The Zen Birdfeeder

Crown Point Bird Banding Station Season Recap

Master Bander Mike Peterson provided this report of the 33rd season of the Crown Point Bird Banding Station.  (Links and photos added).
 

"The spring bird banding station on the grounds of the Crown Point State Historic Site opened for the 33rd consecutive season of banding between May 9-26, 2008.  Operated by the Crown Point Banding Association (CPBA), through an agreement with New York State Office of Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation (OPR&HP) and the Historic Site Manager, the station is located in hawthorn thickets west of His Majesty's Fort at Crown Point. 
 
 

Birds banded this year were:
4 Killdeer
1 Downy Woodpecker
1 Northern Flicker
1 Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
1 "Traill's" Flycatcher
3 Least Flycatcher
2 Great Crested Flycatcher
2 Eastern Kingbird
1 Warbling Vireo
2 Red-eyed Vireo
42 Blue Jay
3 Tree Swallow
15 Barn Swallow
9 Black-capped Chickadee
4 House Wren
4 Ruby-crowned Kinglet
3 Veery
2 Swainson's Thrush
2 Wood Thrush
20 American Robin
37 Gray Catbird
1 Brown Thrasher
12 Yellow Warbler
2 Chestnut-sided Warbler
2 Magnolia Warbler
1 Black-throated Blue Warbler
52 Yellow-rumped Warbler
6 "Western" Palm Warbler
1 Blackpoll Warbler
8 American Redstart
1 Ovenbird
1 Northern Waterthrush
24 Common Yellowthroat
1 Wilson's Warbler
5 Chipping Sparrow
4 Field Sparrow
1 Savannah Sparrow
6 Song Sparrow
5 Lincoln's Sparrow
5 White-throated Sparrow
4 White-crowned Sparrow
2 Northern Cardinal
1 Rose-breasted Grosbeak
2 Indigo Bunting
2 Bobolink
2 Red-winged Blackbird
10 Common Grackle
2 Brown-headed Cowbird
16 Baltimore Oriole
44 American Goldfinch

TOTAL: 384 individuals of 51 species.
 
There were also a record 45 returns of a dozen species banded at Crown Point in previous years, the oldest a Common Grackle now six years, 11 months old.  Notable species seen or heard, but not banded, included late Snow Goose, 15 Turkey Vultures feeding on dead alewives, seven migrant Bald Eagles, calling Whip-poor-will, and a leucistic American Robin.  There was a strong return flight of Blue Jays, although short of the 89 jays banded in 2005.
 
Four staff members from OPR&HP in Albany paid a site visit and met with representatives of CPBA and Historic Site staff to examine the banding area and discuss further habitat improvement and possible removal of invasive plants, most notably Common Buckthorn.  The Osprey platform will again be cleared of surrounding saplings, the pair having moved to a power pole along the nearby highway, but with a second pair present.  Grassland birds again occupied the recently-reclaimed "Bobolink Field" to the south of the station, and Savannah Sparrow, Bobolink, and Eastern Meadowlark continue to nest in the grassy field between the British fort and the banding thickets.
 
The station welcomed 350+ visitors, with groups including Adirondack Wilderness Challenge, Barstow (VT) Memorial School, Bolton Central, BSA Troop 50, Cornwall (VT) Elementary, Crown Point Central , Kirkland Bird Club, Lake George Community Garden Club, Lake Placid Central, and Mountain Lake Services.  Farthest visitor honors went to Gafar Moumani of Lome, Togo.  Another honored visitor was master-bander Deborah Anson Goslin of Stevensville MT, who was a subpermittee at Crown Point in the 1970s.  Build it, and they will come.
 
A major criterion for naming Crown Point SHS not only an Audubon Important Bird Area (IBA), but also a New York State Bird Conservation Area (BCA), was the congregations of birds that gather at the tip of Crown Point peninsula.  Under one set of criteria, these consist of at least 2,000 waterfowl, including such birds as cormorants.  For many years, large numbers of Double-crested Cormorants have gathered on the west spit in Bulwagga Bay, just below the banding station.  They nested there in 2002 (three nests) and '03 (16 nests), an apparent result of the onset of "control" operations in Vermont.  There has been no subsequent nesting attempted for five years.

