There must have been a huge movement of migrants during the night as there were LOTS at Ruthven. We had the expected short- and medium-distance migrants from Caledonia, Waterford, Binbrook, and Hamilton but also quite a few long-distance travellers from as far away as Kitchener and Toronto. We even had a vagrant show up from the Netherlands (looking very confused I must say)!!
And there were LOTS of birds too! Banding was unspectacular but birding was tremendous. Our keen-eyed observers picked out 9 new species for the year: Red-breasted Merganser (unusual to see them away from a big coastline), Osprey, Spotted Sandpiper (floating down the river on a log), Sandhill Cranes, Northern Mockingbird, Brown Thrasher, Chipping Sparrow, Fox Sparrow, Eastern Meadowlark. And when the day was done our species total was 60! This is 22 more than yesterday and speaks to the movement of birds with the good weather.
We had many photographers and I have received MANY pictures (thanks everyone!). I have put a few into the Photo Gallery below.
Banded 21:
3 Golden-crowned Kinglets
1 Hermit Thrush
1 American Robin
1 American Tree Sparrow
4 Song Sparrows
1 Swamp Sparrow
1 White-throated Sparrow
4 Dark-eyed Juncos
3 Brown-headed Cowbirds
2 American Goldfinches
ET’s: 60 spp.
Photo Gallery:
Rick