Despite (or maybe because of) this persistent cold, windy weather, we had a pretty good day handling 91 birds, banding 63. White-throated Sparrows continue to abound around the site – especially in front of the Mansion. And American Goldfinches have been hitting the feeders hard.
And while we are still waiting for the first Rose-breasted Grosbeak and Baltimore Oriole of the year (they’ve been reported in the area) we did get our first Yellow Warbler and Northern Rough-winged Swallow on census.
I had been thinking that this was a pretty mediocre Spring in terms of number of birds banded but, at 767 so far, we’re having our second best April. The best one was in 2013 when we banded 883 (and we just eclipsed the 2009 record of 766). Our banding numbers have been swollen by the number of cowbirds we’ve had: 132 and counting. The next highest count was 125 in 2014. I’m glad we’re able to ship them off to Western!
Banded 63:
1 Red-bellied Woodpecker
1 Tree Swallow
3 Ruby-crowned Kinglets
1 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
2 Hermit thrushes
2 Chipping Sparrows
1 Song Sparrow
2 Swamp Sparrows
23 White-throated Sparrows
1 Eastern White-crowned Sparrow
1 Dark-eyed Junco
7 Brown-headed Cowbirds
18 American Goldfinches
ET’s: 50 spp.
Rick
Fern Hill School – Burlington:
Banded: 7:
1 Blue Jay
1 American Tree Sparrow
1 White-throated Sparrow
1 Red-winged Blackbird
1 Common Grackle
1 Brown-headed Cowbird
1 American Goldfinch
ET’s: 39 spp.
Janice