Manomet Visit

We visited Patrick over at Manomet this morning where he's interning as a bird bander for the fall season. Though it has been fairly slow recently, we lucked out with some great birds today, including a couple of life birds for me. It was great to have caught more than a few birds while there because it was our sister's and his girlfriend's first time seeing a banding operation and it's always disappointing to have visitors, but no birds!

Black-and-white Warbler


Brown Thrasher


Chestnut-sided and Blue-winged Warbler


Blue-winged Warlber. Check out that massive bill!


Patrick, performing under pressure.


Chestnut-sided release

A release

Saw this first year female Kestrel released yesterday at the East Leverett Meadow. It flew off very well after being reared in captivity from a chick, but we didn't get any release photos, as it was suddenly tossed into the air with no warning. But I'll be getting a lot of chances at those types of photos this fall I suppose...

REVI

A resident Rey-eyed Vireo in the yard.

Orchard Hill

Checked out Orchard Hill over at UMass this morning after seeing couple of new yard birds, including Chestnut-sided Warbler and Chimney Swift.

Baltimore Oriole


Least Flycatcher considering this bee


But it escaped

Montague Plains

Checked out the Montague Plains today, the site of my very first field job back in '09.

Field Sparrow


Found a few color banded PRWAs there.


Pine Warblers around, looking confusing, and nice, like this guy.


And a young boy COYE.

Wickett Pond

Amanda, my dad and I paddled around Wickett Pond in Wendell, MA today.

The common Common Yellowthroat


A quiet, distance Prairie Warbler, my first of the year


Lots of Barn Swallows, though I was expecting Tree based on all the cavities surrounding the pond.


Eastern Kingbird. I really haven't seen many of these, ever.


The best bird for me was this Northern Harrier, which seemed to be hunting around the edges of the pond, catching frogs?

CO->MN->MA->VT

A Marmot, surrounded by hidden, chirping Pika near Crested Butte, CO!


A depressed House Sparrow at a Minneapolis light rail station


Red-eyed Vireo in Leverett, MA in July

Balloons

We made it to Boston A O K.

We woke up to a hot air balloon convention outside of our tents near South Lake Tahoe a few weeks ago!

MN

In MN for a few days, then off to MA for a couple weeks and then up to Duluth for more birds!



Very young Warbling Vireo


Accidental photo on my worst day of the summer, Storrie 12


Western Tanager laaaauuuunches



Audubon's Warbler

More released

A different view of the Sapsucker release


A Nashville release

Going back home to the EAST coast

Orange-crowned Warbler taking off


A birthday creation and a creepy shirt.


Brent with his first hummingbird


Steller's Jay release


Birds in bags. After taking them out of the nets we keep the birds in these bags until we are ready to process them.


Rufous Hummingbird finally taking off



Photos by Alicia Arcidiacono

Meadow Banding

After a frantic week of camping, banding and packing, Amanda and I are out of the Sierras and prepping for our big trip east. High Sierra meadows are hot spots for dispersing juvenile songbirds this time of year, resulting in around 800 captures in four days, it was awesome.

Something I did not discover until this week was that my point and shoot has a super slow-motion video mode, result in what I think are quite sick videos of birds being released.

Black-headed Grosbeak launching



Red-breasted Sapsucker



Cassin's Vireo


Photos by Alicia Arcidiacono:



Lindsey at our last meadow site




This is how I always look while taking birds out