May 15th, 2008 Business as Usual

It started off quite cool – 4 degrees; thought I was in the Arctic (in which case it would have been balmy). But it soon warmed up and it was birding/banding under sunny skies and moderate temperatures with a light northerly wind. There was a nice variety of birds around (63 species for ET’s) but not large numbers (like for Brian yesterday). Enough to keep busy though.

Mac student Matt Searl was out….again….this makes, what, 8 or 9 times? It does your heart good seeing a young person trying to do something useful with his life – and what’s more useful than studying birds I ask you!? He also had his girlfriend Madeline in tow (or maybe it was the other way around) and between the two of them they were a big help, allowing me to do a quick census. Watch out for this guy – he’ll be a player in the years to come.

Speaking of Mac students….we retrapped a Baltimore Oriole today that was originally banded by Teegan way back in the Spring of 2004. Interestingly, this bird was not encountered again since then. [By the way, Teegan will be leaving England in 3 days to do field work in Borneo. Do you think these events could be connected in some uncanny way? Some sort of sign or portent?]

Banded 45:
2 Mourning Doves
1 Traill’s Flycatcher
1 Least Flycatcher
1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet
1 American Robin
3 Gray Catbirds
1 European Starling
9 Yellow Warblers
1 Chestnut-sided Warbler
3 Magnolia Warblers
1 Black-throated Blue Warbler
3 Yellow-rumped Warblers
1 Black and White Warbler
1 American Redstart
1 Northern Waterthrush
2 Common Yellowthroats
3 Rose-breasted Grosbeaks
3 Northern (Baltimore) Orioles
3 American Goldfinches

Retrapped 29:
2 Downy Woodpeckers
2 House Wrens
6 Yellow Warblers
1 Common Yellowthroat
6 Rose-breasted Grosbeaks
1 Song Sparrow
1 Lincoln’s Sparrow
2 Brown-headed Cowbirds
8 Baltimore Orioles

ET’s: 63 species

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