Author: aims_admin

Hi all! The south winds quieted just a touch. A very small rainless front passed through mid day and our species mix began to feel a bit more like real Appledore. The pictured Night-Herons (Yellow-crowned juvs.) spent most of the day in the swimming pool. Kiah went back to America after a magnificent year including Midway Is., S.E. Farallon Is., (CA), tern colonies off the Connecticut coast, and Appledore. About 2 hours later, Sally Mack arrived and is being a truly cheerful presence. We finally got through the apparent 200 bird barrier so for pictures, the birds were the stars. Sally and I send you gently flying greetings!

Hel – lo Yawn!! Thursday, the birds gave the bugs a rest! It’s not the slowest day we’ve had on Appledore but it almost felt like it. Most of what we looked at were scenes like this

except when we saw scenes like this:

However, Kiah scored with her bag of “Lootstrife” that she has been collecting from undisclosed locations on Appledore.

No outstanding birds were either seen or caught. Liz and Jeff left us for more productive pursuits. Weather Underground suggests that Saturday could be better! So Kiah and David send you the satisfaction of project progress – even if it isn’t always directly related to the banding station.

Hello there, It’s summer again. The gulls are beginning to quiet and vanish. Jeff ran Crystal Lake for 4 hours in the afternoon and didn’t catch a single bird! A Red-breasted Nuthatch got caught 5 times today and was taken back behind Bartels for her own well-being. The warblers began to remind us about what Appledore CAN be but we are again stuck in south winds all day and all night. The bird of the day was the female Black Scoter that appeared in Broad Cove. THERE ARE APPARENTLY NO WEBWORMS!!! Jeff read a book, Kiah wandered all over the Island doing gull sightings, Liz read a book, and David worked on pictures. And each of us send you the modest pleasure of accomplishment taking the place of the real thrill of doing birds.

Welcome to a happy message! The front on Monday morning left us with gorgeously clear skies – and enough wind all night that for us, it was a total waste. Next to no birds! But we did have excitements: The Catbird that we caught from Braddock Bay (west of Rochester, NY) in the spring reappeared with wing molt not quite finished. Apparently, it spent the summer!! Our first ever return Downy Woodpecker showed us one way that woodpeckers do wing molt. It was first caught in 3W0 on 16 Aug. 2015 and retrapped in 3E9. We guess it lived here for the year but our guess is that he was lonely. Then, we caught the cuckoo! All this was happening while we had a succession of visitors from the SeaShoals family class, and other visiting families. The Yellow Warbler with an unfamiliar band appeared for the second time this fall and turned out to be a bird David Bonter had banded on Island on 27 May 2016. Liz and Kiah took turns running Crystal Lake in the afternoon. Jeff Ott appeared in the afternoon : ) . And the season’s first Black-throated Green Warbler also appeared in the afternoon. And that’s more than enough text for one day. Jeff, Kiah, Liz, and David send you the pure beauty of a clear, warm, fall day on Appledore Island.

Great greetings from your replacement correspondent! Monday on Appledore started with the passage of a cold front bringing rain at 3:00 A.M. We opened about half an hour late and the sky was clear by 7:00. The winds roared most of the day at 20 to 25 knots. Needless to say, the birds did not fly (see chart!) except for the 2 young Peregrines that spent at least half an hour playing in the wind currents around the tower. Sadly, they were too fast and too far away for our cameras. Our picture bird was the Yellow Warbler that received “BLING”!! She had been banded on 21 May 2015 as an ASY-F. Kiah spent some quality time pulling Purple Loosestrife out of the swale.

So, Kiah and Liz and David send you the graciousness of a leisurely day on Appledore Island.

Sunday was very much like Saturday, except instead of seeing the front end of boats bringing lots of visitors to the island, we saw the back end of boats taking them all away. Oh, and we had fewer birds.

In the morning, there were still some visitors coming around, although most found something a little more stimulating to do with their last few hours on the island when they discovered that there wasn’t much going on in the net lanes. One of our most enthusiastic visitors, Kelley (age 11), had told us on Saturday that she was planning to come down to the station at 6:10 and we were both surprised and impressed when she did! We just wished we had more to show her, but she and her sister Celia (age 6) and other visitors (including Charlie, age 11) were happy to see whatever they could.

