April 1st – 25th Spring Season!

At Ruthven the beginning of the Spring banding season always seems to be coupled with exceptional bird sightings. This year is no exception. I can only think that the gale force winds we experienced a few days ago brought in the Black-footed Albatross we spotted this morning coursing low over the Grand. I saw these splendid flyers a couple of weeks ago over the eastern Pacific Ocean on our way back from Hawaii. Unlike most albatrosses which seem to thrive, almost playfully, in heavy winds, Black-footed Albatrosses, when the wind reaches a certain velocity, simply get as high as they can, close their eyes, and just go for it ending up wherever the wind takes them. You will remember that those recent gales were from the Southwest…. Imagine its surprise when it found itself over the middle of North America (probably thanking its lucky stars for the Great lakes!).
Rick

[PLEASE NOTE: We are attempting to run our migration monitoring station during these very troubling times. We have set up a methodology that we think will allow us to follow the migration AND keep those involved safe. We have severely limited the number of people on site so that we can maintain social distancing requirements and not be overwhelmed with the disinfecting that we would need to carry out with a lot of visitors. We would ask that you respect our attempt by NOT trying to visit. One of the great things about Ruthven’s banding program is it gives us the chance to learn from and socialize with knowledgeable people who share the same passion. We will miss you. So….LET’S HAVE A PARTY WHEN THIS IS OVER SO WE CAN CATCH UP!!!!!]

The sun rose, the birds were moving, and the spring peepers were serenading anyone around to hear them. While some things haven’t changed, this spring, others have. Rick was noticeably absent. He confided to me last night that he would be enjoying sleeping in (I sent him a text at 8:32, he responded after 10am), leisurely drinking his coffee, eating a complete breakfast and engaging in a sudoku puzzle. Meanwhile, a very skeleton crew was out working hard on the first day of migration banding. The app on my iPhone, tracked my distance at 6.6km and 20 flights of stairs! I certainly missed the young legs who do a lot of the net rounds during regular banding seasons.

We started out with about 10 birds (SCJUs, DOWO and SOSPs) in net 2 with the DOWO as first bird being banded for the season. We took a bit of time after the first net round to get the outdoor lab set up, with distance and sanitization being key to everything we are doing (notice the Lysol wipes in the photo). Most of the birds were SCJUs, SOSPs and surprisingly, ATSPs (we banded 11)! I only had a few at our feeders this winter and only for a day or 2; I’m not sure where they over-wintered, but they were certainly moving today.

A couple nice birds for the day were a recaptured TUTI that was an older bird when it was first banded in 2019, as well as a new FOSP. A nice bird on census, just out front of the mansion was an EATO.

We had a few moments in between banding to begin cleaning out some of the nest boxes. Some of these already had EABLs and TRES already starting to perch on them.

Closing took a bit more time than usual with having to pack everything back up, take it inside and sterilize it all, but the effort is worth the time to ensure everyone remains safe and healthy. Taking all things into consideration, we seem to have had a decent start for the season: 48 birds handled and 37 banded.
Banded 37:
1 Downy Woodpecker
1 White-breasted Nuthatch
1 Golden-crowned Kinglet
2 American Robins
11 American Tree Sparrows

1 Fox Sparrow
9 Song Sparrows
10 Dark-eyed Juncos
1 American Goldfinch

ET’s: 35 spp.
Photos:

Faye