Hasn’t the weather been awful lately!? Rain, wind, cold. And so it was this morning – the first day of the season. (Sorry, but I couldn’t do my April Fool’s thing yesterday.) Fortunately, the rain held off until around 11:00 so I was able to open the 6 nets so far on the go and get started. Also, employed a couple of traps. I wasn’t overly busy; had enough time to throw in a census even. But at the end of the morning I’d banded 15 birds and had 7 retraps. A good start, especially considering the conditions.
I’ve been waiting for the Tree Swallows to show up. It seems that they’re later this year. I was pleased when two flew over the field. [But I was quite surprised on my way home when I cam upon 100’s of them over the Grand River about 1 kilometer downstream from the York bridge – best seen from River Road. I’m not sure what they were feeding on but probably midges that were emerging from the river bottom that they could pick off the surface.]
The next few days might get ugly. So if you’re thinking of coming out to help, contact me first (or in the early morning) to get my take on it.
Banded 15:
2 Mourning Doves
3 Blue Jays
1 Eastern Bluebird
1 American Robin
2 American Goldfinches
3 American Tree Sparrows
3 Song Sparrows
ET’s: 27 spp.
Rick