I’ve decided to summarize recent outings to BLAK and MABO in a single post because I’ve fallen behind on a large backlog of other material to touch on soon. Last week we visited the Blue Lakes MAPS site for the second time and had a very good morning. The weather was a highlight in that it wasn’t cloudy or threatening with rain – novel of late. We also captured a nice selection of birds including another Black-throated Blue Warbler (female with brood patch) and five Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, among others. A female Red-winged Blackbird was banded during the morning, which was a first for the FBS MAPS network!
Finally, while driving out at the end of the day we were stopped by the police, who had been lying in wait for us at the end of the road. Apparently, there was some concern that we may have been marijuana growers! That’s another first for FBS….
We will be returning to Blue Lakes by June 29, 2010. Full stats for visit 2 are summarized below the agelaius.
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Blue Lakes – Visit 2 of 7
New birds banded (15 of 8 species)
Black-throated Blue Warbler – 1
Ovenbird – 1
Veery – 1
Rose-breasted Grosbeak – 5
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker – 1
Red-winged Blackbird – 1
American Robin – 4
Common Grackle – 1
Recaptures (4 of 2 species)
Black-throated Blue Warbler – 1
Veery – 3
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Our first visit to Maplewood Bog in 2010 was a little bit unpleasant due to the wet and ominous weather we endured. We were pleased to give MABO a proper go for visit 2 with clear, warm and dry conditions. The birds were much more active, although Seabrooke and I agree that breeding density seems lower for most species this year. This isn’t too surprising as our 2009 results suggested low productivity for last summer and numbers were way down at most migration monitoring stations this past spring. Visit 2 was all about the Red-eyed Vireo! A total of seven were captured, which included several returns from 2009. We also recaptured two Northern Waterthrushes, which have successfully returned to MABO from their winter haunts in either the Caribbean or Central America.
In all, 28 birds were captured during the six hours of operation. Without question, Maplewood still reigns as the “birdiest” of our MAPS sites….
Full stats for this visit to MABO are provided below Seabrooke’s stunning portrait of a female Eastern Towhee.
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Maplewood Bog – Visit 2 of 7
New birds banded (17 of 12 species)
Black-capped Chickadee – 1
Ovenbird – 1
Red-eyed Vireo – 2
Song Sparrow – 1
Veery -1
Gray Catbird – 2
Rose-breasted Grosbeak – 1
Wood Thrush – 1
Eastern Towhee – 2
American Robin – 3
Hairy Woodpecker – 1
Blue Jay – 1
Recaptures (11 of 6 species)
Black-capped Chickadee – 1
Red-eyed Vireo – 5
Gray Catbird – 1
Rose-breasted Grosbeak – 1
Blue Jay – 1
Northern Waterthrush – 2
Frontenac Bird Studies 