The first Rusty Blackbirds of the year showed up this morning. Birds were on the move!
We caught a break! The weather today- April Fool’s Eve – was magnificent: blue skies, light southerly winds, bright sunshine, and warm (up to 13 degrees!). And this was wonderful as Spring Banding/Migration Monitoring starts tomorrow and we had to get the nets up (or most of them anyway). The sun and warmth ate up much of the remaining snow leaving only the remains of drifts in sun-sheltered areas (like Net 10….).
The banding lab with equipment strewn about.
Matt and Nancy putting the finishing touches on Net 5.
Nancy Furber, Matt Timpff and myself got the work done at a….well…leisurely pace. We took enough time to check out the “new” birds that Matt kept finding: Wood Ducks, American Woodcock, Rusty Blackbirds, Eastern Meadowlark, Golden-crowned Kinglet. [If you want to start the new Spring Banding Season off right, Matt is going to do the census count tomorrow morning and invites you all to join him – 8:00 AM.]
The Purple Marting boxes are up and ready for occupation.
Note the still-frozen pond below Net 8 – but soon it will be filled with Chorus Frogs.
So the “grind” starts tomorrow: nets open half an hour before sunrise and open for 6 hours…for 61 days in a row. And the problem with Spring banding is that the sun gets up earlier and earlier each day so that by the end of May I’m rolling out of bed at 4:30…..Oh well, it’s all part of the excitement. You just never know what you’re going to see or what you’ll find in your nets.
Still lots of snow in #4.
Net 6 though was almost snow-free.
And we’re going to try something “new” this season – preserve one day a week that will be for “adults only”. So anyone that’s interested in getting specific instruction on bird identification or even banding shoiuld look for “adult only” days – I’ll post these on the blog from time to time. Or….you can email me to find out.
I hope to see you out!
Rick
Looks like a different country! Southern Quebec remains utterly snow-bound.
Have fun in the sun!