Cold nights and favourable winds are pushing migrants out of the north. The last two mornings have been cold producing frost patches and, in a couple of places, freezing nets shut. Interestingly, on these mornings it’s pretty quiet and you might think that there aren’t many birds around. But as soon as the sun clears the horizon and produces enough heat to dissipate the frost, the birds “wake up” and begin the day’s foraging.

There is constant activity as sparrows jump up out of the tall grass, fly a few meters and then drop back into it. Or…they might fly into the wetland/forest edge habitat to let things digest before continuing to feed. We’ve moved a couple of nets around to try to intercept them where we’ve seen them moving consistently. But over the last couple of days there’s been a LOT and we’re only catching a small percentage.

As I mentioned, most of the captures are sparrows. Warblers have just about run their course and most are thousands of kilometers to the south of us (hopefully avoiding hurricanes Helene and Milton). There’s still some Myrtle and Palm Warblers but they tend to stay higher in the willows.

October 10th; Banded 81:
1 Yellow-billed Cuckoo
1 Eastern Phoebe
5 Ruby-crowned Kinglets
2 Field Sparrows
1 Dark-eyed Junco
20 White-throated Sparrows
28 Song Sparrows
22 Swamp Sparrows
1 Northern Cardinal
ET’s: 30 spp.

October 11th; Banded 69:
7 Ruby-crowned Kinglets
1 Marsh Wren
1 Gray Catbird
1 American Goldfinch
2 Savannah Sparrows
2 Field Sparrows
1 White-throated Sparrow
17 Song Sparrows
31 Swamp Sparrows
1 Eastern Towhee
2 Red-winged Blackbirds
1 Common Yellowthroat
2 Northern Cardinals
ET’s: 24 spp.
Rick

Friday and Saturday were preceded by light northerly winds that brought in a push of migrants that kept us hopping. Sarah and crew banded 79 birds on Friday (we believe in 3-day weekends) and then the Saturday group banded 102 birds – the highest total so far this Fall. But then Saturday night the winds picked up and switched to the south, effectively capping the push. Today our banding total dropped to just 33. On all three days sparrows made up a large proportion of the catch as they take full advantage of the seed load offered by the prairie grasses.


This site continues to evolve. Dave Gosnell brought in a tractor with heavy duty mower and cut a trail across the thick grass that impeded walking to the river. Right now, with the wetland pretty well dried up, you can access the river easily (and without boots). We will start to run a census route along it that takes in the river – a dynamic that has been lacking in our coverage. The Gosnells are also talking about developing a boardwalk so that the river flats can be accessed in the Spring when the wetlands are, in fact wet, under several inches of water. This is an exciting development indeed!
October 4th; Banded 79:
1 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
4 Ruby-crowned Kinglets
1 House Wren
1 Gray Catbird
1 Savannah Sparrow
1 Field Sparrow
17 White-throated Sparrows
20 Song Sparrows
2 Lincoln’s Sparrows
24 Swamp Sparrows
2 Red-winged Blackbirds
1 Myrtle Warbler
1 Northern Cardinal
3 Indigo Buntings
ET’s: 34 spp.

October 5th; Banded 102:
1 Eastern Phoebe
3 Ruby-crowned Kinglets

2 Golden-crowned Kinglets
2 Winter Wrens
1 Gray Catbird
1 Eastern White-crowned Sparrow

10 White-throated Sparrows
40 Song Sparrows
6 Lincoln’s Sparrows
32 Swamp Sparrows

2 Red-winged Blackbirds
2 Myrtle Warblers
ET’s: 46 spp.

October 6th; Banded 33:
1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet
10 White-throated Sparrows
7 Song Sparrows
11 Swamp Sparrows
1 Myrtle Warbler
3 Indigo Buntings
ET’s: 30 spp.
Rick

When I left the house this morning and looked up….NO clouds, just Orion on the hunt almost directly above me. With that you know that Fall must be here. The NE wind continued to blow through the night and, again, birds were busy along the edges and in the prairie grass meadow. The only trouble with this wind: it fills the N – S running nets with leaves, so after the first net round you pretty well have to close them. Even so, we banded 69 more birds, mostly sparrows.

