July 27, 2010 - For the first time this season at Tessentee MAPS, more volunteers than birds stopped by the banding table on July 21!  An enthusiastic group of thirty-one 4th to 6th graders from the Summer Ed-ventures program at Mountain View School kept busy transporting captured birds like White-eyed Vireo and Northern Cardinal to the banding table.  Other visitors included a nature group from Macon County led by Debby Boots with John and Cathy Sill. A beautiful hatch-year American Redstart was the only new species of the 23 new banded birds and 11 recaptures.  The helpful hands of many volunteers made the day a memorable one for all. 

MAPS at Big Bald was warm and productive as the second wave of Slate-colored Juncos topped the 34 new birds banded.  One surprise bird for the sample was the capture of an exotic, high-altitude Carolina Wren, the first in two years of MAPS at Big Bald!  Thanks to an enthusiastic band of volunteers that helped make the day safe and successful.

July 17, 2010 - We were finally able to complete
our MAPS sample at Big Bald after postponing it twice due to weather!  Our numbers today were quite different from 2 weeks ago.  We had a total of 14 new birds banded, in comparison to 50 on July 3. And we captured seven Slate-colored Juncos today, whereas 41 were captured during the previous sample. Four new species of birds were banded for the season - American Redstart, Ovenbird, Blue-headed Vireo, and Black-throated Blue Warbler.  As always, thanks to our dedicated group of volunteers!  See our MAPS page for a list of birds banded (scroll down to the box below the MAPS schedules).

July 12, 2010 - SCHEDULE CHANGE at Big Bald!  Due to inclement weather, we have postponed our next MAPS sample to Saturday, July 17, 2010. For additional information, please visit our MAPS page.  For directions and contact info, click here.

June 27, 2010 - The highest numbers of newly banded birds for the 2010 MAPS season were captured at Tessentee and Big Bald this weekend. Fledglings of a wide variety of species were abundant at both MAPS stations. Species highlights include Worm-eating and Black-throated Green Warblers at Big Bald, Barn Swallow at Tessentee, and Black-and-white Warbler at both stations. We greatly appreciate the enthusiastic and hard-working volunteers who assisted with our MAPS banding activities! For more information and banding results, please visit our MAPS page.

MAPS is a nationwide program that monitors the productivity and survivorship of breeding birds. See our MAPS page for the 2010 schedules and additional information.