On 12 May there were 160 cormorants-- adults and subadults-- sunning on the spit and diving for invasive alewives, while Turkey Vultures and Common Grackles cleaned the beaches of dead fish.  At 9:10 a.m. the following day, a NYS DEC boat arrived and two men began shooting.  They killed a reported 69 cormorants on 13 May, collecting carcasses in large bags.  The DEC returned for longer periods on following days, their heavy shotgun fire difficult to explain to groups of adjudicated youth visiting the banding station on 16 May and sixth graders on 21 May..  Sport radios used at the station picked up conversations about shooting "hangers" and "floppers" (cripples), followed by live shots from the bay below, the students asking why they were doing this, even to the wounded, and why we couldn't stop them, until the banders could break in and radio a request that the killing team switch to another channel.  Adult visitors were astounded to hear the shooting and learn that the killing of these native birds was allowed on an IBA and BCA.  By late May, flights of cormorants headed east to Vermont signaled the appraoch of the DEC boats across the bay, and on 20 May the number of cormorants gathered at the spit had reached 200.  Similar "control" shooting is being done on both NY & VT sides of Champlain, including The Four Brothers bird sanctuary, another Audubon IBA, oiling eggs there as well.  Meanwhile, the beaches are covered with dead alewives, a recent invasive in the lake and now a favored dietary staple of cormorants on Lake Champlain.  Go figure.
 
 
We're grateful to those who helped transport the banding station:  Malinda Chapman & family of Ticonderoga, Stan Corneille of Williamstown, VT, Gordon Howard of Keeseville & Clemson, SC, Dan Lee of Ironville, Gary Lee of Inlet, and Bob Wei of Keene Valley & Upper Saddle River, NJ.  Special thanks go to Historic Site Manager Thomas Hughes, Jake Putnam, and the rest of the Crown Point staff for their continued cooperation and many kindneses.  We greatly appreciate the interest in habitat maintenance of Matt Medler, Pam Otis, Ray Perry, and Melissa Lemens from OPR&HP in Albany.  Since 1976, a total of 14,982 birds have been banded on the grounds of Crown Point State Historic Site, and we hope to return to band #15,000 during our 34th year in 2009.    

--Mike Peterson, Elizabethtown & Montréal

Thank you Mike for the work you and your team do up at Crown Point.

Adirondack Loon Census July 19th

Like to watch loons?
Join the Adirondack Loon Conservation Program's Annual Loon Census, Saturday July 19th

By late April, there were several reports of loons back on their lakes as soon as the ice let out.  In early June, many loons were seen on nests. And there were reports of chicks hatching the first weekend of June.  The Adirondack Loon Conservation Program looks forward to hearing about many chicks begging from their parents on the Census Day, July 19th.

The Annual Loon Census provides valuable data for the Loon Program to follow trends in New York’s summer loon population over time. Hundreds of residents and visitors throughout New York assist them each year by looking for loons on their favorite lake or river.

WANT TO HELP?  SIGN UP FOR A CENSUS LAKE!
A list of assigned lakes is posted to the Loon Program’s website and will be updated regularly throughout July. Please check the website to find out which lakes have already been assigned. If a lake is not already assigned, it is available for you to survey.

To prevent duplicate observations, all census observers should contact the Loon Program to sign up for a lake. Contact adkloon@wcs.org or leave a message at 518- 891-8872 x107. (If leaving a message, please include: your name, e-mail or phone number and address, the name of the lake you want to survey and the Township and County where the pond is located).  Census forms will be sent by e-mail and mail to all observers who sign up for a lake by July 5th.

Learn more and download a 2008 Census Form at www.wcs.org/adirondacklooncensus

Photos provided by and taken by Nina Schoch of the WCS Adirondack Loon Conservation Program.

The Wildlife Conservation Society’s Adirondack Loon Conservation Program is dedicated to improving the
health of the environment, particularly through research and education efforts focusing on the Common Loon and regional conservation issues affecting wildlife and their habitats.
The Loon Program is a project of WCS’ Adirondack Program, which promotes healthy human communities and wildlife conservation in the Adirondack Park through an information-based, collaborative approach to research, community involvement, and outreach.

Learn more about the Adirondack Loon Conservation Program at www.wcs.org/adirondackloons.
WCS’ Adirondack Loon
Conservation Program
7 Brandy Brook Ave., Suite 204
Saranac Lake, NY 12983
(518) 891-8872 x107
adkloon@wcs.org

Banded Grosbeak

This male Rose-breasted Grosbeak that visited my feeder Wednesday morning has a band on its right leg.

Only about 1% of banded songbirds are encountered after their initial banding. If you ever find a banded bird, reporting the information makes a very valuable contribution to the bander.

A bird with a metal band on its leg was banded under a permit from the U.S. Bird Banding Laboratory. Federal Fish & Wildlife bands are plain aluminum, inscribed with a nine digit number. Read about types of bird bands on the USGS site.

