Net Results

Let's talk turkey

2013-04-30T13:53:00.000-04:00

Turkey track found at the north end of Fairlane Lake next to my notebook for scale. (Update at end of post!) On April 16, a Wild Turkey was reported on campus. It was seen twice at Fairlane Estate, once at the feeders behind the EIC, and I found a track at the north end of the lake (right). For one morning, this bird really got around! Wayne County has had many turkey reports in the

Winter Bird Population Survey 2012-2013

2013-03-07T11:46:00.000-05:00

The 21st year of RRBO's Winter Bird Population Survey has been completed. Over the late-December to late-February survey period, 39 species were tallied. The previous annual average number of species is 38. We added yet another new species this year, a Merlin recorded on 19 December*. This brings the total cumulative species list for 21 years to 73. Comparing this season's results to the

Dearborn portion of Detroit River CBC, 2013

2013-01-11T12:04:00.000-05:00

Frozen Fairlane Lake on the University of Michigan-Dearborn campus. The Detroit River Michigan-Ontario Christmas Bird Count was held, as it is each year, on January 1. This was the 36th year for the count, which is centered at I-94 and Warren Ave, and the 19th year that RRBO has coordinated the field work in the city of Dearborn. The day began on a high note. As usual, my husband Darrin

Fall 2012 banding season review

2012-11-15T14:29:00.000-05:00

Our 21st fall banding season took place on 38 days from 17 August to 25 October. An average of 17 nets (12 meter equivalent*) were open an average of 4.3 hours per day. This is the fewest number of days we have been open in a fall season, as we lost 14 whole days and curtailed many others due to rain, heat, or wind, including the last week or so of the season due to Superstorm Sandy and her

Our online seed guide

2012-10-22T12:26:00.000-04:00

As regular followers know, RRBO's primary research focus is the ecology of fall migrant birds in urban areas, and one of our main project is examining the fall diet of birds at our urban site. To do this, we collect fecal samples from the birds that we band, and identify and catalog all the seeds we find. We initially compiled a book of photos of seeds from plants known to occur in the area,

Banding update

2012-10-10T13:43:00.000-04:00

We are well on our way to banding the fewest birds in any fall season in 20 years! The fewest new birds we have banded prior to this year was 739 in 1996. Our "slowest" year was actually 2008, when our capture rate (birds banded as a function of the number of nets we used and the number of hours we had them open) was 33.4 birds per 100 net hours. You can see our current numbers in the right

Silent Spring after 50 years

2012-09-25T09:27:00.000-04:00

Have we learned our lesson? Fifty years ago this month the important book Silent Spring by Rachel Carson was published. This book warned about the lethal and persistent effects of the pesticide DDT. This book, while in some ways outdated, remains a classic not only for its role in inspiring environmental stewardship, but also because although DDT has been banned in the United States, as a

MIA: young birds

2012-09-14T08:03:00.002-04:00

In our last update, I mentioned that I thought the hot, dry summer might have resulted in low productivity -- fewer young birds fledged. Fall banding is an excellent way to assess productivity, as the ratio of young to adult birds is easy to tally. Here at RRBO, about 81% of the birds we band in fall are young-of-the-year, known to banders as "hatch-year" birds. This is fairly typical, although

August banding

2012-09-07T12:38:00.000-04:00

Fall banding 2012 started on August 17. As I suspected, things have been slow. The very hot, dry summer seems to have resulted in low reproductive productivity for our most common local breeding bird species, such as American Robins. It's just difficult for them to find ground-dwelling invertebrates to feed their young when it is so dry. Rather than just summarize numbers this fall banding

Dearborn Passenger Pigeons: Then and Now

2012-08-29T07:54:00.000-04:00

I recently became aware of an interesting website: Project Passenger Pigeon. Since 2014 marks the 100-year anniversary of the extinction of Passenger Pigeons, a group based out of the Chicago Academy of Science is using its story as an opportunity to educate people about extinction, habitat preservation, and species conservation. The web site is very extensive. Among many other topics, it

We [they!] meet again

2012-07-02T13:20:00.002-04:00

An amazing update on what was already an odds-defying series of recaptures of our birds.

Spring 2012 survey results

2012-06-27T09:10:00.002-04:00

(Cross-posted at RRBO web site) The spring 2012 survey season took place 3 April through 4 June. On campus, regular surveys were conducted on 58 of the 65 days; some coverage late in the season was truncated due to field work related to our catbird study. Because of the unusual weather (discussed below), surveys were also conducted on 21 days in March. Excluding March, the campus surveys

Dickcissels in Dearborn

2012-06-20T14:52:00.002-04:00

(Edited 25 Jun with new data) There are at least a dozen Dickcissels (maybe more) in the wildflower fields at Ford Road and Mercury. This is the field marked "8" on our page of Ford fields. Note that the fields are marked "No trespassing," so if you visit, please scan from a roadside and be careful of traffic. I first heard these birds on 18 June. My husband Darrin O'Brien saw a bird carrying

Catbird success!

