Hi Dave - similar situation at Jenny Lake, NY in the Adirondacks at about 1250 ft. elev., 33 mi from the VT/NY border at about the latitude of Manchester, VT. Chickadees and R-b Nuts began showing signs of a winter irruption in Aug/Sep, but faded in numbers by Nov.
Only 29 new chickadees were banded Aug to 1/1/21 (90+% immatures), but then on 1/12/21 in a little over 3 hrs with 2.5 mist nets I caught 40 chickadees, 33 of them new birds more than doubling my prior Aug-Jan season total of 29. This irruption is driven by mostly immatures from last year; oddly only 5 recaptures so far of returns banded in previous years which is odd.
I'm looking forward to an interesting Jan-Apr with these tiny forest mites which I have banded at this site for the past 50+ yrs.
Bob Yunick
Jenny Lake and Schenectady, NY
-----Original Message-----
From: david merker <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Thu, Jan 14, 2021 11:26 am
Subject: [VTBIRD] Chickadee Count
Hi all you chickadee counters... Since 1/1/20 I am up to 43 freshly counted chickadees. Two returned chickadees, one from 5/2019 and one from 10/2016. While I'm not targeting banded birds, I try to catch all the birds that have bands on their right leg. As I am left handed, I band all birds on their left leg. I do the majority of the banding here, but there are other folks who run the station now and again, all righties, hence I retrap those to get their age.
I can be selective because I use a homemade remote control single cell potter trap on a platform feeder. I set it off from my kitchen table! The banded chickadees, titmouse, nuthatches, blue jays continue to feed in that trap without being caught. Turns out that keeps the un-banded chickadees confidence high enough to also feed in that trap. I think they are copy cats... then I hit the button as needed. They are fast and I'm not... I'm at 85% catch rate. More chickadees to come.
David Merker
Etna, New Hampshire
Cape May Raptor Banding Project Inc.
www.capemayraptors.org<http://www.capemayraptors.org>
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