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Peregrine Falcon banded Oct. 2011 at BBBSOctober 7, 2011 - An interesting mix of birds continues to migrate through Big Bald. This week's passerine species included Orange-crowned Warbler, Blackpoll Warbler, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, and Lincoln's Sparrow. Click here to view daily totals of passerines. Highlight raptor species banded this week include Peregrine Falcon, Merlin, and Red-shouldered Hawk. Four Northern Saw-whet Owls were banded during evening and early morning trapping sessions.

We've enjoyed a variety of groups visiting BBBS over the past few weeks, including Montreat College and UNC-Asheville biology students, Madison County Schools, Evergreen Community Charter School, UNCA Wild Bunch, and NC teachers with NCCAT. We greatly appreciate all the help provided by our volunteers this season! Visitors and volunteers are always welcome at the station. Please contact us for additional information.
Blackburnian WarblerSeptember 6, 2011 - Big Bald Banding Station opened for the 2011 fall migration season on August 27. Over 300 birds were banded during the first week. Highlights include four Blackburnian Warblers, a Northern Parula, and a Sharp-shinned Hawk. Most numerous birds were Tennessee Warblers, Black-throated Blue Warblers, and Swainson's Thrushes. Click here to view daily totals. Visitors and volunteers are always welcome. Please contact us for additional information.
Student with JuncoJuly 28, 2011 - We had a great week of "Vacation Bird School" at Big Bald. Young ornithologists learned about birds and the ecosystem through a variety of activities, including nature journaling, data collection, art, and literature. We ended the week with a session of MAPS at Big Bald where students were able to use their new skills and knowledge as they volunteered with the bird banding activities. Click here to view a slideshow of VBS 2011.
Cherokee Language Camp at CoweeJuly 9, 2011 - Southern Appalachian Raptor Research, in collaboration with the Little Tennessee Land Trust and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, initiated a pilot bird monitoring project to explore birds of the Cowee Mound site along the banks of the Little Tennessee River. Over 25 students and adults from the Cherokee Language Camp, lead by Shirley Oswalt, helped with banding, measuring, and transporting birds.
Participants had the chance to observe wild birds up-close, then release them back to their habitat. A total of 16 new birds were banded: four Indigo Buntings, three American Goldfinches, two Northern Parulas, two Carolina Chickadees, and one Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Orchard Oriole, Black-and-white Warbler, Yellow-breasted Chat, and Blue Grosbeak.
Carolina ChickadeeJune 20, 2011 - SARR is offering a summer bird camp, "Big Bald Young Ornithologist Expeditions," for rising 4th and 5th graders from Madison Co., NC and the Wolf Laurel community. Youth participating in the camp will conduct daily expeditions into the Big Bald habitat to explore the science and natural history of bird communities. Activities will include literature readings, creative writing, applied arts, and data collection techniques to help understand the role of birds in Southern Appalachian ecology. Leaders are biologist Mark Hopey and NC Teachers, Tedi McManus and Tina Thomas. Click here for additional information.
Indigo BuntingJune 15, 2011 - The 2011 MAPS season at Big Bald and Tessentee is off to a great start. We're seeing a nice variety of birds between the two habitats. Most common species are Slate-colored Junco, Chestnut-sided Warbler, and Gray Catbird at Big Bald, and Yellow-breasted Chat, Song Sparrow, and Field Sparrow at Tessentee. We've recaptured 47 birds, several of which are Neotropical migrants that were banded last summer in NC, traveled to their wintering grounds in Central or South America, and returned to the same breeding grounds this year. Please visit our MAPS page for detailed banding results for each station.
Volunteers mount NSWO box at Big Bald
April 3, 2011 - Volunteers from SARR, Mountain Wild!,
and the Cherokee National Forest enjoyed a beautiful spring afternoon while they installed ten Northern Saw-whet Owl (NSWO) boxes at Big Bald. The boxes were built and donated by Mountain WILD!, the Asheville chapter of the NC Wildlife Federation. The boxes are part of SARR's ongoing NSWO monitoring program. For additional information, please visit our Owls page.
Mounted NSWO box
Apparent N. Goshawk x Cooper's Hawk HybridJanuary 11, 2011 - Raptor monitoring project at Big Bald nets possible hybrid raptor.  On November 5, 2008, Kathy Gunther and Mark Hopey of  Southern Appalachian Raptor Research captured an atypical Northern Goshawk at Big Bald Banding Station in TN. Upon further investigation, the raptor appears to be a Northern Goshawk x Cooper's Hawk hybrid, the first to be documented in the wild. An article describing the apparent hybrid is published in the 2011 winter issue of North American Birds (NAB) http://www.aba.org/nab/.
October at BBBSNovember 17, 2010 - Big Bald Banding Station is closed for the season. However, SARR continues to work on grant proposals, data entry, web page updates, and owl monitoring. Please visit the Songbirds page to view the final data results of the 2010 Fall Passerine Migration season. Over 2300 songbirds were banded. We appreciate the time and effort of BB volunteers and the enthusiasm of all who visited the station.

