After such a cold April when I thought the Spring would never come, I must say I’m surprised by the heat of the last couple of days. What happened to Spring!? [Although Peter Thoem emailed me when he got back to Burlington from Ruthven that he went from mid-20’s at Ruthven to 13 degrees at home.] The sun and heat have accelerated the shrinking of the sloughs and the hatching of the mosquito hordes….well, not hordes yet but soon to be – they’ve become a presence at opening around the nets.
I try to put mosquitoes in a more manageable perspective – they aren’t a plague meant to torment me but just little winged meatballs for migrants to dine on. Sometimes it helps; sometimes it doesn’t.
We have been getting smatterings of migrants – good variety but not many of them. I think many birds are taking advantage of the conditions to fly over and make time.
May 10th; Banded 45:
1 Mourning Dove
2 Blue Jays
6 Gray Catbirds
1 Warbling Vireo
1 Blue-winged Warbler
1 Tennessee Warbler
8 Yellow Warblers
2 Chestnut-sided Warblers
2 Western Palm Warblers
1 Common Yellowthroat
2 Rose-breasted Grosbeaks
1 Indigo Bunting
1 Field Sparrow
4 White-throated Sparrows
2 Red-winged Blackbirds
1 Baltimore Oriole
1 Purple Finch
8 American Goldfinches
Species Count: 69 spp. (including firsts of the year: Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Blackpoll Warbler, Traill’s Flycatcher)
May 11th; Banded 51:
2 Mourning Doves
2 Tree Swallows
4 Blue Jays
2 Eastern Bluebirds
1 Swainson’s Thrush
2 American Robins
7 Gray Catbirds
3 Tennessee Warblers
8 Yellow Warblers
1 Chestnut-sided Warbler
4 Magnolia Warblers
1 Black-throated Blue Warbler
1 Western Palm Warbler
1 Black and White Warbler
2 Ovenbirds
1 Common Yellowthroat
1 Rose-breasted Grosbeak
1 Chipping Sparrow
2 Swamp Sparrows
2 White-throated Sparrows
2 Baltimore Orioles
1 American Goldfinch
Species Count: 74 spp. (including the first Eastern Wood Pewees of the year)
Photo Gallery:
Rick
Great blog ! Thank you to everyone who helped to make this happen and keeps the banding station going. A wealth of knowledge and incredible pictures keep up the great work everyone.