Neighborhood Nestwatch
The Neighborhood Nestwatch with the National Aviary was a lot of fun! It turned out to be a beautiful morning. We were visited by expert, Matt Webb and Volunteers, Sam Ford and Michael Leonard. Seventeen (17) birds were netted and color bands were placed on only 6 birds, which were the target birds for the Aviary and Smithsonian study. We are excited to continue to watch for these birds and document reported sightings, which will go into the Smithsonian’s database. Even though there were many birds flying around, it took a while to net. They appeared to outsmart the nets, especially the American Robin. Included in the banded birds were 3 Song Sparrows, a Northern Cardinal, a House Wren, and a Carolina Wren. Other birds that were netted and released without banding included, American Goldfinch, Red Belly Woodpecker, Whitebreasted Nuthatch, House Finch, and a Tufted Titmouse. One juvenile Northern Cardinal was netted, but had to be released due to being overheated and stressed.
A Great Experience
It was interesting to see how all the birds’ personalities differed. For example, the male cardinal that was netted was very feisty, but what a beautiful bird! We all had fun watching him and learning about him, and the golden finches were much calmer and less intimidating.
The children who attended were so enthusiastic in helping to release the birds. One of the Hope Grows interns even made it for the early morning and added that she thoroughly enjoyed the environmental interaction. Everyone is still talking about the experience and cannot wait until next year! Once a month we will be submitting data from sightings on the property; call for a visit to the Hope House and help us look for resightings.[fusion_images picture_size=”fixed” hover_type=”none” autoplay=”yes” columns=”5″ column_spacing=”13″ show_nav=”yes” mouse_scroll=”no” border=”yes” lightbox=”no” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility”][fusion_image image=”https://hopegrows.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/nestwatch1-225×300.jpg” image_id=”2165″ link=”” linktarget=”_self” alt=”nestwatch 1″ /][fusion_image image=”https://hopegrows.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/nestwatch-2-225×300.jpg” image_id=”2167″ link=”” linktarget=”_self” alt=”” /][fusion_image image=”https://hopegrows.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/nestwatch-3-225×300.jpg” image_id=”2168″ link=”” linktarget=”_self” alt=”” /][fusion_image image=”https://hopegrows.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/nestwatch-4-225×300.jpg” image_id=”2169″ link=”” linktarget=”_self” alt=”” /][fusion_image image=”https://hopegrows.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/nestwatch-5-225×300.jpg” image_id=”2170″ link=”” linktarget=”_self” alt=”” /][fusion_image image=”https://hopegrows.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/nestwatch-6-225×300.jpg” image_id=”2171″ link=”” linktarget=”_self” alt=”” /][fusion_image image=”https://hopegrows.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/nestwatch-7-225×300.jpg” image_id=”2172″ link=”” linktarget=”_self” alt=”” /][fusion_image image=”https://hopegrows.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/nestwatch-8-225×300.jpg” image_id=”2173″ link=”” linktarget=”_self” alt=”” /][fusion_image image=”https://hopegrows.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/nestwatch-9-225×300.jpg” image_id=”2174″ link=”” linktarget=”_self” alt=”” /][fusion_image image=”https://hopegrows.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/nestwatch-10-247×300.jpg” image_id=”2175″ link=”” linktarget=”_self” alt=”” /][fusion_image image=”https://hopegrows.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/nestwatch-11-300×225.jpg” image_id=”2176″ link=”” linktarget=”_self” alt=”” /][fusion_image image=”https://hopegrows.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/nestwatch-12-300×225.jpg” image_id=”2177″ link=”” linktarget=”_self” alt=”” /][/fusion_images]