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Past President's Perches

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Winter 2003/2004 - Vol. 18 ~ No. 4

OBBA had a very nice meeting hosted by Julie West. Thanks Julie for your work in preparations and organization! Although I could not be there at the last minute due to work restraints, I have received feedback from several folks who said the meeting was very good. They were impressed with the Nature Center, and felt the meeting was fulfilling in many ways in spite of the cozy attendance. The meeting was held a bit later this year than usual. This, combined with the distance many had to travel, and busy schedules with schools starting for the fall term, may have been a factor in the “cozy” number of folks in attendance. From what I hear, it is a great place to consider a future meeting, perhaps in Spring next year or the year after (if Julie is willing to take us on again)

As most of you who band, or train others to band may already know, our favorite banding pliers the past 10 years or so, or at least the most dependable, are no longer available. It has apparently become too difficult to profit in the making of a “specialized” tool in such low quantities (compared to the mass tool market at hardware stores) and sell to us at reasonable cost. Avinet still has a few sizes available in small quantities and will sell no more than two per customer: 6A (MAC-6A), 4A (MAC-4A), 1D,2,3(MAC-1D) $45 each size. The following are no longer available: 5,3B,3A,4,0A,1A,Hummingbirds.

There are other brands of plyers available. AFO (Assoc. Of Field Ornithologists) www.afonet.org has their version of bird banding pliers. They are much less expensive and have three holes per plier. Although it is nice to have one pair for four or more sizes of bands, the post/band opener will not hold up to the expectation one should have of banding pliers. If you order the small pliers (0A,0,1,1B,1A,2), request an extra post/opener up front as it will break - particularly when used in the 1A and 2 bands. I had to file down the post of the “large” size pliers (3,3B,3A,4) as it would not fit in the size 3 bands to get them opened, and the bands tend to stick in the cutouts. Although they have issues, they are all that is readily available at the moment. If any of you have leads on other banding pliers, please let me know and I will pass it on to the membership.

A couple of banders suppliers that have some sort of banding pliers are: GEY BAND AND TAG COMPANY William Gey 2940 Felton Road, P.O. Box 363, Norristown, PA 19404-0363 PHONE: (610) 277-3280 FAX: (610) 277-3282 (pliers for band sizes 0A-9, and SPIDERTECH I-Roobertinkatu 33 D 34, FIN-00120 Helsinki FINLAND, PHONE & FAX: 358-(0)9-611087 MOBILE: 358-(0)400-416652 E-mail: j.spidertech@dlc.fi,Website: www.spidertech.fi. Spidertech has photos on the website. Their pliers look impressive, but do not appear to have the capability to open bands.

On a final note, I would like to show my deepest appreciation to all who have helped out with O.B.B.A. the past year, and beyond. Although many of you can not attend the meetings, you contribute to the membership in your own way. A few to mention would be: paying membership, introducing students, friends and/or volunteers to O.B.B.A., bringing on new members, arranging meeting sites, taking photos, etc. The Ohio Bird Banding Association would not be if not for the efforts, large and small, of everyone in our organization. So, thank you all for your support!

Happy Holidays

Don’t forget to send me your band manager input and/or questions!

Tim Tolford
tktolford@juno.com
President, Ohio Bird Banding Association