It is important to report banded birds if you can get the numbers from the band. Without the numbers, nothing can be reported. The information that must be recorded includes:

• band numbers and letters
• town, county, and state where the bird was found
• date found
• alive or dead? how did it die?
• finder's name, address, and phone number

Call the information in to 1-800-327-2263 or report it on the Bird Banding Lab's website www.pwrc.usgs.gov/bbl. It can also be sent by mail to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bird Banding Laboratory, 12100 Beech Forest Road, Laurel, MD 20708-4037.

If you call them, they can often tell you where the bird came from and how old it is. They will also notify the person who originally banded the bird. You'll get a certificate with information about the bird and thanking you for helping the program.

Unfortunately, even with a digiscoped image, I cannot read the numbers on the band, so I'm unable to report it. But it does make me stop and wonder who had the joy of holding this beauty in their hand? Where was he caught and released? How long ago was he banded?  Was it just this spring?  What would the bander be able to tell me about my bird? 

I wish I could report SOMETHING to the bander, but I know that if I could, it would probably mean the bird had died.  I much prefer it this way.

Hitting a Tree at 13mph

While excavating a cavity, a woodpecker’s head can strike a tree’s surface at speeds up to 13 - 15 mph and do it at over 100 strokes per minute. This is equivalent to a person crashing head-first into a tree while running at top speed.

In order for woodpeckers to survive the 10G's of force that they can sustain with every blow against a tree, they have the following special adaptations:
- The bones between the beak and the skull are joined by a flexible cartilage, which cushions the shock of each blow.
- The skull is made of spongy, air-filled bone and the brain is packed very tightly into the brain cavity, with little room to rattle around during impacts.
- The shear force from each blow is directed not to the brain, but downward towards very strong neck muscles that act as shock absorbers.
- A woodpecker’s head and body are always in a perfectly straight alignment when hitting a tree to avoid breaking its neck.

Crown Point NY Bird Banding Station Opens May 10th

This spring, master bird banders Mike Peterson and Gordon Howard will again lead their team mist netting and banding migrating birds that pass through the Crown Point area on the shore of Lake Champlain.

Mike Peterson 

Bird banding is a well-established and indispensable technique for studying the movement, survival and behavior of birds.  The Crown Point banding station has been operated since 1976 and since its opening, a total of 14,625 birds of 98 species have been banded.

Lincoln's Sparrow

We made our first visit to the station last year.  Read about Crown Point bird banding and Crown Point Birding at The Zen Birdfeeder blog.

VISITOR HOURS AND INSTRUCTIONS

Master banders Mike Peterson & Gordon Howard and the banding team welcome visitors on any days between May 10-25.  The station is open from dawn until late afternoon when the gate closes (hours vary).  Banding is often best on still, cloudy, or even rainy days, and birds are most active in the early morning hours-- generally until about 9 am -- although birds are netted throughout the day. 

Please sign the Visitor Log on arrival at the station-- a shelter, tables, and tents west of the British fort.  Feel free to bring food & drink, as well as cameras, but the banders ask that cell phones be turned off.  Waterproof footwear is recommended, since trails and net lanes are often muddy.  Even when banding is slow, the birding is generally good on the grounds of the Historic Site during May.

DIRECTIONS

From Rte 22 south of Port Henry, take the road to the Crown Point Bridge (County Rte 903) and look for the Crown Point State Historic Site sign and entrance on the left just before the bridge.  If the gate is locked, park across the highway and walk in the access road; otherwise, drive in.  Stop and consult the interpretive birding panels on the left for a map that shows the location of the banding station.  Vehicles should then be parked in the main lot in front of the museum.

CROWN POINT BIRD CONSERVATION AREA

The Bird Conservation Area is located on the grounds of the Crown Point State Historic Site, at the tip of Crown Point peninsula, just south of the bridge to Vermont.  Jutting northward into Lake Champlain, the peninsula serves as a migrant trap in spring, concentrating waves of northbound birds in thickets west of the British fort. The State Historic Site has also been designated as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by the National Audubon Society.

Over 200 bird species have been observed at the Crown Point BCA, with as many as 27 different species of colorful warblers possible during May. Stop at the BCA interpretive panels on the left side of the entry road to view a map showing the location of the bird banding station, proceed to the main parking lot, then continue on foot.

This is a great activity for the family and for school or youth groups.  You may even get a chance to release a banded bird!

Nashville Warbler about to be released

Evening Grosbeak - A "Common Bird in Decline"

Last week, I saw seven Evening Grosbeaks at my feeders, which is the largest group I've seen at my upstate NY feeders in 16 years of feeding.  In all those years, if I saw 3-4 birds, it was significant. Two more visited our feeders today.

