in Charge (BIC) but sends her crew home early when rain and wind forces the closing of all nets.

Tuesday April 21 – 55 new of 16 species; 3 recaps. New species Northern Flicker, Brown Creeper, Winter Wren, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Hermit Thrush, Chipping Sparrow, Fox Sparrow, Swamp Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, and American Goldfinch. Bird of the day was Golden-crowned Kinglet with nine banded. Kelly Dockery is BIC with help from Doug Smith, Ruth Stork and Kathy Habgood.

Wednesday April 22 – 49 new of 13 species; 7 recaps. New species Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Brown Thrasher, and Yellow-rumped Warbler. Bird of the day was Golden-crowned Kinglet with 21 banded. Jon Dombrowski is BIC with help from Gary Herbert, Sue Evans, Tom Kotzbach, Marilyn Guenther and Susan Hall.

Thursday April 23 – 0 birds banded due to rain. Jon Dombrowski, Sue Evans and Pat Lovallo are anxious to band, but the nets are closed almost as soon as they are opened when rain moves in.

Friday April 24 – 94 new of 13 species; 8 recaps. Bird of the day was Ruby-crowned Kinglet with 47 banded. Kelly Dockery is BIC with help from Tom Klotzbach, David Semple, Susan Hall, Pat Lovallo and Marilyn Guenther.

Saturday April 25 – 34 new of 12 species. New species Sharp-shinned Hawk, Blue Jay, Yellow Warbler, and Pine Siskin. Bird of the day was Ruby-crowned Kinglet with 17 banded. We are happy to have Bob McKinney back as BIC and, with help from Greg Lawrence, Marian Klik and Jeanne Skelly we enjoy the first Pine Siskins banded during spring since 2002. Mark Deutschlander brings several of his students from Hobart & William Smith Colleges for a visit to the station. We have many visitors from Braddock Bay Raptor Research’s Bird of Prey celebration.