April 3rd – A Tale Of Two Stations

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This Red-bellied Woodpecker is at least 8 years old! SEF

Ruthven Park:
COLD!
An overcast, dark day with temperatures hovering just above freezing. With the brisk north east wind, it was a cold, raw day for birds and banders!

Despite the weather, there was a nice variety of birds in the banding lab and it was a good day for teaching.

Banded 20:
1 Downy Woodpecker
1 Tufted Titmouse
1 Black-capped Chickadee

Always a treat: the shy Brown Creeper. -SEF

1 Brown Creeper
Male Golden-crowned Kinglet; these hardy little birds return early. -SEF

1 Golden-crowned Kinglet
American Tree Sparrow; these will soon be heading north for their breeding grounds in Northern Ontario. -SEF

1 American Tree Sparrow
3 Song Sparrow
1 White-throated Sparrow
4 Slate-coloured Junco
1 House Finch
5 American Goldfinch

ET’s: 36
Photos from yesterday:

A “forerunner” – a Tree Swallow takes in the view from the MOTUS tower antenna; note the band on its leg. -ECG

Although we know that Pileated Woodpeckers are nesting in the Slough Forest, we rarely see them at Ruthven. -ECG

Wood Ducks just arrived two days ago. -ECG

Nancy

Fern Hill Oakville:
It was a raw morning – the first day of our Spring migration monitoring – cold and windy. But birds were on the move, especially American Robins and Red-winged Blackbirds (although the robins may simply have been birds from the roost next to the adjacent cemetery moving out to feed). Despite the conditions we managed to band 11 birds:

One of two chickadees banded today. KAP

2 Black-capped Chickadees
One of two American Robins banded at Oakville today – there is a large roost in the forest just next door. KAP

2 American Robins
Song Sparrows were everywhere around the campus. KAP

3 Song Sparrows
1 Dark-eyed Junco
3 House Sparrows

ET’s: 25 spp.
Rick

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