Date: 6/20/26 4:48 pm From: R Stewart <2cnewbirds...> Subject: Re: [VTBIRD] Mansfield VCE banding
So GREAT to get a working season update on what's going on on Mansfield.
Hoping to read more. I missed this last year. Ruth S.
On Fri, Jun 19, 2026 at 6:54 PM Leslie Dee <ladonawhim...> wrote:
> Thad
>
> Pretty interesting work being done at top of Mansfield.
>
> Leslie
>
> > On Jun 19, 2026, at 2:14 PM, Chris Rimmer <ccrimmer...> wrote:
> >
> > This update isn't exactly hot off the press, but I had an overdue
> reunion
> > tour on Mt. Mansfield early this week with the VCE banding crew of Anna
> > Peel, Desiree Narango, Mike Hallworth, and field intern Jackie Quinones.
> > VCE's work on montane forest birds there, now in its 35th year, continues
> > with a focus both on long-term monitoring and intriguing shorter-term
> > ecological research questions. We operated the usual array of ~30
> > constant-effort mist nets on Monday evening and Tuesday morning, followed
> > by target netting of Bicknell's Thrush and Blackpoll Warbler on
> Wednesday.
> > We captured a total of 76 individuals of 13 species; 35 of these were new
> > bandings and the remaining 41 were recaptures, either from earlier this
> > year or previous years.
> >
> > Totals included:
> > Yellow-belled Flycatcher -- 1 new
> > Red-eyed Vireo -- 1 new female (probably a failed breeder)
> > Golden-crowned Kinglet -- 1 new female
> > Winter Wren -- 2 new males
> > Bicknell's Thrush -- 19 (16 males, 3 females), of which only 4 were new
> > bandings and the rest previously banded. The oldest bird was a male
> banded
> > as a yearling in 2022.
> > Swainson's Thrush -- 5 males (4 new). The lone recapture was of a bird
> > banded last year.
> > American Robin -- 2 new males
> > Dark-eyed (Slate-colored) Junco -- 9 (7 males, 2 females)
> > White-throated Sparrow -- 4 new males
> > Ovenbird -- 1 new female (a probable failed breeder)
> > Magnolia Warbler -- 4 males (2 new, 2 recaps from earlier in June)
> > Blackpoll Warbler -- 18 (14 males, 4 females), of which 8 were new birds
> > and 10 previously banded, several from previous years. The oldest of
> these
> > was a male banded in 2022 as a yearling.
> > Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warbler -- 8 (6 males, 2 females)
> > Black-throated Green Warbler -- 1 new male; these are now regular on the
> > ridgeline
> >
> > With longtime VCE colleague Bill Deluca of National Audubon, Mike
> Hallworth
> > is spearheading a truly innovative and exciting research project on
> > Blackpoll Warblers. In a continentwide effort to investigate the
> migration
> > patterns and flight altitudes of this diminutive transoceanic migrant,
> > Mike, Bill and others are deploying tiny barometric pressure tags on
> > Blackpolls on Mansfield and 4 other breeding sites from Newfoundland to
> > Alaska. These miniature backpacks will be recovered when the birds
> return a
> > year from now, yielding priceless data that will reveal the intricacies
> of
> > their migrations, with important impacts for siting planned offshore wind
> > developments. Learn more at
> >
> https://www.masscec.com/blog/ocean-science-field-notes-mapping-songbird-migration-routes-and-altitudes-over-atlantic-inform > .
> >
> >
> > VCE's 2026 banding season is off to a strong start, with solid numbers so
> > far of signature montane forest species like Bicknell's Thrush and
> > Blackpoll Warbler. For me, being back up there evoked many fond memories!
> > My dawn opening net run on the Amherst Trail was magical:
> > https://ebird.org/checklist/S358330259.
> >
> > Chris
> > -------------------
> > Chris Rimmer
>
