This is bird note.

No fat mulberry.

During fall migration, this bird banding station, operated by the Willistown Conservation Trust, is in full swing.

It's late September at the Rushton Woods Preserve on the outskirts of Philadelphia.

Led by licensed bird banders, a team of volunteers catches birds using mist nets, eight-foot-tall

nets made of fine nylon string that practically disappear when strung out between poles.

There are 15 set up around the nature preserve today in wooded areas and along trails.

Hey, where are you, little one?

This volunteer is gently untangling a gray catbird from the misty.

Yeah.

All right.

Each bird is put in a cloth bag and carried to the banding station, a small covered wooden platform.

There, a bird bander affixes a small metal band around its leg.

The team measures different aspects of the bird.

Age, sex, if we can, the fat accumulation, the bird's weight, 40.9 grams for that bird.

When this catbird is spotted in the wild, or caught again at a banding station, it gives

researchers insight into the movements and lifespan of this individual.

Compiling records for many banded catbirds helps keep track of the whole species.

Newer technologies like GPS trackers make it easier to precisely track birds around the world.

But for a bird lover, banding offers a unique thrill. Holding a wild bird,

like this veery, in your hand, then feeling the beats of its wings while it flutters away,

all while contributing to community science. There we goes. Did you hear it? It went veer.

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