Despite a lot of cool damp weather, we had another pretty decent week here at Presque Isle. We banded a total of 246 new birds of 31 different species. White-throated Sparrows continued to be our biggest catch, with 130 newly banded birds. They have been using the park's resources to fatten up for their journey across the Lake to their breeding grounds and have been quite a joy to watch. The biggest highlight was definitely the amount of raptors that we have banded thus far this season: two Cooper's Hawks and four Sharp-shinned Hawks. They, too, are migrating through the area and we don't often catch any raptors, let alone six, so it has been pretty special.
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| Immature Male Sharp-shinned Hawk. Notice the yellow-orangish eye and the dark brown plumage. |
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| Adult Male Sharp-shinned Hawk. Notice the red eye and slate gray, almost blue-tinged plumage. |
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| Long time volunteer, Frank Frisina, proudly displaying a male Sharp-shinned Hawk, the first raptor he's ever extracted. |
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| Long time supporter of bird banding at Presque Isle, Sam Stull, admiring a Sharp-shinned Hawk |
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| Ron Cleaver, a long time reader of our blog visited us at the banding station and got to see a female Northern Flicker up close. |