Warmer Days and Hairy Woodpeckers

It's cold and rainy and windy (but not snowy) in MN today, so I thought I'd bring back some memories of warmer days. This male Hairy Woodpecker was working away right next to the blind this past fall. You can see the holes in the branch - a giveaway he's been there often.

Brown Creeper

Last bird banding session at Springbrook had a pretty nice selection of species. This Brown Creeper is always a great bird. Check out that decurved bill, long forked tail and long nails.

2011 Hawk trapping totals

Thank you to Frank for compiling this:

This year we banded a total of 142 birds, not one of our best years, a little worse than last year at 167, but a little better than the year before when we only got 94.

Peregrines 2
Immys 2 . . . Males 0 . . . Females 2Adults 0 . . . Males 0 . . . Females 0

Merlins 14
Immys 14 . . . Males 8 . . . Females 6Adults 00 . . . Males 0 . . . Females 0

Kestrels 1
Immys 1 . . . Males 1 . . . Females 0 Adults 0 . . . Males 0 . . . Females 0

Goshawks 9
Immys 8 . . . Males 7 . . . Females 1 Adults 1 . . . Males 0 . . . Females 1

Cooper’s 5
Immys 1 . . . Males 1 . . . Females 0 Adults 4 . . . Males 2 . . . Females 2

Sharp-shins 92
Immys 61 . . . Males 28 . . . Females 33 Adults 31 . . . Males 11 . . . Females 20

Red-tails 19
Immys 13 . . . Males 10 . . . Females 3 Adults 6 . . . Males 5 . . . Females 1

Rough-legs 1
Immys 1 . . . Males 0 . . . Females 1Adults 0 . . . Males 0 . . . Females 0

No Broad-wings
No Harriers
No Eagles
Total Raptors 142

We caught only one banded bird this year,an immature male Goshawk, 20 minutes after we banded it and released it.

We had a total of 57 bounce-outs. (4 less than last year)

Shins Redux

I will probably mine the pics from the Blind for a few more posts. Here are a few comparisons in the hand; first shot is male and female Hatch Year shins (female bigger); second is HY shin on the left, AHY on the right; and last one is a HY shin and a merlin.

Difference in Shins

Here is a great depiction of what we experience at the blind; first two shots are of a Hatch-year shin, and next to are of a transitional After hatch year shin. The HY bird looks pretty keen to take a look at us. The AHY bird is obviously taking its time to plot the next move. A year of experience makes a lot of difference in how you respond to stimuli and make your hunting choices.

Starlings - Amazing!

This video is making the rounds pretty quickly; I saw it on Friday and was waiting until today to post. By now many of you might have seen it already. Couple of people canoeing in Ireland, and got to see (and film!) a murmuration of starlings. You'll seriously not believe how beautiful this is.

Some interesting things

2011 in the can - 142 birds total. Not a great take, but couldn't ask for better team to work with or better experience. In going through memories of the season, will try to pull some more pics to post. This one has a few anamolies - things that we noticed on birds that came in. First up - a sharp-shinned hawk with an iris that makes my eyes water every time I look at it.

The Red-tailed hawk had one foot with not only a pronounced "bump" on one side, but also a talong that was shorter and turned to the side. The feet worked well, grasping, etc., so the bird must have figured out ways to compensate.

Last one is the Coops that was in previous post - but had lots of pure white feathers on the head.

Goshawk and Cooper's Hawk comparisons

The Cooper's hawks and Northern Goshawks are both accipiters, and do share many traits in body shape and hunting styles. However, they really look different in the hand. And - both look very different from hatch year plumage to after-hatch year. The first two shots are of Cooper's hawks - the first is a hatch year, and the second is after-hatch year. Note the flat head (different from a Sharp-shinned's very rounded head).

Now here is a bird who can strike fear in the heart of any grouse or pheasant - the might goshawk! The first shot is a of a hatch year bird, and the second is after-hatch year. Look at the strong, stocky head and body. We were lucky enough to band several of these fabulous birds this year.