October 16, 2010 - Frosty mornings and fewer birds are a sign that fall migration is winding down. Bird species at Big Bald are transitioning from the Neotropical migrants we saw in September to resident winter birds arriving from the north to spend their winter in the Big Bald locale. Average daily numbers of birds are approximately twenty, and the most common species banded are  Slate-colored Juncos and Ruby-crowned Kinglets. The first Hermit Thrushes and Golden-crowned Kinglets just arrived this week.

Please note that the Big Bald Banding Station will be closed October 17-18, 2010. We will resume operation on Tues., October 19, 2010.

September 26, 2010 - Large numbers of passerines continued to migrate through Big Bald last week before the rain set in. Click here to view our running total of passerines. Last week's highlight species include Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Yellow-throated Vireo, Northern Waterthrush, and a few Blackpoll Warblers. Forty-one raptors of four species have been banded this season: Sharp-shinned, Cooper's, Merlin, and Red-tailed Hawks. Click here to view our current hawkwatch data on hmana.org. And as always, thanks to all of our dedicated volunteers!
Return Cape May WarblerSeptember 19, 2010 - Volunteers have been busy at Big Bald during the past week, with several days of 100+ birds banded. Highlight species include Wilson's Warbler, Philadelphia Vireo, and a return Cape May Warbler which was banded in a previous year. To view the running total of passerines banded at Big Bald this season, go to our Songbirds page or click here. Our hawkwatch and raptor trapping programs are also underway. Approximately 500 Broad-winged Hawks were observed from Big Bald on Saturday. To view our hawkwatch data on hmana.org, click here.

At the banding tableSeptember 3, 2010 - Big Bald Banding Station opened the fall migration season on September 1 with a nice assortment of passerines. A total of 24 birds of ten species were banded. Seven warbler species included American Redstart, Magnolia, Hooded, Black-throated Blue, Cape May, Tennessee, and Ovenbird. September 2 yielded similar results with an additional warbler species, Black-and-White. Three other passerine species included Slate-colored Junco, Eastern Towhee, and Blue-headed Vireo. We invite you to join us this season! Please view our calendar, and contact us if you plan to visit or volunteer.



August 23, 2010 - Greetings volunteers and visitors of Big Bald and Tessentee! Fall migration banding at Big Bald is just around the corner  - opening day is September 1. We will operate from sunrise to ~1pm daily throughout September and October, except during inclement weather. Volunteers of all skill levels are encouraged to participate in a variety of activities, such as recording data, extracting birds from nets, and banding. Those of you who prefer to just watch are also welcome! Please contact us ahead of time so we can schedule your visit and keep you informed of any changes.

 

On Saturday, October 2, 2010, we are co-hosting a Migration Celebration at Tessentee Bottomlands Preserve, along with Land Trust for the Little Tennessee and the Coweeta Long Term Ecological Research program. Participants will have the opportunity to help gather data about butterfly and bird migrations in the Little Tennessee River migration corridor. We hope you’ll come out and join us! For additional information, click here.


Canada WarblerAugust 10, 2010 – Our last MAPS sample at Big Bald on July 31 ended with a surprise – a male Sharp-shinned Hawk was captured in one of our mist nests, the first Sharpie caught during our two seasons of MAPS. We also captured two new species for this season at BB – Least Flycatcher and Hooded Warbler. The foggy conditions did not hinder bird activity, and a total of 24 new birds were banded, with three recaptures. Numbers at Tessentee on August 1 were quite a bit lower, with only 12 new birds banded and three recaptures. We greatly appreciate the work of all volunteers who helped make the 2010 MAPS season at Big Bald and Tessentee a great success. Please keep an eye on our website as we will be posting updates on fall migration banding at Big Bald. We hope to see you soon!

