Greetings!
We finally got a chance to band at our Hueston Woods location 
yesterday.  Despite having to find and replace many poles from non-banding 
activities that overran our research site in previous weeks, we are now 
back on track!! We banded 17 individuals, recaptured 6 previously banded 
individuals from 8 species, highlights included Winter Wren (1), Brown 
Thrashers (2), Golden-crowned Kinglets (5), Field Sparrows (2, including an 
individual first banded 5Nov2005),  Downy Woodpecker, and White-throated 
Sparrows [WTSP] (2 plus 4 recaptures).  The White-throated Sparrows are 
really cool!! Two individuals were recaptured from 2004! 305 and 312 were 
first banded 19April2004, both were banded on the same day.  Both 
individuals were recaptured 9April2005 and then again yesterday 
5April2006.  We have not recaptured either bird at any other time during 
the year.  The other two WTSP's we recaptured were initially banded last 
fall (3Nov2005 or 19Nov2005).  A possible scenario for this pattern is we 
have our resident over-wintering WTSP's (the ones banded last year) and we 
have birds pushing through as they migrate northward--the cool part is if 
they are birds migrating northward A) they travel together (a pair?) year 
after year, B) they follow the same pattern each year in areas they use for 
refueling C) they roughly follow the same schedule each year at those 
refueling locations--think about the implications from a conservation 
perspective! It is these tantalizing bits of data that make all this work 
so rewarding!!!
Other interesting notes: N. Rough-winged Swallows are back at the dam (as 
are hundreds of Tree Swallows), Brown Thrashers are actively signing 
throughout the banding station. It looks like Golden-crowned Kinglets are 
pushing northward--we banded 5 but flocks of 25-30 birds were frequently 
seen around the station (couple Ruby-crowned mixed in) E. Phoebes singing 
as were Winter Wrens (banded one).
Cheers!!
Dave