Our MAPS Station Storytelling, June 07, 2026
by Samantha Bean
The previous night’s sudden rainstorm left the whole preserve smelling of sweet honeysuckle. Barely an inch of rain pushed Fiddler’s Creek’s greenery up and outward—the walkways narrowed now, foliage low-hanging and still under the weight of droplets.
As the morning of June 7 at Fiddler’s Creek carried on, it slowly became apparent that things were changing. And it wasn’t just the droplets drying off the leaves. Instead, it has to do with how the landscape is changing over time. Where were the common yellowthroats? The song sparrow? What about the chickadees and the titmice? They were not on our data sheets today. So many birds are sitting on eggs right now. It could be that they were simply preoccupied.
Banding sixty birds in total today, representing thirteen different species, it was a busy morning. (Thirteen is also the number of years this banding station has been open.)
At thirty-three birds, the gray catbirds took the win on overall numbers, and most of them were new birds (never banded before). But two birds in particular carried with them quite a history, having been banded originally at Fiddler’s Creek in 2023. Both female birds, 289163826 (banded 6/17/2023) and 289163833 (banded 7/1/2023), show something remarkable: site fidelity, a trait gray catbirds are known for. They were banded as second-year birds in 2023, meaning this year, they are possibly over 6 years old!! They returned in 2024. (At the time of this write-up, I did not have 2025 data in front of me). Site fidelity in birds is the return to the same breeding grounds (or overwintering grounds) year over year. Not just the same state, but the same field.
A field sparrow (female) originally banded on July 1, 2023, showed strong site fidelity as well; she came to the station this morning with a brood patch. Based on the data, this “FISP,” as we call them by their code name, band no 288091387, is also over six years old. As the name implies, they are birds of bushy pastures, overgrown fields, scrubby grasslands, and woodland edges. They require a mix of dense grasses for nesting and scattered shrubs or small trees for foraging and perching. Because the trees are no longer small at Fiddler’s, FISPs are slowly easing out of this landscape as the “field” slowly becomes a “forest”.
Other notable returning birds were two male prairie warblers, 309068701 and 309068711, that returned to the station. They were joined by one new prairie warbler as well.
A stunning male American goldfinch was a notable recapture, 301065889. As for the newly banded birds, we saw two Traill’s flycatchers, a red-eyed vireo, a dainty wood thrush, a very young robin with “baby bare” (feathers on the belly have not grown in fully yet), and four gorgeous cedar waxwings. This assortment represents birds we are accustomed to seeing based on the topography of the land and the levels of scrubby habitat vs tree growth.
But what about new birds that are not used to seeing…that are slowly popping up? Today, that belonged to the worm-eating warbler. First seen here in 2023 (we had a hatch-year bird then), again in August, 2024, and today we had a second-year bird, but it was not the same bird.
Along that same line of thought, we used to see many more indigo buntings than we do now. So the question in the back of everyone’s mind is: what birds will begin seeing in the next 3-5 years as the preserve continues to grow? Only the next few years of data sheets will carry that news.
Fiddler’s Creek is an old agricultural field, fenced and enclosed with thousands of trees planted. In the end, the preserve will grow into what it was originally meant to be. And as the land grows up and slowly shifts toward a forest, the birds will come and go and change, just as they have for the last 13 years.
Highlights from Sunday, 6/7
- New to the Station: None
- Total Birds Captured: 60
- Total Species Captured: 13
- New Banded Individuals: 43
- Recaptures: 17
- Ruby-throated hummingbirds: 0