Students release bird during visit to Tessentee

July 27, 2010 - For the first time this season at

Tessentee MAPS, more volunteers than birds stopped by the banding table on July 21!  An enthusiastic group of thirty-one 4th to 6th graders from the Summer Ed-ventures program at Mountain View School kept busy transporting captured birds like White-eyed Vireo and Northern Cardinal to the banding table.  Other visitors included a nature group from Macon County led by Debby Boots with John and Cathy Sill. A beautiful hatch-year American Redstart was the only new species of the 23 new banded birds and 11 recaptures.  The helpful hands of many volunteers made the day a memorable one for all. 

MAPS at Big Bald was warm and productive as the second wave of Slate-colored Juncos topped the 34 new birds banded.  One surprise bird for the sample was the capture of an exotic, high-altitude Carolina Wren, the first in two years of MAPS at Big Bald!  Thanks to an enthusiastic band of volunteers that helped make the day safe and successful.

Cedar WaxwingJuly 17, 2010 - We were finally able to complete
our MAPS sample at Big Bald after postponing it twice due to weather!  Our numbers today were quite different from 2 weeks ago.  We had a total of 14 new birds banded, in comparison to 50 on July 3. And we captured seven Slate-colored Juncos today, whereas 41 were captured during the previous sample. Four new species of birds were banded for the season - American Redstart, Ovenbird, Blue-headed Vireo, and Black-throated Blue Warbler.  As always, thanks to our dedicated group of volunteers!  See our MAPS page for a list of birds banded (scroll down to the box below the MAPS schedules).

July 12, 2010 - SCHEDULE CHANGE at Big Bald!  Due to inclement weather, we have postponed our next MAPS sample to Saturday, July 17, 2010. For additional information, please visit our MAPS page.  For directions and contact info, click here.

Yellow WarblerJune 27, 2010 - The highest numbers of newly banded birds for the 2010 MAPS season were captured at Tessentee and Big Bald this weekend. Fledglings of a wide variety of species were abundant at both MAPS stations. Species highlights include Worm-eating and Black-throated Green Warblers at Big Bald, Barn Swallow at Tessentee, and Black-and-white Warbler at both stations. We greatly appreciate the enthusiastic and hard-working volunteers who assisted with our MAPS banding activities! For more information and banding results, please visit our MAPS page.



Eastern TowheeJune 2, 2010 - Our MAPS program is off to a great start!  We banded 24 birds at Big Bald and 34 birds at Tessentee during Period 3 in May. Due to the difference in habitats between the two stations, we're banding quite a variety of species. Please visit our MAPS page for banding results for each station.







Spring at BBBSMay 23, 2010 - Southern Appalachian Raptor Research (SARR) has started the second season of MAPS at Big Bald Banding Station on the Cherokee National Forest. SARR is also conducting a MAPS program at Tessentee Bottomland Preserve on Land Trust for the Little Tennessee (LTLT) lands in Macon County, NC.

MAPS is a nationwide program that monitors the productivity and survivorship of breeding birds. See our MAPS page for the 2010 schedules and additional information.                                                       


Northern Saw-whet OwlSARR receives grant funding!
April 2010 - We are pleased to announce that Southern Appalachian Raptor Research (SARR) has been awarded two grants through the Tennessee Ornithological Society and the North Carolina Appalachian Trail License Plate Grant Program. Funding provided through these two grants will allow us to monitor the Northern Saw-whet Owl population, habitat and breeding at Big Bald, and to implement a bird education program.

Preliminary owl surveys conducted by SARR in March 2010 indicated the presence of Northern Saw-whet Owls in the Big Bald habitat. As the season progresses, we will be tracking Saw-whets with radio telemetry to learn more about their use of the area. Keep an eye on our website for updated information throughout the season. 


Students observe Carolina WrenJanuary 2010 - Students at Gardners Elementary School in Wilson County enjoyed a visit from Mark Hopey of Southern Appalachian Raptor Research in December 2009. Since Big Bald Banding Station is too far for students to travel from Wilson, Mark brought the banding station to them. A mist net which Mark set up outside the Media Center yielded four House Sparrows and a Carolina Wren. Students were able to view the birds up-close and learned how to record data as Mark aged, sexed, weighed, measured and banded each bird.

Email us at bigbaldbanding@gmail.com

Last updated on October 7, 2011