Month: July 2021

Methow Valley Bird Banding Update – 12 July 2021

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Beginner Bird Banding Class, June 2021. Photo by Jackie Hovis.

The 2021 Methow Valley banding season has been very busy.  It started in early June when I hosted a five-day beginner bird banding class.  The class was supported by NCWAS and taught by Danielle Kaschube.  Danielle works for the Institute for Bird Populations and coordinates their MAPS (Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship) banding program.  (You can learn more about the MAPS program by visiting the Institute for Bird Populations’ web site.)

Morning banding session. Photo by Julie Hovis

The class was fast-paced and covered a lot of material, which made for some very long days! Starting at sunrise the students spent several hours mist netting and banding captured birds. Skills taught during the morning banding sessions included the operation of mist nets and safe extraction of birds, bird-handling skills, and in-hand ageing and sexing techniques. In the afternoon they attended classroom lectures where the topics of banding ethics, the permitting process, and avian plumages and molt strategies were discussed. By all accounts the class was a success.  Everyone (including me!) learned a lot, and the students have been applying what they learned by volunteering at my MAPS station.

Learning to band and process birds. Photo by Julie Hovis.

To date, four of the seven required MAPS sessions have been completed and 54 birds representing 21 different species have been captured.  One of the goals of the MAPS program is to determine survival rates, so it is both exciting and informative when we recapture a bird that was banded in a previous year. So far this year we have recaptured five birds originally banded in 2019 (the year the station was started): one Warbling Vireo, two Swainson’s Thrush, one MacGillivray’s Warbler, and one Yellow Warbler.

Swainson’s Thrush photo by Jackie Hovis. All other photos by Julie Hovis.

All of these birds are Neotropical migrants. I can’t say exactly where they migrated to each winter, but range maps and e-Bird records show their nonbreeding ranges include Central America. Hypothetically speaking, if they migrated as far south as Costa Rica, these birds have made the one-way trip of ±3,600 miles between their winter and breeding grounds at least five times. That is beyond amazing!

Mountain Home Bird Field Trip – 20 June 2021

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By Richard Scranton

On Sunday, June 20th, Mark Johnston and I led a birding field trip to Mountain Home Preserve near Leavenworth. We had one hearty soul join us as we trekked the mostly flat 3-mile trail. 

This bird hike is one of my favorites as there are 3 distinct habitats: dry forest, a wetland area, and open hillsides. The landscape is continually changing and with it the fauna and flora, making each stop along the way a place for discovery.  Each habitat tends to attract different sets of birds thus increasing the number of species encountered. For example, we had Western Tanagers and Cassin’s Vireo in the dry forest, Yellow Warbler and Willow’s Flycatcher in the wetland area, and Lazuli Bunting and Olive-sided Flycatcher on the open hillside.

The highlight of the trip was encountering both Ruffed and Dusky grouse. About a mile into our trip, we heard the male Ruffed Grouse’s display which is caused by beating the air with its wings which creates a drumming sound that increases rapidly in tempo. We inadvertently flushed 4 young that were hunkered down next to the trail. Further up the trail in a dry wooded spot, we heard the Dusky male gives a series of deep hoots, the soundless vibrant and softer than the Ruffed.

Overall, we saw or heard 35 species of birds while enjoying a pleasant 4-hour walk.

June 2021 Big Count results

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Below is a brief note that Joe Veverka sent to the leaders of the individual teams that participated in the 2021 Big Day Bird Count in our four-county area. Thanks for compiling all the data Joe.

Thanks for participating in the NCWAS Annual Big Count!  Despite incredible wind speeds we found a lot of birds.  I only birded until about 2pm vs my 10pm end time on the previous Big Count.  Attached is the complete species list of the count.  We identified and counted a total of 8972 birds of 172 species in our 4-County area and submitted a total of 127 complete checklists!  Okanogan Co. found 152 species captured with 52 checklists followed by Chelan Co. with 136 species and 53 checklists.  Douglas Co. was a distant 3rd counting 103 species and submitting 22 checklists.  Ferry Co……0 species and 0 checklists.  I predict in 2022 Ferry Co will win most improved! 

 

I hope you will join us again next year as we evolve and refine “The Big Count”!

Thanks! and Happy Birding!

Joe

You can see the composite species list by clicking here. Looks like a great day filled with a wonderful variety of birds.