ADDISON — Bird lovers are invited to join the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department at the Dead Creek Visitor Center in Addison to learn more about bird banding and conservation.
The department is partnering with Otter Creek Audubon to host Bird Banding Week with hands-on bird banding demonstrations. Members of the public will help identify the birds, observe the banding process, and can even help release the birds after they are banded. Licensed bird bander Rodney Olsen of Vergennes will lead all banding sessions.
Songbird banding will take place from 8 a.m. to noon on Oct. 15, 16, and 20. In addition to songbird banding, there will be several stations set up to give people an opportunity to practice their bird identification and much more.
A special evening owl banding session will take place at Snake Mountain from 8 to 11 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 19. Participants are invited to come learn why conservationists band owls and about some of the techniques that are used. A brief presentation will be given every 30 minutes starting at 8 p.m. This is a popular event and participants are invited to come for the whole evening or just half an hour.
“Birds are currently on a massive migration headed southward, and many people aren’t even aware of it,” said Olsen. “Dead Creek is a great location to witness this migration because Dead Creek is actually alive — it’s teeming with life.”
JOIN THE VERMONT Fish & Wildlife Department for an evening of owl banding on Snake Mountain on Friday, Oct. 19.  Photo by Tom Rogers
Bird banding is a conservation tool that helps biologists track the health of bird populations in the wild. It can also help biologists better understand bird movements to target high-priority habitats for conservation efforts.
Interested school groups are asked to contact Corey Hart ahead of time at [email protected].
The Dead Creek Visitor Center is located at 966 Route 17 in Addison. The owl banding session will take place approximately 1.2 miles east of the intersection of Route 17 and 22A — look for the signs.