Everything is Falling Down + Chickadee Banding!

Sunday, November 4, 2018 10:45 am

Weather: Mostly sunny, low 40s

Birds seen at this spot: Black-Capped Chickadee,  Blue Jay

Birds seen nearby: Tufted Titmouse, White-Breasted Nuthatch, EASTERN PHOEBE, Common Raven, American Crow, American Robin, Canada Goose

Today I went to visit my phenology site once again. But first, I went out with the Wildlife and Fisheries society (WFS) and Professor Alan Strong to do some Black-Capped Chickadee banding near my spot.

Untangling a chickadee from the net.

Measuring wing length

 

                   ‘Dee and Me!

In total, we banded 9 chickadees, and recaptured two others. I’ll be sure to keep my eye out to see if I can spot any banded birds in Centennial Woods. Other birds in the area included titmice and nuthatches caught in the net, the resident raven flying over constantly calling, and a late Eastern Phoebe flycatching by the pond near the entrance.

One of the nuthatches we caught. These were let go as soon as we freed them.

Most of the trees in the Centennial Thicket seem to have lost virtually all of their leaves. Perhaps the only tree to have nearly all of them is a young Red Oak.

The Red Oak, one of the last leafy trees.

Many of my focal tree species that are visible outside my site, such as Beech and Sugar Maple, still have a lot of leaves, but few of those trees are in my site, likely because the habitat conditions are a bit different deeper into the forest. I better work on how to identify these trees now that most are rapidly losing their leaves!

There is still some greenery on the ground, but little above it.

On a side note, you can observe many changes in the photos I have posted since the blog’s inception, such as trees gradually losing their leaves, as well as the many resident and migratory birds around. On another side note, I have also put together an “event map” in order to showcase some of the things I saw today.

                            My event map

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