2012-05-21T13:37:00.000-04:00

One of our research projects at RRBO is a joint project with Dr. Melissa Bowlin, a faculty member here at UM-Dearborn. Last fall, we placed light-level geologgers (or geolocators) on a sample of Gray Catbirds on campus. Catbirds are one of our most frequently banded birds. These tiny devices measure light several times daily. If placed on a migrating bird, they will record data that can be used

North American Migration Count 2012

2012-05-16T14:03:00.000-04:00

The North American Migration Count takes place the second Saturday each May. It aims to take a "snapshot" of migration, and is compiled on a county basis. My husband Darrin is the coordinator for Wayne County, and as usual we covered the city of Dearborn together on May 12. Spring migration this year got off to a great start the first week in May. We had very good numbers of early migrants

Chimney Swift tower!

2012-05-07T09:26:00.000-04:00

Chimney Swifts are probably familiar to most people: twittering "flying cigars" in our summer skies, feeding on aerial insects. Like other species of swifts, Chimney Swifts spend most of their time in the air, even mating and bathing on the wing. Chimney Swifts breed across much of eastern North America, and winter in the Amazon basin of northwestern South America. Patient observers might note

Moth program results

2012-04-30T18:02:00.000-04:00

Our moth program with field guide author Seabrooke Leckie was a great success! We were a bit worried about the cool weather, but Seabrooke explained that many moth species overwinter as adults (rather than eggs, caterpillars, or pupae/cocoons). These cold-hardy species will fly in temperatures cooler than we were experiencing (in the mid-50s). Seabrooke arrived in late afternoon, and we set up

Update on European Goldfinches

2012-04-26T12:46:00.002-04:00

People continue to leave me comments on my previous posts about European Goldfinches in the U.S. (see list of posts below). I am still keeping track, especially of breeding records. In addition to accumulating reports from proactive observers, I also periodically look through birding listservs and eBird records. Unfortunately, any Illinois records put in eBird are filtered out of public view, but

Moth program with field guide author Seabrooke Leckie

2012-04-02T11:07:00.000-04:00

It's with great anticipation that I announce an upcoming program, a joint effort between RRBO and the University of Michigan-Dearborn Environmental Interpretive Center. Seabrooke Leckie, co-author of the new Peterson Field Guide to Moths of Northeastern North America will be visiting on Sunday, April 29, 2012. She will be giving an informal program on moths, and will be setting up her nocturnal

What does summer in winter mean for birds?

2012-03-23T07:37:00.001-04:00

We are in the midst of an unprecedented March heat wave. Here in southeast Michigan, we have experienced a week of temperatures over 70F (and a few over 80F), but this warmth is not a local phenomena. Records are being shattered all over the eastern U.S. and Canada. The growing season in Michigan is about five weeks ahead of schedule. Many insects are also making very early appearances. That,

Early Neotropical migrants (?)

2012-03-22T09:39:00.001-04:00

With the exceptionally warm weather this March, I have been seeing quite a few reports of early migrants. I'm not too surprised to see early reports of species that winter in the U.S. (short-distance migrants). This is probably due to both favorable weather and the fact many more people are outdoors this year looking for birds. But reports of Neotropical (long-distance migrants) deserve more

Winter Bird Population Survey 2011-2012

2012-02-24T10:29:00.000-05:00

The 20th year of RRBO's Winter Bird Population Survey has been completed. Over the 20 December to 20 February survey period, 39 species were tallied. The previous annual average number of species is 38. We added two species this year. The first was Gray Catbird. I had two on the first count day, 20 December 2011. I was standing and looking at one while I heard another calling. We have only one

RRBO is 20 years old!

2012-01-17T14:16:00.000-05:00

The Rouge River Bird Observatory banded its first bird -- a Black-capped Chickadee -- in 1992. Since then, we've banded over 33,000 more birds, conducted thousands of bird surveys, compiled hundreds of thousands of bird records, participated in numerous cooperative research projects, trained dozens of field volunteers...our list of accomplishments goes on. For our 20th anniversary, we'll be

Dearborn portion of the Detroit River CBC, 2012

2012-01-04T13:01:00.001-05:00

The Detroit River Michigan-Ontario Christmas Bird Count was held, as it is each year, on January 1. This was the 35th year for the count, which is centered at I-94 and Warren Ave, and the 18th year that RRBO has coordinated the field work in the city of Dearborn. The day began with mild temperatures which had been the hallmark of the autumn and winter season up to that point. All water was

Keep those silver bracelets coming....

2011-12-28T14:36:00.000-05:00

This Cooper's Hawk is just one of over 33,000 birds of 122 species banded by the Rouge River Bird Observatory on the campus of the University of Michigan-Dearborn since 1992. Our banding program is supported by donors like you. Help us continue this long-term conservation research project by making a contribution today. Donate online or see our website for a mail-in form. Thank you from RRBO!