by Laurie Pocher
On Saturday October 8, the Maine Young Birders set out for Parker River Wildlife Refuge in Newburyport, MA to visit the Joppa Flats banding station and do a little fall birding at Hellcat Swamp.
The Joppa Flats Bird Banding Station was established in May 1998 to monitor migratory passerines (songbirds) during spring and fall migrations. Ben and his volunteer staff kept pretty busy during the few hours we were there, capturing and banding a variety of migrants including several Yellow-Rumped Warblers and White-Throated Sparrows, Blue-Headed Vireo, Black-Capped Chickadee, Grey Catbird, Common Yellowthroat, Golden-Crowned Kinglet, Dark-Eyed Junco, and an Ovenbird who enjoyed their hospitality so much that it flew back into the mist nets and was recaptured three times that morning!
The banding process includes several steps, including fitting the bird’s leg with a lightweight aluminum band and recording measurements including size, weight, wing and tail length, all of which may help to determine the bird’s gender. They will also evaluate the feathers to determine if the bird has completely or partially molted into its fall plumage.
The last step is to determine the bird’s age by ‘skulling’ — which sounds painful, but is really just the process of blowing the head feathers back so they can see how well-developed the birds skull bones are. Bird’s skin is mostly transparent, so parting the feathers on the head allows the banders to see through to the skull. Baby birds only have one layer of bone making up their skull, and a second layer grows underneath the first layer as they age. If the bander sees contrast between areas, it means the second layer is still growing, and the bird is a hatch year. If there’s no contrast, the second layer is complete and it’s a mature bird. A drop or two of water often helps to keep the head feathers parted during skulling, and explains some of the ‘bed head’ looks you can see in our photos.
We were fascinated to learn that different species tend to react differently to being handled. Some species like Yellow-Rumped Warblers seem nonplussed by the whole experience and tend to remain quiet and still throughout. At the opposite end of the spectrum, Northern Cardinals are drama queens, squawking and biting the handlers repeatedly. While most species aren’t bothered by the lightweight aluminum leg bands, Cardinals will peck at the band trying to remove it; they get special stainless steel bands so they can’t hurt themselves by denting or pinching the bands too tight on their legs. Most of the species we saw remained outwardly calm throughout the process… although we did get some Angry Bird vibes from a Golden-Crowned Kinglet!
Special thanks to Ben, Frank and the other volunteers for taking the time to explain the process and allowing the Maine Young Birders to release a couple of birds after they were banded.
After leaving the banding station, we walked the boardwalk trails at Hellcat Swamp looking for migrating warblers and other songbirds. We saw (or heard) a Blackpoll Warbler, two Eastern Towhees, White-Breasted and Red-Breasted Nuthatches, Black-Capped Chickadees, a Northern Flicker, several Blue Jays and American Crows, a dozen Turkey Vultures, and a few Gray Catbirds, Song Sparrows and American Robins.
We also saw a Mute Swan, 18 Greater Yellowlegs, four Herring Gulls, two Double-Crested Cormorants, six Great Egrets and a Swamp Sparrow in the marshes and ponds along the Refuge Road on our way into and out of the refuge.
Click here to view the complete eBird Checklist for our trip to Parker River.
Keep your eye out for our November trip announcement coming soon! Happy Birding.
