There was a much different feel to Ruthven this morning. Sure, there were White-throated Sparrows singing at first light but after that it was quiet….very quiet. Right off the bat it was noticeable that the Dark-eyed Juncos, that had been staying around for the past several days, fattening up on the bait in our traps, had moved on. Yesterday it seemed like they were everywhere and we handled 26 of them (2 banded; 24 retraps) but today had only 5 retraps and saw only a few above that. There was very little activity (other than Tree Swallows) along the River and the forest was dead. So many of the birds that had been waiting around for better migration conditions appear to have taken advantage of the conditions last night and to have headed north. Unfortunately, it looked like no migrants from farther south had moved in to take their place.

Banded 19:
1 Mourning Dove
1 American Robin
3 Chipping Sparrows
1 Swamp Sparrow
3 White-throated Sparrows
2 Brown-headed Cowbirds
8 American Goldfinches

Retrapped 29:
1 Black-capped Chickadee
1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet
4 American Tree Sparrows
3 Chipping Sparrows
1 Field Sparrow
6 Song Sparrows
3 White-throated Sparrows
5 Dark-eyed Juncos
4 Brown-headed Cowbirds

ET’s: 46 spp.

Rick