Banders & Birders, This weekend we had an influx of White-throated Sparrows, finally, with the 9 banded on Saturday doubling our season total to date! A "normal" season for us is 40-50 banded. It was also clearly a peak weekend for Eastern Phoebe migration, which is a week or two later than normal. In addition to the four banded there were at least 3-4 others not banded in the area both days, as well as birds viewed from the hawk tower. Other late birds included a Nashville Warbler on Sunday (our latest ever was 3 Nov 2001, though typically ~15 Oct is latest), a Red-eyed Vireo on Saturday (record late by 1 day), and most spectatularly a Warbling Vireo on Saturday. This latter bird was a record late date by 26 days, and the first (of only four total) we've handled this year since August 31! Another highlight of the weekend included our first Fox Sparrow of the season. We have yet to band Dark-eyed Junco or American Tree Sparrow, though both have arrived in the park recently. Some photo highlights of this season, and this weekend, can be found at our website at www.hbmo.org. Summaries for the two days follows: October 26, 2002 (7-8 degrees C, overcast with rain in early a.m., wind WNW-WSW at 1-5 mph) Open from 05:30 - 15:00 E.S.T. (9.0 hours, 90.00 Net Hours), closed from 0630-0700 for rain. Total Banded: 61 Eastern Phoebe - 2 Winter Wren - 2 Golden-crowned Kinglet - 12 Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 12 Hermit Thrush - 7 Warbling Vireo - 1 (record late date) Red-eyed Vireo - 1 (record late date) Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warbler - 12 Fox Sparrow - 1 (first of season) Song Sparrow - 2 White-throated Sparrow - 9 Thank you to banders Bob Hall-Brooks and Carl Pascoe, and to assistants Rachel Powless, Jason Sodergren, Steve Greidanus, and Bob Pettit. October 27, 2002 (6-9 degrees C, overcast to cloudy, wind SW-NW-W at 10 mph) Open from 5:30 - 15:30 E.S.T. (10.0 hours, 100.00 Net Hours) Total Banded: 20 plus 8 recaptures Eastern Phoebe - 2 Golden-crowned Kinglet - 5 (plus 4 recaptures, all banded 26 Oct 2002) Ruby-crowned Kinglet - (plus 2 recaptures, both banded 26 Oct 2002) Hermit Thrush 1 (plus 1 recapture banded 26 Oct 2002) Nashville Warbler - 1 (very late) Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warbler - 1 Song Sparrow - 1 White-throated Sparrow - 3 Thank you to banders Carl Pascoe and Steve Greidanus, and assistants Rachel Powless, Bob Hall-Brooks, Jason Sodergren, and JoAnn Grondin. Holiday Beach Migration Observatory (HBMO) is an organization devoted to monitoring migration at the Holiday Beach Conservation Area, Essex Co., Ontario, administered by the Essex Region Conservation Authority. In addition to a hawk-watch/passerine count that has been in operation since 1974, HBMO operates three banding stations, two for raptors (since 1987) and one for passerines and hummingbirds (since 1997). The Holiday Beach Conservation Area was designated an Important Bird Area by Conservation International in 2000. Lat: 42-01'54.1" Long: 083-02'41.6" For directions and information on our site, go to the HBMO website at: http://www.hbmo.org Allen Chartier amazilia1@comcast.net 1442 West River Park Drive Inkster, MI 48141 Website: http://www.amazilia.net Michigan HummerNet: http://www.amazilia.net/MIHummerNet/index.htm Allen Chartier <amazilia1@comcast.net>