Bird banding: black throated blue warbler & common yellowthroat

[Mousetoescamper]

I happened to be camping in the Dolly Sods Wilderness (Monongahela National Forest, WV) when the Brooks Bird Club was doing its annual bird banding in September of 2017. The group has a banding station at the crest of a mountain where mist nets are set before dawn to capture songbirds. The group occupied most of the sites at Red Creek Campground, where I too was camping, and they invited me to observe the banding operation. Below are some of the many photos I took while hanging with the group.

Black throated blue warbler



Setting a mist net

Banding a common yellowthroat

[Probatim]

1. Nice photos!

My son has a few of those from a trip we took several years ago.

It's always a shock to see how small Warblers are when they're in your hand.

[Mousetoescamper]

2. Thanks! Was it a birding trip with your son? Both of my kids are amateur photographers and have

higher quality gear than my own, but not much interest in birds.

I'm grateful to the BBC for letting me get close to the captive birds. Most of my photos of migratory songbirds are done with a long lens and not very good, like this one of a Blackburnian warbler, which was the best shot of the lot. I used a tripod and was certain that I had some crisp images in the camera. Why do they refuse to sit still for their portraits?!

[Probatim]

3. It was a day-trip to Powdermill in Rector, PA.

I'm the birder. He's the photographer - but he knows more birds than he lets on. My daughter is a slightly better birder than him, but both have moved out.

My son's first efforts at photographing warblers almost caused him to rage-quit photography. Spring migrants are a labor of love to find and identify - photographing them is a whole new level.