This was definitely a day that tested our patience, but the passionate energy of hopeful nature-enthusiasts made up for it! I arrived at dawn to a very birdy scene and had just nearly finished opening nets when a smug cloud darkened the horizon. I checked my weather app and sure enough, 100% chance of thunderstorm for the next hour… so much for the 30% chance of drizzle. So, I ran about and closed up all the nets, acquiring 5 birds in the process, and hurried back to the hut just as the rain broke. About halfway through the storm some friends from Guelph arrived, and we waited out the rain which cleared away into beautiful blue skies. We were able to open again for about 2 hours before having to close early due to the wind and more showers. A slow day for catching perhaps, but it was still birdy and we managed to complete a census as a group between net rounds. We were definitely not lacking in spirit! After doing totals (which did not take long…), Eila surprised us with her amazing poetry recounting the day’s events (I’m told she may quit her engineering quest and soon strike up a career as a poet…)!

“Once upon a dawnlight dreary, while we pondered weak and weary, waiting for the clouds to split, for they had dumped quite a bit. Many a nature-nerd awaited hoping for the birds that were fated , never to fall into a net, too much rain and wind I bet. Finally, blue emerged from above, nets were reopened with much love. A FISP snuck in to much delight, the net stopping its flighty plight. Unfortune hit yet again, for he was but our only friend, except 3 more SOSPs who had before been caught, and thus our hearts were lonely and distraught. A census then distracted us- turtles basking, bluebirds twitting, and BOGUs causing quite a fuss! Vultures came in, the clouds became grim, and quickly the nets were closed yet again. What a tumultuous morn’, with weather forlorn, but what made it great were a group of slay friends.”
– – ELO

Notable sightings were a massive flock of the first Bonaparte’s Gulls of the year, which I noticed were flying towards the river just as the thunderstorm broke, and we later saw some more on census, totalling to over 200 for the day. The first Greater Yellowlegs of the year also made an appearance, flying high over the field. Although a very unsettled day, there were still many birds around, however not many migrants, as the migration conditions were pretty poor last night.

Banded 3 of 3 species
1 AMRO
1 SOSP
1 FISP

Sarah

We started Spring banding early on the premise that beginning on the traditional date of April 1st did not reflect the “new reality” of climate change – that birds were moving earlier. So, March 23rd it was. And we banded pretty steadily up until the 8th after which time I had to head out to Halifax to do 3 weeks of seabird counts in the North Atlantic for the CWS. But…banding will not come to a complete stop as Sarah has volunteered to be the BIC (Bander-in-Charge) for a number of days and Martin Wernhart and Teri Groh will take over on another day. That’s a good thing as we’ve been catching consistently – by the end of the day on the 8th we had reached 309 birds. And as a treat on that day, we banded the 1st Ruby-crowned Kinglet and Savannah Sparrow of the migration.


April 8th; Banded 16:
1 Golden-crowned Kinglet
1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet
3 American Goldfinches
1 Savannah Sparrow
1 American Tree Sparrow
3 Song Sparrows
1 Swamp Sparrow
4 Red-winged Blackbirds
1 Common Grackle

And, oh yes, something else happened on the 8th – a full solar eclipse. Initially, when I had first heard about it, I thought: so what’s the big deal? Well, my friends, it IS a big deal! What an experience!! Nighttime in the afternoon isn’t something I’ll forget. Even the birds stopped singing for about 10 minutes – it looked like night to them too.
Rick

It’s interesting how migration sees the ebb and flow of birds. Yesterday (the 6th) we were quite busy…and so were the birds. After a slow start (as the birds were waiting for things to warm up), there was a fairly constant flow of birds along the pond/woodland edge and between the prairie field and the pond edge. American Goldfinches and especially Golden-crowned Kinglets seemed to be everywhere. This morning it was much slower and there was barely a single Kinglet to be seen. With last night’s clear skies and light winds I’m sure they took off for the north. I hope they cleared The GTA! This was quite likely as the many we banded were carrying good fat loads, a strong indicator that, should conducive flying conditions prevail, birds would be on the wing.

The Kinglets left but some new birds moved in (although not in big numbers…yet): an Osprey and a couple of Savannah Sparrows, the first for the year here.

On both days we got considerable help from keen groups of volunteers:

Having skilled volunteers to take care of the nets gave me a chance to work with “newbies” to develop useful skills that may come in useful to them and to us down the road.


April 6th; Banded 40:
14 Golden-crowned Kinglets
8 American Goldfinches
1 Field Sparrow
10 American Tree Sparrows
6 Song Sparrows
1 Red-winged Blackbird
ET’s: 33 spp.

April 7th: Banded 23:
1 Downy Woodpecker
7 American Goldfinches
5 American Tree Sparrows
4 Song Sparrows
1 Red-winged Blackbird
5 Common Grackles
ET’s: 39 spp.
Rick

April showers bring May flowers….ya, ya…..but I’m not sure what frigid rain and cold winds bring. Maybe it’s just that I’m getting old but….I seem to have a growing hankering for heat. These raw days don’t do much for me. They don’t seem to bother the birds too much though. Mother goose is still riveted to her nest and I’m looking forward to seeing her ushering her goslings around the pond in the near future. Song Sparrows are numerous and busy setting out and defending territories. [Interestingly, we banded a large number of Song Sparrows in the Fall and we currently have a large number of them around. We also banded a large number of Swamp Sparrows but so far we’ve banded only 2 this Spring. They’re still not back in any numbers, not even singing as they define their territories. I wonder where the two species spend the Winter….]. Today we had a small “hit” of Golden-crowned Kinglets move through, non-plussed by the conditions and there were at least 3 Eastern Phoebes about – one we banded, one was a retrap from last year, and one was simply singing its way around the pond. And to top it all off there was a plethora of Chorus Frogs singing like crazy, also nonplussed.

The rain we got yesterday and last night has raised the level of the pond by a few centimeters and flooded the wetland downstream of it to the point that I couldn’t open two of the nets. Even without them we had a good banding mmorning.
Banded 30:
1 Eastern Phoebe
8 Golden-crowned Kinglets (7 males)
1 American Robin
9 American Goldfinches
1 Field Sparrow
1 American Tree Sparrow
2 Dark-eyed Juncos
5 Song Sparrows
1 Swamp Sparrow
1 Red-winged Blackbird

ET’s: 36 spp.
Rick