Ruthven Banding Station
April 24th:
It was a clear morning but cool with a cutting northerly wind….all morning. We have banded American Goldfinches every day in April but their numbers had been dramatically dwindling in the past 3 days but today they were back in force! In the vicinity of both feeders you could see bright golden feather balls and we ended up banding 24 of them (and handling another 11 recaps). I’d love to know where they’ve come from and where they’re off too. The many retraps we get suggest that these birds are on the move – we recatch them in the Spring and again in the Fall but not in the Summer or Winter. We must be tapping into a migratory population but how big far they go is unknown. (Although we had a recovery of one of “our” birds just outside New Orleans, Louisiana!)

Banded 35:
1 Blue Jay
6 Ruby-crowned Kinglets
1 Chipping Sparrow
1 White-throated Sparrow
1 Red-winged Blackbird
1 Brown-headed Cowbird
24 American Goldfinches

ET’s: 53 spp.
Rick

April 25th:

Not a bad day, despite the cool, wet weather. A new batch of American Goldfinches invaded us. Carol and Loretta (Yes, Loretta!!!) were here to help.
Banded 50:
1 House Wren
1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet
2 Chipping Sparrows
1 Field Sparrow
1 Swamp Sparrow
7 White-throated Sparrows
1 Red-winged Blackbird
1 House Finch
35 American Goldfinches

Recaps 31: AMGO 16, CHSP 8, ATSP 2, WTSP 1, NOCA 1, BHCO 2, RWBL 1

ETs: 45 spp.
(Interesting Observations along the river: Bald Eagle, Sandhill Crane, American Wigeon).

Mike

Fern Hill Burlington
April 24th:
We had a relatively slow morning today at the Field Station, but that suited me just fine as Janice and I were able to finally get the last of our nets up and ready for action. I took my students out to check the nest boxes along our Bluebird Trail where we saw a flurry of activity of Tree Swallows at many of the boxes. These beautiful birds were chattering and swooping around all day. The Young Ornithologists saw Janice throw a feather in the air for the swallows, and they were delighted to try this for themselves. Picture students lined up as if to feed chickadees, but instead of seeds they held feathers up for the swallows to snatch in midair. It didn’t quite work but it was a lot of fun!

We spotted our first Broad-winged Hawk of the year which is exciting, as well we spotted an Osprey swoop down and break off a pretty large stick from a tree. It must be making a nest somewhere.

We had our first caught female Red-winged Blackbird of the Spring, and she was already banded. She was originally banded April 23rd 2013 as an after hatch year bird, making her at least five years old!

We banded 4 including the following:
1 American Robin
1 Chipping Sparrow
1 Red-winged Blackbird
1 Brown-headed Cowbird

Katherine

April 25th:
the morning started off with a bang: our first Eastern Towhee of the year, and if that wasn’t exciting enough, this wasn’t just any Towhee, it was a recaptured bird banded by Nancy Furber on September 9th 2015.

We had 7 banded birds and 17 recaptures. We banded:
1 Downy Woodpecker
1 Black capped chickadee
1 American Robin
1 Northern Cardinal
2 Red-winged blackbirds
1 House Sparrow

ET’s: 34 spp.

In addition to the birds we banded, we recaptured our resident female Downy Woodpecker, the one I’ve mentioned in the past who was once struggling with gasoline on her feathers. I was pleased to see she had a brood patch, a great sign that she’s doing well and is sitting on eggs!

Speaking of eggs, our resident pair of Canada Geese (named Fred and Ginger by the Young Ornithologists) had some trouble this afternoon when the school’s landscapers worked around their nest site. Their loud blowers and mowers kept the geese at a distance where they hovered and worried. I ran over and asked them if they could work on another area, and I snapped a quick picture of the nest. There are indeed eggs, so let’s hope Ginger gets back quick!
Katherine

Joanne Fleet’s Interesting Natural History Facts:
Last year, I joined Dr. Giuliana on her guided hike of the Crear forest. It was on that hike that someone explained that the Mayapple can easily be sexed. The female plant requires “two arms to hold her baby (fruit)” whereas the male plant has only a single segment arising from the stem. Today, while hiking, Morgan and I noticed a swath of Trout Lilies, each of the singular leaves standing in their spotted glory. Amongst the masses was a single Trout Lily in flower. We immediately noticed that it was the only plant to have two leaves. As we discovered more in flower, each flanked with two leaves, we wondered if the Mayapple sexing criteria would translate to the Trout Lily (because no bird bander is satisfied until the identification AND sex has been determined). This is what we discovered,

Saw the first Trout Lily flowers of the season. Noticed that the Mayapple was up, as well. Loved learning that we can easily sex the Mayapple bc ‘every mother needs two arms to hold her baby.’ Saw that the Trout Lily that has a flower had two leaves and the others, only one. Wondered if I could apply May Apple sexing criteria to Trout Lily. Found this! It excited me so I had to share just in case you didn’t know…but maybe I’m the only one who didn’t know!

The flower is a hermaphrodite, which means it has both male and female organs.

“Some writers call the plant “Thousand Leaf” because it is often found growing in colonies with many leaves and only a few flowers. This happens because many younger plants have been produced from underground runners. These have only one tiny leaf. Even after two or three years they still have only one somewhat larger leaf, but they form colonies of plants near the parent plant. They do not begin to produce flowers until the plant has two leaves and may be seven or eight years old.”

On an aside, John Hannah told me that the white Trout Lily was rare. I have taken them for granted until today. He was also wondering if it was the Connecticut Warbler that nested in the crook of the Mandrake’s arms.
Joanne