Birds were on the move today – not necessarily into the nets but on the move. We had 45 Common Loons go over; saw 5 species of warblers: Blue-winged Warbler, Yellow Warblers, Yellow-rumped Warblers, Pine Warbler and Western Palm Warbler. On the whole we encountered 60 species – our highest single-day total of the year so far. But, still, the banding was slow for this time of year; we banded 26 birds; however, we also retrapped 23 so, in all, we “handled” 49 – which is starting to get up there.
We had a number of interesting retraps: a female American Goldfinch, banded in May, 2003 and not encountered since; a male Yellow Warbler, banded as a “Second Year” (SY) bird in May 2006 and not encountered in 2007; a male and a female Brown-headed Cowbird, both banded in April 2005. Just stop to consider for a moment: that Yellow Warbler has flown to Mexico/Central America twice and has somehow found its way back to Ruthven.
Banded 26:
1 Downy Woodpecker
1 Tree Swallow
1 Blue Jay
1 Golden-crowned Kinglet
1 Blue-winged Warbler
4 Chipping Sparrow
1 Lincoln’s Sparrow
1 Swamp Sparrow
8 White-throated Sparrows
1 Red-winged Blackbird
1 Common Grackle
4 American Goldfinches
Retrapped 21:
1 Blue Jay
1 Yellow Warbler
1 Northern Cardinal
1 Chipping Sparrow
3 Song Sparrows
1 White-throated Sparrow
13 Brown-headed Cowbirds(!)
2 American Goldfinches
ET’s : 60 Species
Rick
Here are a few pictures from the past few days:
McMaster’s Biodiversity Class visited on April 26th.
April 26th was Geriatric Day at Ruthven Park. Note the well-used bib on the old guy across the table.
An interesting gene pool: Brian with his parents (Mary and Norm). BLAME THESE PEOPLE!
Canada Goose nest.
Brian perplexed by this common household tool.
Mitch dancing with his favourite partner (actually, his only partner).
Yellow Adder’s Tongues. Also known as Yellow Trout Lily. These are covering some areas of Ruthven’s forest floor now.
Mitch getting ready to “cruise” Hwy. 54
And, a few pictures from April 24th:
A White-throated Sparrow
Rhiannon learning to use her new binoculars.
On Sunday April 27, my wife Barbara and I observed a pair of Blue-gray Gnatcatchers building a nest in the spruce tree at the front of the mansion (the tree in question is the one which is furthest from the mansion and and closest to the hillslope). The nest is on a branch that hangs down, but it is still about 25 feet above the ground.
Walter and Barbara Peace
Thanks for the info. It’s good to know where the nests are. There was a male BGGN active in that area (maybe in that tree) today.