Date: 5/23/26 4:33 pm From: Olivia DeMarchi via groups.io <oliviademarchi7...> Subject: [NEBirds] Ash Hollow Banding Station Week 5 Summary
Ash Hollow Banding Station Week 5 (May 19-23) Summary
Spring migration banding has wrapped up at Ash Hollow and it proved to be an exciting and bittersweet ending. We ended the week with 136 newly banded birds and 37 recaptures of 25 species. The week started off strong with an Eastern Screech-owl finding its way into a net early Tuesday morning. This was an adult female with a brood patch, so she probably had a nest nearby and was out hunting before the sun peeked over the hill. The owl was already plenty exciting, so imagine my surprise later that same morning when I found a beautiful male Scarlet Tanager in a net. This bird was spotted by birders a couple days later, so he may be sticking around for some time. Other highlights from the week include recapturing the same female Hooded Warbler from last Saturday 3 times over 3 days and then capturing a male Hooded Warbler this Saturday. The male was singing loud and proud before getting caught and if the female is still around Ash Hollow, I hope they find each other. Lastly, we also managed to capture a pretty male Chestnut-sided Warbler in alternate plumage on Thursday. This was one species I was crossing my fingers for after Merlin picked up one singing around the station. Other odd warblers heard and seen around the station this week include Bay-breasted Warbler and Blackburnian Warbler, so it's safe to say Ash Hollow is a great place to spot some eastern vagrants.
It's been a fantastic season and I want to thank all of the visiting school groups and the Birdy Blitz program participants for coming out to learn about bird banding. Migration banding at Ash Hollow will be up and running again next spring, and if you are interested in scheduling a school field trip please contact Delanie Bruce at delanie.bruce@birdconservancy. org ( <delanie.bruce...> ) or 308-633-1013. See you next year!
