What an ugly day! Cold NE wind and then steady rain. Hypothermia conditions. So at both Ruthven and Fern Hill Oakville banding was slow going and greatly abbreviated. To make up for the lack of banding I went up to visit Marnie Gibson at her place of work on Steele’s Avenue- Bahr’s…(Horse Emporium? – Imagine: horse people have big beautiful stores just for their stuff….). The reason for visiting is that the store has a 10-acre hay field that doesn’t get cut until mid-July. Ideal for Bobolinks, Meadowlarks (we saw 2 while pulling into the parking lot) and maybe other grassland birds. We’re going to give it a good checking out when the migrants return. It would also be a good spot for nesting boxes – which Marnie is excited about monitoring.
But when I walked into the store, Marnie handed me a bakery box filled with butter tarts, made by her boss, Carla Bahr. Now as you know, I pride myself in being something of a connoisseur when it comes to home-made baked goods, with a sub-specialty in….you guessed it…butter tarts! Up until this point I have stood firm: Dorothy Smith makes the best in the world. But…that was before today. Carla’s were exceptional. And I’m flummoxed. I think we have a tie here folks!
At Ruthven:
Started off well, but became a wash out – fairly heavy rain around 09:30. No one in to help, but everything turned out well.
Banded 28:
1 Mourning Dove
1 Hairy Woodpecker
1 American Robin
2 Chipping Sparrows
7 White-throated Sparrows
1 Dark-eyed Junco
8 Brown-headed Cowbirds
7 American Goldfinches
Census: 39 spp. (including 1 SWSP and 2 MYWAs)
ET’s: 44 spp.
Mike
At Fern Hill Oakville:
It was much the same as above with rain shutting everything down around 10.
Banded 9:
1 Black-capped Chickadee
1 Dark-eyed Junco
3 Red-winged Blackbirds
2 American Goldfinches
2 House Sparrows (both released 8 kilometers away)
ET’s: 24 spp. (including the 1st Savannah Sparrow of the year)
Rick