Readers’ wildlife photos

Bob Placier’s avocation is bird banding, which he does seriously and diligently. We previously saw his photos about banding adorable Northern Saw-Whet Owls, and now here are some other species. His captions are indented, and you can enlarge Bob’s photos by clicking on them.

I thought I would send along a few pics from my regular banding sessions during spring and fall migration, and a Brown Creeper winter picture from near my feeders. All photos taken here at my home in southeastern Ohio. These are all birds that I uncommonly get here.

Brown Creeper (Certhia americana) – Very widespread in North America, but I get them here only in winter.

Cooper’s Hawk (Accipiter cooperii) – Also very widespread, I catch them when they are in pursuit of songbirds. I capture more Sharp-shinned Hawks (Accipiter striatus), but think that is because the Cooper’s, being larger, get out of the nets more readily.

American Woodcock (Scolopax minor) – Common in eastern North America, and they nest in my vicinity. I watch the males do their mating display on my neighbor’s property each spring. But I have only banded two out of them out of about 23,000 birds I have done to date.

Lincoln’s Sparrow (Melospiza lincolnii) – A boreal bog species, that neither nests nor overwinters in Ohio. But I generally get 1-3 each year during their migrations.

Mourning Warbler (Geothlypis philadelphia) – Another transient migrant in my area, I generally band 1-2 each migration season. A skulker, much sought after by bird watchers.

Yellow-breasted Chat (Icteria virens) – Long considered to be a New World warbler, finally moved to its own monotypic family, Icteriidae, in 2017. An “old field” species, declining in my area as forest succession has reduced that habitat.