Had another great week of visiting classes . Visiting classes from New Likseard, Elk lake, and Englehart had a chance to see the banding of sparrows up close and we managed to catch a few blue jays and the occasional warbler as well stragglers in the great spectacle that is the fall migration.
School groups also had the chance to look for aquatic creatures and frogs which have all but disappeared burrowing into the mud to prepare for the ice and frigid temperatures that are fast approaching
One of the exciting things about being a bander is that there is always another migration to look forward to. As soon as we say goodbye to the white throated and white crowned sparrows the american tree sparrows will be arriving . After the tree sparrows move on snow buntings and the winter finches will be keeping us busy. One aspect of the fall migration that creates pangs of regret for me is that we do not have enough volunteers to run our station at full capacity and for those who know our banding operation we can only operate our 4 feeder nets as we cannot handle the amount of birds at the feeders and run all of our other nets. The other nets often do not produce enough birds to occupy school groups but we are giving up the chance to catch kinglet and warblers. The answer tour dilemma is to attract more volunteers who would like to become competent at extracting birds and allow us to monitor the fall migration the way we can in the spring. If you are sitting on the fence about becoming involved at the marsh please stay posted for chances this late fall and winter for training days at the marsh. in recent days there have been a number of studies and reports outlining the present and future threats to birds. This negative news emphasizes the need to carry on our research at the marsh so please get involved and help us with our research at the marsh. We have a migrating species waiting for you.
Bird is the word! murph
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