Wanda, a Wild Birds Unlimited customer, recently sent us this photograph of Evening Grosbeaks at her feeding station.  She counted 12 grosbeaks and has never seen this many of them at her feeder either.

Photo courtesy of Wanda Perkins

Late this summer, I saw a male evening feeding a young grosbeak - the first I'd witnessed of Evening Grosbeak breeding activities in the area.

And back in April, a male grosbeak visited the feeders, his huge bill a brilliant chartreuse indicative of breeding plumage.  Read our "Evening Grosbeaks Return" post of April 27 that includes an audio clip of the grosbeak call.

Customers tell us stories of years past when they would have huge flocks of Evening Grosbeaks  descend upon yards and feeders.  Just imagine seeing and hearing hundreds of these large, vocal birds - what a spectacle that must have been!

Unfortunately, few people have experienced that.  In the last few decades, Evening Grosbeaks are most often reported in groups numbering only in the single digits.

Yet there are predictions of a strong irruptive year of winter finches like the grosbeak.  Just within the past couple weeks, we're hearing of more frequent sightings of the Evening Grosbeak and sightings of "higher numbers" (it is all relative) at feeders. Why is this so important?  What is so significant about sightings of Evening Grosbeaks?

Earlier this year, Audubon issued a list of Common Birds In Decline based on years of citizen science projects such as the Christmas Bird Count and the Breeding Bird Survey.  Their study revealed an alarming decline in many of our most common birds and the Evening Grosbeak was number 2 on that list, second only to the Northern Bobwhite.

Since 1967, in just 40 years, the population of the Evening Grosbeak has declined 78%, from 17 million to 3.8 million.

All 20 birds on the national Common Birds in Decline list lost at least half their populations in just four decades.  Read more about all the birds on the Common Birds in Decline list.

The study warns, "The one distinction these common species share is the potential to become uncommon unless we all take action to protect them and their habitat."

Each of us can take individual action that can help make a difference.  Audubon suggests: 
- Conserve energy at home
- Fight global warming and urge your lawmakers to pass laws to fight global warming
- Monitor feeders keeping them clean and healthy for all birds including the Evening Grosbeak
- Become a citizen scientist in such projects as Project FeederWatch, The Great Backyard Bird Count, eBird, or Audubon's Christmas Bird Count.
- Protect Local Habitat
- Support Sustainable Forests.
- Learn more about the Boreal Forest in the Northern U.S. and Canada. (The boreal is essential breeding territory for many species of birds, including Evening Grosbeaks.)

The next time you see Evening Grosbeaks in your yard, close your eyes and imagine them GONE.  Not just flown away, but GONE and never to return.  At the current rate of decline, that is not beyond the realm of possibility.  Audubon's study is a call to action.  A call to each of us to do what we can in our daily lives to protect these "common" birds so they do not become uncommon, or worse yet, rare, endangered, or extinct.

   

Crown Point Bird Banding

Today we visited the bird banding station at the Crown Point Bird Conservation Area on Lake Champlain, New York.  The Bird Conservation Area is part of the Crown Point State Historic Site in Essex County and is located at the tip of Crown Point peninsula. Jutting northward into Lake Champlain and bordered on the west by Bulwagga Bay, the peninsula serves as a natural migrant trap, especially in spring.

We watched Master Bander Mike Peterson remove a House Wren from the mist nets.

 

Our friend Mona Bearor of the Southern Adirondack Audubon Society was able to hold and release a female Nashville Warbler.

We watched the banding, sexing, and measuring of a Lincoln's Sparrow.

   

Banders Mike Peterson and Gordon Howard operate the Crown Point Banding Station, which has been in operation since 1976. 

In those 32 years, they have banded 13,422 birds of 97 different species.  In 2006, they banded 870 birds of 63 different species, including 22 warbler species.  So far this year, they have banded 61 species, including 20 warbler species. The most common bird so far has been the Yellow-Rumped Warbler.  Most of the birds they net are on their spring migration to the boreal forests of Canada.

To find out more about the Crown Point Banding Station, listen to a 22 minute radio documentary called "Ring 'em and Fling 'em" that was aired on WRPI-Troy.  Or watch this 2 1/2 minute video that shows Mike removing a bird from a mist net (scroll to bottom, "How Birds are Banded" > Play Video).

The Crown Point banding station is open from dawn to dusk daily and closes Memorial Day.  It is a great activity for the family and for school or youth groups.  If you can't make it up there for the 2007 season, calendar it for a 2008 visit.

Our thanks to Mike and Gordon for being such great hosts and for the work they do to protect and understand birds.