I’ve gotta be frank: when I’m banding or birding I prefer unsettled weather – overcast, chance of showers, etc. These conditions ground migrants and tend to bring them down out of the canopy – easier to see and to catch. So I had (tentative) high hopes for today. Nancy, at Ruthven, did fairly well banding 60 birds, almost half of which were warblers. Katherine and I (at Fern Hill Oakville), on the other hand, did not catch any warblers but still did fairly well; we banded 20 birds but the only long-distance migrant was a Gray Catbird. But given how small the patch of habitat there is, we did….fairly well.
Nancy caught the first Philadelphia Vireo of the year as well as the first Brewster’s Warbler (a Golden-winged x Blue-winged Warbler hybrid). You can see the pictures of these just below:
At Ruthven; Banded 60:
1 Tree Swallow
2 Ruby-crowned Kinglets
1 Veery
5 Gray Catbirds
1 Philadelphia Vireo
2 Blue-winged Warblers
1 Brewster’s Warbler
1 Tennessee Warbler
2 Nashville Warblers
13 Yellow Warblers
1 Magnolia Warblers
2 Yellow-rumped Warblers
2 Western Palm Warblers
1 American Redstart
2 Common Yellowthroats
4 Rose-breasted Grosbeaks
1 Chipping Sparrow
2 Field Sparrows
1 Song Sparrow
1 Red-winged Blackbird
1 Common Grackle
4 Baltimore Orioles
9 American Goldfinches
ET’s: 64 spp.
The wind at Fern Hill continues to be a problem – every time we’ve banded there the wind has been billowing the nets allowing many to escape (especially the larger birds) and making the net more visible to the birds. I can’t get over the enthusiastic response of the students and staff to Katherine’s program – it’s like preaching to the choir.
Fern Hill Oakville; Banded 20:
2 Mourning Doves (one of these was a juvenile, not long out of the nest!)
1 Gray Catbird
1 Song Sparrow
7 Red-winged Blackbirds
4 Common Grackles
2 Brown-headed Cowbirds
2 American Goldfinches
1 House Sparrow
ET’s: 38 spp.
Photo Gallery:
Rick