I thought the sapsucker was a nice sighting (and the first Winter Wren and male Eastern Bluebird), but the bird that took the “bird of the day” was a first for the Farm: a Wilson’s Snipe! It flew up from the path that leads between nets 3 & 1. It was so fast that I just had time to ID it – the thought of getting photo would have been a dream.

Banded 69:
1 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
1 Black-capped Chickadee
3 Golden-crowned Kinglets
4 Ruby-crowned Kinglets
1 Winter Wren

1 Eastern Bluebird

1 Savannah Sparrow
13 White-throated Sparrows
9 Song Sparrows
5 Lincoln’s Sparrows
19 Swamp Sparrows
5 Red-winged Blackbirds
2 Common Yellowthroats
1 Myrtle Warbler
1 Northern Cardinal
2 Indigo Buntings
ET’s: 33 spp.
Rick

At last….the dam seems to have burst. The NE winds blew Summer away and pushed bunches of migrants south in doing so. It’s still fairly mild (20+ C.) during the afternoon but cooling somewhat over night. We really noticed the change for the first time on Friday (the 27th): sparrows were plentiful and bouncing back and forth between the prairie meadow and the wetland edge. There were a few warblers but they were staying high. The skies on the 27th started off clear but cloud began to move in later and you could sense change in the wind. You can have your sunny, clear, rain-free days. When I’m banding I want “unsettled” conditions!! Hurricane Helene moving up from the Gulf is having an impact.

Rain moved in Friday night but had stopped by morning. The NE wind continued to blow – which is a good direction for us as the nets are relatively protected from billowing when it’s from NE. Interestingly, my opening comment for the morning was that the “edges are quiet”. Ha! That didn’t last long. As soon as it became light there was LOTS of activity – especially sparrows. We were run off our feet and ended up banding 101 birds! Thanks goodness I had a couple of capable assistants in Sam and Joyce.

This morning, the conditions were similar: NE winds and overcast. Interestingly, the horde of White-throated Sparrows that we encountered yesterday seemed to have moved on, only to be replaced by Swamp Sparrows. (I wonder how far south those White-throats got..?)

So it’s been a busy but very productive weekend. Thank goodness for unsettled weather!
September 27th; Banded 52:
1 Black-capped Chickadee
1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet

1 Marsh Wren
1 Dark-eyed Junco

6 White-throated Sparrows
20 Song Sparrows
3 Lincoln’s Sparrows
13 Swamp Sparrows
1 Red-winged Blackbird
2 Common Yellowthroats
2 Myrtle Warblers
1 Indigo Bunting
ET’s: 37 spp.

September 28th; Banded 101:
3 Eastern Phoebes

1 Marsh Wren
1 Hermit Thrush
1 American Goldfinch
1 Dark-eyed Junco
31 White-throated Sparrows
6 Song Sparrows
4 Lincoln’s Sparrows
11 Swamp Sparrows
1 Savannah Sparrow
13 Red-winged Blackbirds
2 Common Yellowthroats
1 Western Palm Warbler
21 Myrtle Warblers
1 Black-throated Green Warbler
1 Northern Cardinal
2 Indigo Buntings

ET’s: 45 spp.

September 29th; Banded 57:
1 Eastern Phoebe
1 Red-eyed Vireo
3 Ruby-crowned Kinglets
1 Golden-crowned Kinglet
1 House Wren
2 Eastern White-crowned Sparrows
2 White-throated Sparrows
12 Song Sparrows
3 Lincoln’s Sparrows
19 Swamp Sparrows
1 Common Yellowthroat
7 Western Palm Warblers
2 Myrtle Warblers
1 Black-throated Green Warbler
1 Indigo Bunting
ET’s: 35 spp.
Rick