Springtime at the Birdcraft Museum
Posted by Mary Faulkner
It was early morning on one of the first beautiful days of spring and a wonderful time for the fifth grade students’ field experience to the Birdcraft Museum in Fairfield. Each year prior to this experience, I tell the students we are going to see how birds are banded and find out the many reasons why birds are banded in the first place. And each year this announcement is met with little enthusiasm, not knowing what to expect, but as is usually the case, this changed very quickly when we arrived at the center. The volunteer banders explained that this is usually a very busy time of year for them. Birds from as far as Arctic tundras and southernmost parts of South America, view this grassy area in the midst of a concrete jungle and seek refuge. The students had the opportunity to observe different bird species being banded; a robin with a pronounced brood patch, two cat birds, one already banded, an American Redstart and the shy and somewhat elusive Yellow Rumped Warbler and the Red Eyed Vireo! The creatures were banded, weighed and checked to see how old they might be, among other things. They had so many questions and answered just as many! After we watched these birds banded and released by students, we walked the picturesque grounds of the center making observations using binoculars, of other birds and reptiles. We also were shown the nets that are hung between trees where the birds are caught for banding. During our short hike we observed turtles, a pair of mallards and a goose sitting on her nest of eggs. It was a great day and a wonderful opportunity for the students to get an up close view of these creatures!
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