This article by Cassia the Nest Finder, a member of the VFAS Youth Birding Club, is about her experience visiting a bird banding station at Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area.
This past summer I, my brother, and my mother made a trip to Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area with the Valley Forge Audubon Society Youth Birding Club. For a bit we hung out in the parking lot identifying birds with the rest of the group. Then we met two people who worked there. They answered questions and explained what they did at Middle Creek. Then we went down the trail to the place where they banded the birds. To my great joy, there were many wineberry bushes, which provided flavorful snacks for me. Throughout the time we were there, several different species of birds were caught in the nets: Northern Cardinal, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Gray Catbird, Ovenbird, Downy Woodpecker, and Wood Thrush.
I got to release a Wood Thrush. I had never seen a Wood Thrush so close up. It was beautifully perfect. I loved the black spots against the snow white breast. Only a few colors can make the most beautiful bird. Later I saw a Yellow Warbler hopping along a tree trunk. I’d never seen one hopping up a trunk like that. It was a lovely sight. I also finally found out what birders mean when they complain about bad lighting, as I tried to identify the warbler on the cloudy day.
For each kind of bird that was caught in the nets we got a card that showed a picture of the bird and its name. On the back of the card are some things about the bird. For example, on the back of the Downy Woodpecker Card it says: The call sounds like “pik.” A fun fact is that ¾ of their diet is insects. The other ¼ is plant material like seeds and nuts. How can you help this species? Fill your feeders with suet, sunflower seeds & peanuts. If safe, leave old trees standing. Woodpeckers like to nest in them.
I enjoyed chatting with a woman who worked at Middle Creek, telling her stories of the bluebird boxes I monitor in the spring and summer. I asked her some questions about what to do with some difficulties I had with my boxes. She was very helpful.
The bird banding ended late in the morning. We went to the grass next to the parking lot to eat lunch and watch the birds that were around. We then checked out the Purple Martin nest boxes before going inside to check out the Visitors’ Center. I had fun inside before going on a bird drive. We stopped every once in a while to look at birds. We saw some amazing birds, like a couple of killdeer, flycatchers, geese, gulls, an egret, and Great Blue Herons. We also saw deer and a nest of either an Alder Flycatcher or a Willow Flycatcher with the bird on it. (The nest was in a small bush, no more than several feet high, in a hedge close to the road.) And much more. I had a wonderful time, and I learned a great deal about birds. I hope to keep on learning about birds and other creatures 🙂
