Banding day here
May 29, 2011 - Port Colborne - ADM Mill
Doug Garbutt Reports:
After last weeks transfer of the young ones from the beam to the nest box, Anne Yagi, Mark Nash & Corrine were back to band the eyases. The small entourage were here at 10 am. Rolf Numsen promptly signed them in and equipped them with the necessary saftey ppe required. After a nice meet & greet with the plant manager Frank Jantz they made their way up to the 12th floor with all gear in hand. It was 10:30 when they reached the top. We are lucky here to have a drop down door in front of the nest box. With a camera in the box & a monitor in our lunch room we were able to know when to drop the door without trapping an adult in the box or dropping it on a young one (via walkie talkie). After the door closed, Mom & Dad were a little upset to say the least. Corrine extracted the young from the box and with Anne’s expertise the young’s sex & age were determined. The 1st was a male weighing in at 556 gms. His band is 50/Y, we named him Max. The 2nd turned out to be a female weighing in at 838 gms. we named her Olivia. Anne & Corrine said both appear to be in good health. By 11:15 the birds were back in their box. Shortly after, Mom was back too. A big thanks to the MNR, CPF & ADM management for helping these rare birds have a chance at survival. Some pics of the day are included.
