Finn O’Hara, a British-born photographer now based in Toronto, has taken a series of photographs documenting bird banding at Long Point Bird Observatory. Bird banding is a technique for studying and identifying birds. To track individual birds, scientists use mist nets to capture the birds and tie aluminum bands (with a unique set of numbers) to the legs after capture. For this series of photographs, O’Hara worked with Birdlife Canada. Long Point Bird Observatory is known for its gatherings of migratory birds and remains the most successful bird banding station in Canada, having banded 1,072,981 birds from 296 species since 1960.
“I am drawn to bird banders not only for the care they give to birds, but also for the personal relationships they build with each bird, driven by curiosity and compassion.”
See more images of “Bird in the Hand” below.
