We had (usually) light showers on and off all morning. We opened some nets…..and closed some early….and opened all the traps. And we were busy!!!!! When the last couple of nets were closed and the traps flipped we had handled 95 birds! Of these 56 were American Goldfinches (24 banded, 32 retraps). The leaves are just starting to break out on the dogwoods so the shrubby background is still sort of drab. Against that background you could see little golden featherballs a hundred meters away hanging around the feeders. The males especially have been moulting into their breeding plumage and are very bright.
Banded 44:
3 Mourning Doves
1 Tree Swallow
1 White-breasted Nuthatch
2 Ruby-crowned Kinglets
2 Chipping Sparrows
1 Swamp Sparrow
2 White-throated Sparrows
2 Red-winged Blackbirds
4 Brown-headed Cowbirds
1 Purple Finch
24 American Goldfinches
ET’s: 50 spp. (including our first Caspian Terns of the year)
Rick