Banding at Carpenter Nature Center

After photographing the eagles hunting down on the Mississippi in Prescott, WI for a couple of hours I finally headed over to Carpenter Nature Center to watch and photograph some bird banding. By this time the sky had clouded up so I could not really get any good shots outside at the feeders. So I stayed inside the new visitors center and talked with the banders for a while. I always like talking with people who have been birding longer then I have it is usually very interesting hearing their stories and I learn a lot. I also got to share a couple of my birding stories and some of the pics that were still on my flash card.The banding was fairly light while I was there. I was told that it had been brisk when they first began but during the two hours that I was there they only brought in about 6 to 8 birds. Most of the birds that day were juncos or tree sparrow and were birds that had already been banded in the past. The bird in the picture below has been caught 10 times in about 3 years.
When they catch a bird that has already been banded they ID it, by the leg band, and then take some other information. The Banding ended at noon but my birding was not quite finished for the morning. On my way home I spotted an eagle on a tree very near to where I had photographed the red-shouldered hawk the day before.
We were not very far from the river but I was a little surprised to find this bird perched in a tree over looking the road.

Bird Banding at Carpenter Nature Center

With the the holiday weekend coming I worked a couple extra hours on Thursday and came in early on Friday so that I could get an early start on my 3 day weekend. Since I was off early enough I decided to go to the Carpenter Nature Center to watch the bird banding that they do every Friday morning. The last time that I had the chance to be at Carpenter while they where banding I went inside and watched the banding and recording process. This time the weather was so nice that I decided to stay out and walk the trails. While I walked I spotted a few ruby-throated hummers near in the flower garden in the front of the nature center.

The hummers where very territorial with a lot of chasing each other over possession of the hummingbird feeder in the middle of the garden.

The new pool and landscaping is already home to a few frogs who were taking advantage of the sunny day.

Out in the fields the sparrows were sharing space with monarchs and dragonflies.

Over by the orchard I found this house finch dining.

While I walked the trails I took the opportunity to scout the banding nets. I found a few birds waiting impatiently to get out of the nets, and usually getting themselves more tangled, so I took their pictures and let the banders know.

They caught an american goldfinch.A nashville warblerAnd a black-capped chickadee.

While I was wondering I inadvertently ended up in a video that Sharon Stiteler, aka birdchick, was shooting. It was kind of funny to get home later that day and see myself on her blog. Here is the post with the video. I am the moron with the big camera.

With summer over I am not sure that I will get another chance to visit Carpenter while they band but I would certainly recommend it to anyone interested in birding. It is fun, interesting and the people at Carpenter are very friendly. For more information about carpenter check out their website http://www.carpenternaturecenter.org/

Bird Banding at Carpenter Nature Center

I am still a bit behind on my posting. With work, my normal life and running around taking pictures I do not get a lot of time to post except on the weekends. On Friday June 21 I was able to get off work early. Normally that would be a good thing, getting an early start on the weekend. However the only reason that I got to leave early was because I had to go in and work during the weekend. But it was not all bad. I had read in my St Paul Audubon Association newsletter that they were doing bird banding at Carpenter Nature Center on Friday mornings and this gave me a chance to go check it out. When I arrived at the nature center they were just setting up the nets. This was the first time that I had witnessed banding so I was not entirely sure what to expect. So I started talking to the guys as they were setting up the nets and even helped out a little. We caught a few birds in the nets but they had all been caught and banded in the past.

So there were no birds that were banded while I was there. I did get a few pictures of the birds while the guys worked and it was interesting seeing the information that they recorded for each of the captured birds.

The highlight of the morning though were the kids that were there for summer camp or some such activity. The leaders were taking them around the grounds talking to them about birds and bird calls. They would check the nets and come running over very excitedly when a bird had been caught. Then they would watch the bander remove the bird from the net as they talked about the type of bird. It was fun to watch their faces.

I remember as a kid I was very much into nature and wildlife. I was always getting in trouble for going off to the woods or the pond. I am sure that has a lot to do with the man that I am today. Hopefully the experience that these kids had that Friday will help to shape them to appreciate birds and wildlife as they grow and become the future of our planet.