I must apologize for this hiatus in banding reporting. Jeff MacLeod – the blog meister – has gone to Cuba for a week and has left yours truly, a non-techie, in charge of updating the blog with a paucity of instructions. I hope this works…….

Rick

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April 17th, 2008

What a gorgeous day to spend birding! There was a slight improvement in numbers from yesterday, but it’s still slow banding wise.

Rick came to do a census, and rustled up a few new “firsts” for the season, namely, Northern Harrier, Caspian Tern, Rusty Blackbird, and Blue-grey Gnatcatcher.

Banded 14:
2 Ruby-crowned Kinglets
1 Northern Cardinal
1 Chipping Sparrow (1st banded for season)
1 Field Sparrow
1 Dark-eyed Junco
5 Brown-headed Cowbirds
3 American Goldfinches

Retrapped 5:
1 White-breasted Nuthatch
1 American Tree Sparrow
2 Dark-eyed Juncos
1 Brown-headed Cowbird

Loretta

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April 16th, 2008

The day was bathed in beautiful sunshine; the sky, virtually cloudless. The wind was evident from the south before sunup, and you might expect a few new birds to have taken advantage of this “tail wind” and moved into the park over night. But this did not seem to be the case. Despite the fact that there were 5 volunteers ready, willing and anxious to band today, we only managed to eek out 1 bird per volunteer! A total of 5 birds banded! Now that is a slow day!

We did have a couple of interesting retraps however. One was a Tree Swallow that was banded as a nestling by Linda Thrower from a nest box in June of last year. Another interesting retrap was a female Chickadee that we originally banded as a hatch year bird in 2004, and have handled a total of 23 times! This bird is in her 5th year. She was trapped in a ground trap with male Chickadee, whom we also have quite a long record on, and he was hatched in 2006. I wonder if they are a pair.

Mid afternoon, a mature Bald Eagle soared very high over the parking lot, circling his way north.

Chipping Sparrow was new for the season.

Banded 5:
1 Eastern Phoebe
1 Red-winged Blackbird (beautifully marked ASY female)
1 Brown-headed Cowbird
2 American Goldfinches

Retrapped 11:
1 Tree Swallow
2 Black-capped Chickadees
1 American Tree Sparrow
4 Song Sparrows
1 Dark-eyed Junco
2 American Goldfinches

Loretta

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April 15th, 2008

April showers bring May showers. They also bring “fall-outs” of migrant birds. The corollary to this is that lovely, sunshiny days bring…..very few birds; they just fly over on their way north. And so it was today – lovely weather but not many birds to band.

Banded 14:
1 Black-capped Chickadee
1 White-breasted Nuthatch
1 Golden-crowned Kinglet
2 Yellow-rumped Warblers
1 Song Sparrow
2 Dark-eyed Juncos
2 Brown-headed Cowbirds
4 American Goldfinches

Retrapped 14:
1 Downy Woodpecker
2 American Tree Sparrows
3 Song Sparrows
2 Dark-eyed Juncos
4 Brown-headed Cowbirds
2 American Goldfinches

Rick

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April 14th, 2008
A quiet, cool, clear day that never really seemed to get going. There was a flight of Common Loons early on, all heading easterly, and the Bonaparte’s Gulls seem to have finally got their acts together and were heading up river. Double-Crested Cormorants seemed rather more indecisive however with flocks heading up river, down river, and actually landing in the river in front of the mansion.

A pair of Killdeer have nested in the back parking lot and have three eggs.

A lone sickly looking Common Redpoll was observed around the banding station early in the morning, however it succumbed to illness or injury later in the day.

Banded: 17
Golden-Crowned Kinglet 2
American Goldfinch 4
Slate-Coloured Junco 3
Song Sparrow 2
White-Breasted Nuthatch 1
Brown-Headed Cowbird 1
Red-Winged Blackbird 1
American Robin 3

Retrapped: 12
American Goldfinch 1
Black-Capped Chickadee 1
Slate-Coloured Junco 3
American Tree Sparrow 2
Song Sparrow 4
Brown-Headed Cowbird 1

Brian

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April 13th, 2008
The snow that plagued much of the morning was an unpleasant shock to the system. However, it did make the 2 lingering Common Redpolls observed at the feeder look a little less out of place. Unfortunately it also curtailed much of the banding.
After I had removed the rogue computer monitor from the mudflats (funny how it got heavier the farther I carried it..) stalwarts Jackie and Mitch arrived and the days birding activities began in earnest. Census yielded a curious mixture of birds including the season’s first Osprey and Belted Kingfisher, flocks of Double-Crested Cormorants heading down river and a large pulse of swallows heading up river. Most of the swallows were Tree Swallows, but there were a few Northern Rough-Winged Swallows mixed in and the season’s first Barn Swallows.

Several groups of Bonaparte’s Gulls frolicked in the high wind while pairs of Wood Duck were found in many locations scouting out nesting sites in both natural cavities and the nest boxes found throughout the site.

We managed to get a couple of nets and a handful of ground traps open at the end of the day but the yield was not high.

Banded: 4
American Goldfinch 1
Black-Capped Chickadee 1
Yellow-Rumped Warbler 1
Brown-Headed Cowbird 1

Retrapped: 6
Slate-Coloured Junco 2
American Tree Sparrow 2
Song Sparrow 1
Downy Woodpecker 1

Brian

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April 12th, 2008
After being rained out Friday it was rather fitting that waterfowl were so much in evidence. Large flocks of ducks swirled around in front of the mansion just after dawn, with smaller flocks coming and going throughout the day. Northern Pintail were again the most numerous with just over a hundred being estimated. In all 10 species of waterfowl were recorded, including the season’s first Northern Shovellers.

Tree Swallows too seemed on the move. Flocks were observed feeding over the river, around Slink’s Island, and easily enough to spot, right over the parking lot. A lone Northern Rough-Winged Swallow, the first of the season, was spotted around the island.

Banding was slow however, despite the arrival of the season’s first Ruby-Crowned Kinglets and Swamp Sparrows. After a promising first round the wind picked up and the sky clouded over, inhibiting much small bird movement.
Also new for the season (but not the year I think), was American Kestrel.

Banded: 15
Ruby-Crowned Kinglet 2
Slate-Coloured Junco 7
Field Sparrow 1
House Finch 1 ( in a ground trap)
Swamp Sparrow 2
Song Sparrow 2

Retrapped: 14
Black-Capped Chickadee 4
Slate-Coloured Junco 1
Downy Woodpecker 3
Brown-Headed Cowbird 2
Song Sparrow 3
American Robin 1

Brian