Hey Dr. Russel unfortunately I am emailing to you to ask if you could take me off the bird banding server!!! even though I love getting all the random bird banding information I need more space especially this year for all my other important emails from professors and such telling me how great of a student I am and how wonderful I did in there classes!! haha  I hope your bird banding goes well and I am sure I will see you around Pearson or maybe the ERC! thanks!!

Kelly Opalka
________________________________________
From: AREI Bird Banding Stations [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Russell, David E. Dr. [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Tuesday, August 19, 2008 3:43 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: And it begins again!!

Greetings!!!
After a much too short summer (I’m still thinking about doing things I wanted to get done in May!!!) fall migration is upon us! You might have noticed the lack of Yellow Warblers—Louisiana Waterthrushes have largely bailed also and hatch-year shorebirds arrived 10 days ago (adults started in mid-July).  We have been busy since the end of spring migration in June—we banded 75 birds during our breeding bird study (MAPS) in the Big Woods including Acadian Flycatchers, Prothonotary Warblers, Kentucky Warblers (including a recapture from 2005), and a Hooded Warbler. I was able to successfully pass my North American Banding Council exam and am now a certified Trainer. Jill and I spent a couple days at Lake Erie last weekend presenting a talk at the Ohio Bird Bander Association meetings and banding shore birds in Ottawa NWR.  Really cool—shorebirds are amazing!!  I thought everyone done here might be as enthralled with the shorebirds as we were, so today Rafael and I set-up a few nets in the mudflats at the north end of Acton Lake to attempt to band some of the shorebirds that pass through us.  Shorebird numbers were low this morning, a couple of Least, Solitary, and Spotted Sandpipers with a Lesser Yellowlegs or two and about a dozen Killdeer.  But I think we have a great chance of banding some of the swarm of kingfishers and maybe a Green Heron or two. At any rate, we’ll set the nets up at dawn on Thursday this week (Aug 21) in the marsh, accessed through Group campground site #1. Because the nets are exposed, thus more easily seen, we’ll probably only band until 9:30 or 10. Come check it out!

We will be posting the fall schedule soon—I have been able to schedule all my teaching on MWF’s so banding days will be nearly every TR until Nov.  We hope to have a couple weekend dates also and we’ll be banding sparrows again the first (and maybe second) weekends in Oct at Shakertrace.
Cheers
Dave
PS  For Thursday, the water is relatively shallow, bring boots or shoes you can wade in if you would like to help.