(Lost these images at the moment)
Today’s the one year anniversary of Harry showing up. Since I never got around to writing up the banding process, I figured this would be a good time to do so.
The process began when Trevor Lloyd-Evans, banding director at Manomet, came by to drop off a couple traps. We set them out under the feeders (unarmed) and gave the birds a couple days to get used to them, hoping that the bird would hop in and then be easily captured. However, the birds didn’t like them and stayed away.
All the winter journals are coming out and Harry gets several mentions.
In American Birds (the Christmas Bird Count Summary), Wayne Petersen, in the New England summary, writes:
Top billing for the 110th New England CBC belongs to the Common Chaffinch on the Greater Boston count. Although the bird’s provenance may never be known with certainty, this species’ periodic occurrence in northeastern North America has led to its inclusion on the A.O.U. Checklist of North American Birds (1998). Present at a feeder throughout December, the chaffinch was observed and photographed by dozens of birders and eventually banded, hence its identity was unequivocal.
So there’s been more than a few hints that I’ve been keeping something quiet for a few months and I finally more or less revealed what is was the other day. Now, here’s the story.
December 1st was a pretty typical Tuesday. I got up around 7, checked the feeders quickly, read the paper, ate breakfast, and got ready for work. There was nothing at the feeders when I looked, so the House Sparrow that was sitting outside the sink window as I got my lunch together was the first bird of the day. It flew a few feet and I noticed a bit of white in the tail and wings. That probably should have been a sign to look closely, but I just assumed it was last year’s leucistic bird returning.
It’s been an interesting 3+ months and since I’m telling other people they can start talking, I should have something up first. Much, much more in the next few days.
(Photos from 2/15)
