Read a band on returning sub adult this morning

[John Miller]

Okay...out using a borrowed spotting scope this morning. I got more banded sub adult birds returning than I can shake a stick at. Across three small colony sites this morning in St. Louis Forest Park and at a restaurant site in nearby south St. Louis, I could see bands on at least four with my binoculars.

So set up the scope in the park by one very busy golf course house -- the scope courtesy Forest Park Forever, and about time I'm ready to give up -- the birds keep jumping around -- managed to read one: MO A 019. Records indicate was banded at another house about 500 feet away on June 19, 2011.

Will try to read a few more, but so glad to get one.

Background: through the Missouri River Bird Observatory last season, about 800 martins were banded throughout Missouri -- 150 in scattered housing here in St. Louis. Already seems to me I'm seeing more returnees than I'd expect, but maybe this is prime real estate.

Kathy Freeze in Licking, Mo., has seen bands on several returning and read one band, maybe two. Would be really cool if we confirm a band on a martin banded at another location. surely many of the banded birds are out there!

John Miller

[KathyF]

That's awesome, John!! I was starting to wonder if anyone else had read any bands in MO! Actually, I have confirmed 4 banded birds at my site:

A398
A631
A665
A451 (all the 4 above are SY males)
and have one unconfirmed A36??? I haven't been able to find him/her again to confirm the last number.

And I posted a few days ago about sighting a banded bird at my Aunt's colony that is just over 8 miles away from me, but her band was dirty and I'm going back in a few days to try to read it again.

[rdhd]

W