New bird - Pine Warbler

Temperatures warmed up today so I could band in the afternoon. The feeder birds continue to NOT go in the nets. A pair of Pine Warblers down by the lake did go in a net which is a first for that species here. The contrast in coloring between the male and female is striking. Other captures were a Ruby-Crowned Kinglet and a recaptured Brown-headed Nuthatch.

On the lake there are between 130 and 150 Ring Necked Ducks. Never had that many before.

Our suet mix is popular with many species at the feeder station. Peanut butter is now available on two new pine cones. Long-Leaf Pine pine cones make excellent feeders. I'm recycling the wide ties that grocery stores use to hold lettuce together. Tie the tie around one end of the pine cone and tie the other end to a convenient tree branch; add peanut butter, and wait for the guests.

Recaptures

This is my second year of banding at this station. I now have site fidelity confirmed for White-throated Sparrows. While this is not 'news' to ornithologists, it is a thrill for me to know that the bird in my hand has navigated long distances from this spot and returned to it.

A bird banded on February 16 was recaptured on October 26. It was the first White-throated Sparrow caught this winter season.

Then on November 9th two additional birds were recaptured in the same net. I looked them up and these birds were caught together last year November 17, 2007.

Yes, my sample is small but this is a good beginning.

Dogwood berries

There are three dogwood trees right by our house. Each fall a group of mockingbirds appear to dispute 'ownership' of this patch of food. The 'winning' mocker guards against all comers, except for the small birds. The chickadees and titmice are allowed to visit the feeders nearby and seek shelter in the dogwoods unharmed. Then a week arrives when the berries are either 'just so' or roaming bird hordes moving through this neighborhood spot the trees. A week of furious activity results as a mocker tries to chase off every bird from a large flock.

In past years the dogwood berry season is when the starling flocks visited. This year I've seen a flock across the lake but the birds have not come here. Last year a robin flock came and stripped the trees over a couple of days. The mocker tried to defend. The robin flock flew in low from nearby woods. This meant some of the birds went into the banding nets. I was looking forward to a repeat this year so that I could improve my knowledge of age and sex identification with robins.

So who is stripping the trees this weekend? Rusty blackbirds are eating the berries and there is no mocker defending. We've not seen one for several weeks. The Rusty Blackbirds fly high and dive down to the trees. Even though I had nets up near the bird feeders and dogwoods no blackbird came close to them. When startled, the birds flew straight up and away.

Surprisingly the Rusty Blackbirds ignored me most of the time. The banding station is between two of the dogwoods. The birds were even feeding on the ground near me.