Species #90 at Murphy Lake Banding Site

 

    I've been banding birds at my Murphy Lake banding site for a long time. This is my 6th year of doing full time migration banding at the site and I thought I'd caught just about every species of bird that I was bound to catch base on habitat and geography. However, the one thing I know to be true in bird banding and research in general is that unless you persist for the long term there is a good chance you will miss something that only occurs occasionally. 

    Well that something happened yesterday. On my second day of spring banding I walked up to one of my nets to find this bird suspended in the net pocket. At first I thought it was a Northern Shrike when I saw the gray, black and white combination of feathers.  As I got closer though I realized this was a first. In the net was a Northern Mockingbird! Not a common bird at all here. One that gets reported to the rare bird alert only a few times each year. And it was the 90th species I've banded on that site. Migration can feel a bit like Christmas morning, you never know what present may be under the tree.

    It really is these kinds of days that make all the early mornings worth it.