I must say that I didn’t even feel guilty when I woke up at 5:30, heard the rain pelting the window, and rolled over and went back to sleep. I did feel a little guilty though when, at 7:00, I somehow became aware of the fact that the rain had stopped. Fortunately, Ruthven is just 5 minutes down the road. I opened only a few of the nets – those that were most sheltered from the NE wind – so that, if it started to rain again, I could get them closed quickly. I began to wonder why I had opened at all since I had only banded 6 birds by 11:00. But (and Mother Nature is like this….) when I began to think about closing the nets, 34 birds threw themselves into net #2 so we ended up with a half decent banding total after all. Nineteen of the 34 were warblers (including the first Tennessee of the season) and 11 were Cedar Waxwings – after the heavy grape crop. But the ‘best’ bird was probably the HY Black-billed Cuckoo. Cuckoos are an elusive, secretive bird at the best of times, so it’s always nice to see one in the hand.

Banded 43:
1 Black-billed Cuckoo
2 Eastern Wood Pewee
1 Least Flycatcher
14 Cedar Waxwings
5 Red-eyed Vireos
3 Tennessee Warblers
3 Nashvilled Warblers
3 Magnolia Warblers
1 Black-throated Green Warblers
4 Bay-breasted Warblers
5 Blackpoll Warblers
1 House Finch

Retrapped 4:
1 Eastern Wood Pewee
1 Gray Catbird
1 Common Yellowthroat
1 Chipping Sparrow

ET’s: 39 spp.

Rick