April 25th – Get Carol Talkin’

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A striking SY male Eastern Towhee.
A striking SY male Eastern Towhee.

During breaks in the action this morning Carol Jones was telling us about her “favourite” bird that she has found while doing census walks at LaFortune Park (on the west side of Caledonia) – Eastern Towhee. And I’ll be damned but it wasn’t more than a few minutes after that that Nancy pulled one out of Net 4. We don’t get many of these – in fact, their numbers have been noticeably declining throughout its former breeding ground – but its timing was impeccable. So the strategy now is to get Carol talking about the bird you want to see next…..
The Smiths - on the opposite side of the Grand River and about a kilometer downstream from Ruthven - had their first Rose-breasted Grosbeaks of the year. -F. Smith/
The Smiths – on the opposite side of the Grand River and about a kilometer downstream from Ruthven – had their first Rose-breasted Grosbeaks of the year. -F. Smith/

I got an email from Fred Smith today. Fred and Betsy live across the river and down about a kilometer from Ruthven. They have been keeping track of the arrival of migrants that come to their feeders. Here’s what he had to say:
This morning at a little after 8 am Apr 25 (right on schedule) saw our first Rose Breasted Grosbeak.
About mid morning had a female too (no pic though).

And then Betsy added:
Male grosbeak this morning. April 15 in 2008 and 2009.

You may notice that there is a discrepancy between Fred’s and Betsy’s notions of when the birds should return (April 25 – “right on schedule” vs April 15….) So I got this from Betsy shortly thereafter:
Sometimes we communicate in our house….sometimes not. Amen to that.

The great thing about this is that we usually see “Rosies” the next day. So tomorrow……

There was a lot more action today as the dam seems to have been permeated….at least a little. Besides the Towhee we also had our first Blue-headed Vireo of the day on census. We also encountered 51 different species during the course of the morning.

One disturbing thing seems to be the proliferation of Brown-headed Cowbirds. We caught and banded another 16 birds today and put them in the holding cage for Lauren Witterick at Western. There are over 50 birds in this large enclosure now. Nest parasites in these numbers must wreak havoc on other bird species nesting in the area.

Note the brown flight feathers (primaries and secondaries) and primary coverts which contrast with the black secondary coverts - an indication that this is a young or SY male (i.e., it was hatched last year).
Note the brown flight feathers (primaries and secondaries) and primary coverts which contrast with the black secondary coverts – an indication that this is a young or SY male (i.e., it was hatched last year).

Banded 51:
2 Mourning Doves
8 Ruby-crowned Kinglets
1 American Robin
1 Brown Thrasher
1 Eastern Towhee
6 Chipping Sparrows
2 Field Sparrows
2 White-throated Sparrows
16 Brown-headed Cowbirds
12 American Goldfinches

ET’s: 51 spp.
Rick

2 thoughts on “April 25th – Get Carol Talkin’”

  1. Liz

    Keep talking Carol! The female showed up at our house this afternoon. Not nearly as striking but exciting just the same.

  2. Betsy Smith

    Gosh Rick…..should check my post before posting ! Typo…should be April 25
    not April 15.

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