Coastal Virginia Wildlife Observatory's spring migration banding station at
First Landing State Park opened it's second season today and will operate
seven days a week through June 15th. The bander-in-residence is Jethro
Runco, who serves as well as CVWO's bander-in-residence at the fall
migration station at Kiptopeke on Virginia's Eastern Shore. A surprise
early capture at the First Landing station this morning was a blue-gray
gnatcatcher. When I left there this afternoon, 73 of the 80 new
prothonotary warbler nest boxes had been installed as part of a new
conservation and research initiative by CVWO in collaboration with the Park.
Many of these boxes were installed in the bald cypress swamp habitat that is
distributed through much of the Park. In contrast to the established nest
box programs at Dutch Gap, Presquile NWR, and Deep Bottom Park, which are
maintained exclusively through by canoe, the new site at First Landing will
be monitored with the use of waders. Biologist Shannon Ehlers will conduct
the monitoring for CVWO. With the addition of this site, the Prothonotary
Warbler Project in Virginia will have approximately 530 nest boxes in the
field this season. The boxes at Dutch Gap will continue to be monitored by
me and those at Presquile NWR and Deep Bottom Park will be monitored by
staff members of VCU's Center for Environmental Studies. Needless to say,
the arrival of the first prothonotaries in early April, including the return
of many adult breeders from previous years, is eagerly awaited!
Bob Reilly
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