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THIS WEEK at HILTON POND
18-29 February 2016

Installment #636---Visitor #

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NICARAGUA 2016

In mid-February 2016 we completed our 26th Operation RubyThroat hummingbird expedition to the Neotropics--this time to Nicaragua. Although the trip was fun and informative, it was not very productive from the standpoint of banding our target species--Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, Archilochus colubris. An account of the excursion is a work in progress; the photo essay will be posted in a few weeks. Please check back.

All text, maps, charts & photos © Hilton Pond Center

Pacific Parakeets (above) at Chocoyero Preserve



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"This Week at Hilton Pond" is written and photographed by Bill Hilton Jr., executive director of Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History

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Comments or questions about this week's installment? Send an E-mail to INFO. (Be sure to scroll down for a tally of birds banded/recaptured during the period, plus other nature notes.)

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Thanks to the following fine folks for recent gifts in support of Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History and/or Operation RubyThroat: The Hummingbird Project. Your tax-deductible contributions allow us, among other things, to continue writing, photographing, and sharing "This Week at Hilton Pond" with students, teachers, and the general public. Please see Support or scroll below if you'd like to make a gift of your own.

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BIRDS BANDED THIS WEEK at
HILTON POND CENTER
18-29 February 2016

SPECIES BANDED THIS PERIOD:
American Goldfinch--1
Song Sparrow--1

Purple Finch--5

* = new banded species for 2016


THIS PERIOD BANDING TOTAL:
3 species
7 individuals

2016 BANDING TOTAL:
12 species (35-yr. avg. = 64.5)

427 individuals
(35-yr. avg. =
1,818.6)


35-YEAR BANDING GRAND TOTAL:
(Banding began 28 June 1982; since then 171 species have been observed on or over the property.)
126 species banded
63,659 individuals banded
5,300 Ruby-throated Hummingbirds



NOTABLE RECAPTURES THIS WEEK:
(with original banding date, sex, and current age):
NONE THIS WEEK


OTHER NATURE NOTES:
--We were in Nicaragua the last half of Feb 2016 (see write-up above), returning in time for just one half-day of banding (morning of 29 Feb) at Hilton Pond Center. Thanks to the efforts of brother Stan Hilton, the feeders were full and we managed to band seven birds (list above left).

--As of 29 Feb the Center's 2016 Yard List stood at 34--about 20% of the 171 avian species encountered locally since 1982. No new species were seen or heard locally during the last half of February.

--The immediate past installment of "This Week at Hilton Pond" was a compendium of early February nature activity at Hilton Pond Center. It is archived and always available on our Web site as Installment #635.

All text & photos © Hilton Pond Center



Oct 15 to Mar 15:
East of the Rockies please report your sightings of
Vagrant & Winter Hummingbirds

(immature male Rufous Hummingbird at right)


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Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History is a non-profit research, conservation & education organization in York, South Carolina USA; phone (803) 684-5852. Directed by Dr. Bill Hilton Jr., aka "The Piedmont Naturalist," it is parent organization for Operation RubyThroat. Web site contents--including text and photos--may NOT be duplicated, modified, or used in any way except with express written permission of Hilton Pond Center. All rights reserved worldwide. To request permission for use or for further assistance, please contact Webmaster.