Date: 10/10/26 2:44 pm From: Barbara Volkle <barb620...> Subject: [MASSBIRD] West Hill Dam banding 10/10
Thanks to Strickland Wheelock for this report.
Barbara Volkle Northborough,MA <barb620...>
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Date: Sat, 10 Oct 2026 19:44:15 +0000 (UTC) From: Strickland Wheelock <skwheelock...> Subject: West Hill Dam banding 10/10
Busy nonstop morning at West Hill Dam, esp along the marsh where we captured 30 on the 1st run - what was exciting to witness were all the warblers &sparrows zipping about that were not captured. After processing the 1st group, we had several more captures in the same nets & still many more flying about. After 3 runs, we had 48 captures of 16 species before we closed for the morning [leaving many more for Sun morning].The breakdown was several Yellow-rumps, 1 Blackpoll & 1 Palm Warbler - for sparrows were several White-throats, Song, Field, Chipping, 1 Swamp, 1 Savannah, 1 Junco & several Towhees - other species were Cardinals, Catbirds, Phoebe, Downy Woodpecker & Chickadees.One Field Sparrow was previously banding in 2024.Other interesting species around the site were 2 Am Pipits, Blue-headed Vireo, N Harrier hunting the field, 2 Red-shouldered Hawks, Bald Eagle overhead plus our other 4 woodpeckers seen daily [Pileated, Hairy, Flicker & Red-bellied], Red-winged Blackbirds that we hadn't seen for a while, Gt Blue Heron.Maybe Sunday morning will top today's excitement.Note - the Park is closed for cars due to expansion of the parking area - so no hunting but folks are welcome to walk or bird or bike ride the area - the catch is very limited parking outside the Park.
