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THIS WEEK at HILTON POND
1-17 March 2018

Installment #670---Visitor #AmazingCounters.com

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- TIME TO REGISTER -

Our 30th
Operation RubyThroat
Citizen Science Hummingbird Expedition
to the Neotropics

Costa Rica-East (Paraíso/Ujarrás)
++ 31 Oct thru 8 Nov 2018 ++

Contact Holbrook Travel to register today!

Come be an integral part of a real citizen-science project!

Lesson's Motmot, above right (formerly Blue-crowned Motmot)


CHAYOTE KEYSTONEERS:
LAST OF THIS WINTER'S
COSTA RICAN RUBY-THROATS?

On 9 March 2018 we departed Hilton Pond Center for Costa Rica and our 29th Neotropical expedition as part of Operation RubyThroat: The Hummingbird Project. We returned very early on the morning of 18 March. It takes a long time to process all the photos and data for our on-line trip summary, so please check back later for the final version. (We'll post to Facebook, send messages to listservs, and e-mail our subscribers when everything is complete.)

NOTE: We did band birds at the Center during the first eight days of March and include info about those results below. Scroll down on this page to see our tally of birds banded or recaptured.

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

The male White-necked Jacobin above was one of many hummingbirds viewable at close range during our day trip to Rancho Naturalista in Costa Rica.

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

Don't forget to scroll down for Nature Notes & Photos,
plus lists of all birds banded or recaptured during the period.




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Checks can be sent to Hilton Pond Center at:
1432 DeVinney Road
York SC 29745

All contributions are tax-deductible on your
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See list of recent supporters below


"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.)

Click for York, South Carolina Forecast
Click on image at right for live Web cam of Hilton Pond,
plus daily weather summary

Transmission of weather data from Hilton Pond Center via WeatherSnoop for Mac.

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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.

We're pleased folks are thinking about the work of the Center and making donations. Those listed below made contributions received during the period. Please join them if you can in coming weeks.

Gifts can be made via PayPal (funding@hiltonpond.org); credit card via Network for Good (see link below); or personal check (c/o Hilton Pond Center, 1432 DeVinney Road, York SC 29745).

  • Kenneth Baerwalde (repeat donor)
  • Sue Bridson

 
If you enjoy "This Week at Hilton Pond," please help support
Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History.
It's painless, and YOU can make a difference!

(Just CLICK on a logo below or send a check if you like; see Support for address.)


Make credit card donations
on-line via
Network for Good:
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Use your PayPal account
to make direct donations:
If you like shopping on-line please become a member of iGive, through which 1,800+ on-line stores from Amazon to Lands' End and even iTunes donate a percentage of your purchase price to support Hilton Pond Center. ..Every new member who registers with iGive and makes a purchase through them earns an ADDITIONAL $5 for the Center. You can even do Web searches through iGive and earn a penny per search--sometimes TWO--for the cause! Please enroll by going to the iGive Web site. It's a painless, important way for YOU to support our on-going work in conservation, education, and research. Add the iGive Toolbar to your browser and register Operation RubyThroat as your preferred charity to make it even easier to help Hilton Pond Center when you shop.

The Piedmont Naturalist--Vol. 1--1986 (Hilton Pond Press) is an award-winning collection of newspaper columns that first appeared in The Herald in Rock Hill SC. Optimized for tablets such as iPad and Kindle, electronic downloads of the now out-of-print volume are available by clicking on the links below. The digital version includes pen-and-ink drawings from the original edition--plus lots of new color photos. All sales go
to support the work of
Hilton Pond Center.

BIRDS BANDED THIS WEEK at
HILTON POND CENTER
1-17 March 2018

SPECIES BANDED THIS PERIOD:
American Goldfinch--2
Chipping Sparrow--2
Dark-eyed Junco--1
*
Northern Cardinal--4
Song Sparrow--1
House Finch--7
White-throated Sparrow--1

* = new banded species for 2018


PERIOD BANDING TOTAL:
7 species
18 individuals

2018 BANDING TOTAL:
12 species (37-yr. avg. = 63.5)

233 individuals
(37-yr. avg. =
1,814.0)
Ruby-throated Hummingbirds = 0


37-YEAR BANDING GRAND TOTAL:
(Banding began 28 June 1982; since then 171 species have been observed on or over the property.)
126 species banded
67,118 individuals banded

Ruby-throated Hummingbirds = 5,971


NOTABLE RECAPTURES THIS WEEK:
(with original banding date, sex, and current age):
Chipping Sparrow (2)
02/15/14--after 5th year male
01/01/16--after 4th year unknown

Carolina Chickadee (1)
09/20/17--after hatch year male

Northern Cardinal (5)
09/04/17--2nd year male
09/29/17--after 2nd year male
10/15/17--2nd year male
11/01/17--2nd year female
12/31/17--after hatch year female

House Finch (11)
06/12/16--3rd year male
07/08/16--3rd year male
11/30/16--after 2nd year male
02/14/17--2nd year male
05/08/17--after 2nd year female
07/27/17--after 2nd year female
08/04/17--2nd year male
09/17/17--2nd year female
10/15/17--2nd year female
11/13/17--2nd year male
12/14/17--after hatch year male

Tufted Titmouse (1)
06/11/17--after 2nd year female


OTHER NATURE NOTES:
--We were gone from Hilton Pond Center most of the first half of February, conducting hummingbird research in Costa Rica (see write-up above).

--As of 17 Mar Hilton Pond Center's 2018 Yard List stood at 42--about 25% of the 171 avian species encountered locally since 1982. (If you're not keeping a yard list for your own property we encourage you to do so, and to report sightings via eBird.) New sightings during the period: Cooper's Hawk.

--Our immediate past installment of "This Week at Hilton Pond" was a compendium of Mar 2018 nature happenings at the Center. It is under production at present and when posted will be archived and always available on the Center's Web site as Installment #669.

All text & photos © Hilton Pond Center



Please report your
sightings of
Color-marked
Ruby-throated Hummingbirds


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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.