The continuing SW winds had a predictable effect on the number of birds, with a total of 14 banded. It was a day when we were grateful for baby catbirds — they made up 57% of birds banded — but were also pleased to band a young Eastern Kingbird.

Liz and Kiah set up the Crystal Lake nets in the afternoon and saw 3 Northern Shovelers and a Yellow-crowned Night-Heron. The most interesting sighting of the day, however, was the Bluestripe Garter Snake Kiah found near net 3!

We were sorry to see Peg leave at noon but glad that she was heading to Concord, NH to meet her new granddaughter Samantha, who was born on Saturday!

Cheers from Appledore!
David, Peg, Kiah, and Liz

The number of visitors to the station was both typical and atypical today: we had a fairly typical (for fall) number of bird visitors, and an atypical number of human visitors.

Three boatloads of SML 50th Anniversary celebrants (a total of around 110 people) arrived on the island in the morning, starting with the Gulf Challenger at around 9:00 and followed fairly shortly by the Heiser and the Kingsbury. Visitors trickled through the banding station throughout the day, around 35 or 40 total. Those who came earlier in the day were able to see some birds extracted and processed, but banding activity came to a complete halt shortly after lunch, with only two recaps in the nets after about 1:30. However, the afternoon stayed lively thanks to the 50th Anniversary activities and visiting with many island alums, including John and Louise Kingsbury, Jim Morin, Art Borror, Al Hansen, Rocket Getchell, Peter Randall, Lee Pollock, Jackie Webb, Patty McGill and others.

Anniversary celebration highlights included lots of outdoor programs, SML Director’s coffee, silent and live auctions, and a lobster dinner. We were also entertained at various points by flyovers from the drone that was photographing the events.

Despite the slow afternoon, the numbers picked up a bit from recent days, with a total of 23 birds banded.

Cheers from Appledore,
David, Peg, Kiah, and Liz

The day started out busier in the nets, but after 10 a.m., the number of birds caught basically stopped. Another hot day.

But, as always, Appledore has surprises. On the second net round, on the way back, an Eastern Kingbird was found in Near Line – another species we frequently see, but is an infrequent visitor in the net lanes. And the last bird of the day, on the last net round, a very young house wren – another first for the season.

Liz and David arrived at 5:10 p.m. on the Kingsbury. We enjoyed a quiet supper with the staff and then tomorrow…. approximately 150 people will be arriving for the 50th anniversary celebration.

We send greetings your way,
Peg, Kiah, Liz and David

A S-L-O-W day at the nets, starting off with west winds and gradually shifting to SSE, then SSW. Thank goodness there was some breeze because it is still hot! Very few birds or leaves today. Also, with Becky’s departure, the Days List numbers have dropped precipitously.

Kiah was able to go scouting for gull band sightings.

This morning (and another morning) I could hear the mournful howls of the seals on Duck. If you did not know what you were hearing – I was VERY PUZZLED the first time I heard the seals – the sounds could be a little disturbing, especially when you are hearing them well before dawn.

One nice surprise in the nets today – a bird commonly seen on Appledore but rarely caught in the nets. This HY bird flew just a little too low over Near Line.

We sure hope the nets will be busier for this weekend and the SML 50th anniversary celebration.

Cheers,
Peg and Kiah

Gusty SW winds took Becky back to the mainland in the morning. The temperature at 6 a.m. was 76 degrees!

Kiah and I spent more time extracting leaves than birds today. Only 15 birds banded today. A few firsts for the fall season: Cedar Waxwings & American Goldfinch.

A chance sighting of a first year Laughing Gull, hanging out by the high tide dock (pictures below).

The winds died down by late afternoon but the temperature did not! At 8 p.m. the temperature was still in the mid-70s.

Young gulls, besides begging for food from parents, are also figuring out food sources. We’ve seen young gulls picking up bark and feathers, pecking at pebbles, pecking at a soccer ball, and trying out marigolds.

Warm greetings from Appledore,