Huge Bird Wave!

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As soon as I stepped out the door this morning, I could feel it. A Rusty Blackbird was on the compost heap. A Brown Creeper inched incongruously up the shingles of the house. And, I quickly realized, every tree, bush, and vine was awash in hundreds, thousands of fluttering, restless shapes. Last night, Metinic Island was invaded by birds.

All day long, waves upon waves of warblers, sparrows, thrushes, kinglets, and woodpeckers sloshed back and forth while we sprinted to keep up the banding station, in sheer awe of the numbers of birds – underfoot, overhead, flocks of hundreds flushing with every step through the brush. Transporting them in soft cotton bags, we were barely able to keep up as more and more birds piled up in the mist nets. In the end, we banded 293 birds today, nearly doubling my biggest mist-netting effort to date. Looks good for another big hit tomorrow, too!

4 replies
  1. Zenobia in Portland
    Zenobia in Portland says:

    I can only imagine the flurry of activity, with hands and banding pliers and birds all fluttering and squawking. As a bander of Western Bluebirds in Oregon, I have pondered how on earth can you band such a large number of birds with such difference in the size of their legs?

  2. AnonyMoose
    AnonyMoose says:

    Hi Zenobia, You mentioned the large # and Squawking… I wonder if they use Hearing Protection? It may sound funny, but I’m sure that a bunch of upset birds could reach an audio level above the occupational Health and safety limit. Hummm…

  3. AnonyMoose
    AnonyMoose says:

    Hi Zenobia, You mentioned the large # and Squawking… I wonder if they use Hearing Protection? It may sound funny, but I’m sure that a bunch of upset birds could reach an audio level above the occupational Health and safety limit. Hummm…

  4. becky
    becky says:

    wow noah – sounds like a GREAT day!!! a bird lover’s paradise (and exhausting, i imagine)!
    i’m excited to see that you can post on your blog from the island…….. now we get to hear more of your adventures.
    please say hello to andrea for me!
    happy banding!

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