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.

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