More MAPS Bird Banding
Noah getting ready to release an American Goldfinch (photo by Noah’s dad)
By: Pat Coate
There was a nice group of folks keeping Tom company at his bird banding site this past weekend. Some of the visitors included Grant and his dad and grandfather who traveled all the way from Ohio to check things out after hearing Tom speak at the Chautauqua Institute. And Noah and Sammy came with their parents to see the birds and to help release them. Despite the heat, it was a very ‘birdy’ morning with lots of activity in the nets as well as the area around the site.
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SWAT Bird Banding
Red-eyed Vireo
By: Pat Coate
I had a lot of fun spending Monday morning with Tom at his SWAT bird banding station.
To me, birding is a bit like a treasure hunt. Sometimes a frustrating treasure hunt, but a treasure hunt nonetheless. There are birds everywhere you just have to look and listen for them. There are maps, field guides, iPhone apps, etc. to help you along the way. There is always more to learn in birding – the male and female usually look different, each gender can look different at different times of the year, and the young often look different still. There are the birds’ calls to learn – and each bird has more than one. If that’s not enough challenge, the little buggers don’t stay still very long making it hard to get a good long look at them.
That is why I really enjoy visiting Tom at his bird banding station. It is really nice to get an up-close, prolonged look at the many different birds that he is able to capture, band and release.
Redstart [Poem]
Redstart
Fiesta flashes
of vermilion orange
flung from flaming tail,
fire wings
of Cuba’s “Little Candelita”
tumbling
plummeting upward
in Canadian green
of long spruce
under which
our eyes
tango
By: Maxwell Corydon Wheat, Jr ©
Mon@rch's Nature Blog 