April 1st – Capricious Winds | Haldimand Bird Observatory

I was stunned to see a flock of White Storks wing their way high over Ruthven Park this afternoon – just after everyone had left.

Violent, and sometimes capricious, winds can play havoc with migrating birds. This is the only explanation I can come up with for the sighting of a flock of 4 White Storks that soared over Ruthven early this afternoon (unfortunately just after the banding crew had left). These birds spend the Winter in sub-Saharan Africa and then migrate long distances to Europe. Birds wintering in the western part of Africa often follow the Atlantic coast skirting the Sahara Desert and then fan out eastward as they head up into Spain, France and the Netherlands. While skirting the coast I think they must have been hit by some tough winds that ended up driving them across the Atlantic. Once they reached the Western Hemisphere they got back “on track” and headed north…..right past Ruthven. What a treat!!

Yellow-billed Stork (furthest bird) and a White Stork (closest) in Nairobi National Park. I saw a number of these in Kenya and, so, was confident in making the call on the birds this morning.

White Storks have long been associated in a wide variety of cultures with good luck and as the bringer of babies. Their sighting augurs well for the coming Spring banding season! (But I think I’m past child rearing……).

This stork was seen over Windsor right around the time Christine and Chris produced a baby……

First bird banded this Spring: Brown Creeper.

I was not expecting much today; in fact, I was surprised that we were even able to open given the lousy weather of the last couple of days. When I left the house around 6 there was a light drizzle but it stopped by the time I got to the parking lot so I tentatively started opening. And it turned into a really good day (the storks were working their magic!). We ended up handling 67 birds: 32 banded and 35 retraps. Some of the interesting banded birds were 7 Golden-crowned Kinglets and the first Hermit Thrush of the year. Both are early for Ruthven. One of the retraps was a 7-year-old Downy Woodpecker.

Our headlining cabaret group – Al-Ezra (not to be confused with Aljazeera) – put on 3 scenes from the musical Hamilton for us this morning. It was an outstanding performance! No wonder tickets are so expensive and hard to come by.

Next to the White Storks the most interesting event of the day was the cabaret performance of Al-Ezra who did 3 full scenes from the hit musical Hamilton. As you know I don’t give much credence to April Fool’s stuff so you can believe me when I tell you that it was absolutely stunning (truly it was!). Alessandra and Ezra have given the banding lab a whole new dimension!

Banded 32:
1 Black-capped Chickadee
2 White-breasted Nuthatches
1 Brown Creeper
7 Golden-crowned Kinglets
1 Hermit Thrush