Introducing...the ALL NEW BSBO Bander's Blog

8/15/2017

It may be hard for some to accept, but FALL MIGRATION has already begun!!! (Sorry summer). In preparation for our fall migration banding season in the Navarre Marsh Unit of Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge, our research team has been hard at work the past week clearing lanes, trimming back grapevine, and setting up nets for the new season before our volunteers arrive. With an official start as of yesterday, the season has already started off in a great way. Being only the second capture record for fall in the history of the station, our team was ecstatic to catch this hatching-year male Kentucky Warbler.

Regarded more as a "southern warbler," Kentuckys are uncommon to rare in NW Ohio during spring migration, let alone fall. We'll never know where this bird came from (maybe Oak Openings, maybe Michigan, or maybe he just wanted to fly north before fall). But we do know that he visited Navarre Marsh.
Whether or not this represents a northern expansion of the species is impossible to say. Only further years of research will be able to determine that. But for now, it represents a remarkable encounter and the knowledge to be gained from science.

Stay tuned during fall migration for our daily banding updates and follow along to find out what our research team is hearing, seeing, and banding in the field. You can also support our research team's efforts by sponsoring a mist net.
http://www.bsbo.org/sponsor-a-mist-net.html

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ABOUT THE
NAVARRE MARSH BANDING STATION

The Observatory's primary banding station is located in Navarre Marsh behind the Davis Besse Nuclear Power Station on Toledo Edison property. Migration monitoring consists of constant effort mist netting and migration point counts (5 minute counts at 6 locations at the research site).

Habitat is remnant beach ridge consisting of canopy trees of Hackberry, Kentucky Coffeetree, and Cottonwood with tremendous under story of rough-leaved Dogwood on the sand ridges. This is similar to the vegetation found on the well-known beach ridge of the Magee Marsh Bird Wildlife Area where the world-famous boardwalk is situated.

Two other remnant beach ridge habitats in Northwest Ohio are the Darby unit of the Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge and the Cedar Point National Wildlife Refuge. The Navarre beach ridge is the largest of them all occupying about 370 acres of wetland and beach ridge habitat.

The Navarre Marsh Migration Monitoring Station is on private property and not open to the public; however, we are able to give access to research students when special arrangements are made in advance.

We'd love to hear from you! Let us know how you like the BSBO Bird Bander's Blog by emailing us at: [email protected].

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