As we are already into visit 4, I thought I’d better wrap up visit 3 to MABO and RRID in one summary. The visit to Maplewood Bog on June 29 was a unique MAPS experience for me because for the first time I was all by myself! Our first priority is to perform net checks at frequent and regular intervals of no more than 25-30 minutes, which is a challenge without multiple personnel. I was able to do this during visit 3 but felt the fatigue of near constant motion for the six hours of the fieldwork!

The weather was damp and cool with intermittent drizzle, keeping bird activity low and giving me some extra time to race around the net circuit. I was somewhat shocked that I’d processed 27 birds that morning – a not too shabby total considering the conditions. I had no time for photos with the exception of an irresistible Spring Peeper that clung to the stem of a shrub near net 6. As usual, an excellent variety of birds were captured including a female Scarlet Tanager, the first juvenile Wood Thrush of the year and a second-year Veery that was banded as a young bird in August 2009!

Maplewood Bog – Visit 3 of 7

New birds banded (19 of 11 species)
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American Redstart – 1
Northern Waterthrush – 1
Red-eyed Vireo – 3
Song Sparrow – 2
Wood Thrush – 1
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker – 1
Scarlet Tanager – 1
Gray Catbird – 2
Eastern Towhee – 1
American Robin – 5
Blue Jay – 1

Recaptures (8 of 6 species)
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Northern Waterthrush – 1
Red-eyed Vireo – 1
Gray Catbird – 1
American Robin – 1
Veery – 2
Wood Thrush – 2

Our first ever Black-throated Green Warbler (Dendroica virens) was banded at Rock Ridge during visit 3 this past week. Black-throated Greens are regular breeders in Frontenac Provincial Park, particularly in areas with mature conifers and dense canopy cover. Overall, things are moving along nicely at this site as young birds are beginning to appear in numbers. Another male White-throated Sparrow was banded (below) while a tan-morph individual was spotted carrying food in an area of juniper scrub at the north edge of the station.

Red-eyed Vireos are more commonly heard and captured than seen at Rock Ridge. There are a few pairs occupying young deciduous patches of Sugar Maple-Oak. Growth rates are very slow here so it might be more accurate to describe the forests as ‘low’ instead of young as many of the trees are probably 50-80 years old but appear much younger. Blue-headed Vireos also breed in this conifer dominated eastern edge of the park but we’ve not encountered any so far at Rock Ridge.

A total of 25 birds were captured during visit 3 – a very good sample of what is present. We captured several young birds including individuals of Eastern Phoebe, Black-capped Chickadee, Field Sparrow, Song Sparrow and American Robin – all early nesting temperate migrants. There has been little sign of productivity so far for any neotropical species at the three stations. The extraordinary amount of rainfall in the month of June may be influential to productivity indices in 2010 – visits 4-7 should be instructive.

Rock Ridge – Visit 3 of 7

New birds banded (17 of 12 species)
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Black-throated Green Warbler – 1
Common Yellowthroat – 1
Field Sparrow – 2
Black-capped Chickadee – 1
Chipping Sparrow – 1
Eastern Phoebe – 1
Red-eyed Vireo – 1
Song Sparrow – 2
White-throated Sparrow – 1
Hairy Woodpecker – 1
American Robin – 4
Common Grackle – 1

Recaptures (8 of 6 species)
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Common Yellowthroat – 1
American Robin – 1
Red-eyed Vireo – 1
Chipping Sparrow – 1
Black-capped Chickadee – 2
Eastern Towhee – 1