I spent much of the day at the Sandhill Crane Festival in Fairbanks (while C was working).

First I spent several fascinating hours at the Alaska Songbird Institute’s (ASI) bird banding station during a busy morning of banding around 60 wild birds. The birds are caught in mist nets, then gently banded, measured and released.
If I lived in Fairbanks I would definitely volunteer with this group. Simultaneously a Canadian group was filming background for a documentary to be released in 2025 https://leannacarriere.com/wings-of-survival.

Later in the day a Master Falconer brought his 3 falcons to the festival. Two were gorgeous local Gyrfalcons, Arctic birds which are the world’s largest falcons.

Finally, below is the list of fall migration bird banding before adding today’s numbers (and adding a Fox Sparrow). I was able to see several different types of warblers, also a Swainson’s Thrush and Lincoln’s Sparrow.

What a fun and educational day! If you happen to travel to Fairbanks check it out. More information at the Friends of Creamer’s Field website as well as ASI’s site https://aksongbird.org/about-us/our-projects/cfms/