The morning’s catch was punctuated by the capture of 10 Cedar Waxwings and a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher. Waxwings are relatively late returners to Ruthven; I always associate them with the end of the migration. Several birds that we banded in past years have been recovered in Georgia where, I presume, they spend the Winter, probably feeding on the plentiful wild berry crop in the southern States. Right now they are zipping around in small flocks but will soon pair up to nest. Their numbers at Ruthven, in the Fall, are determined by how bountiful our berry/grape crop is. The continuing hot, dry conditions do not bode well for a good one.

Yellow-bellied Flycatchers are late returners to the province, not just Ruthven. Overall, it has one of the shortest stays in its breeding range, typically arriving in late May and leaving in August. David Hussell figured that, on average, the bird stays only 66 days on the Ontario breeding grounds – wet coniferous and wood peatlands on the Precambrian Shield and Hudson Bay Lowlands. It travels a long way for such a brief stay.

My favourite bird today was the Gray-cheeked Thrush. This is a true long-distance migrant spending the Winter in the jungles of northern South America and its Summers in the far northern edges of the boreal forest, as far northwest as the Yukon and Alaska. The bird we caught had a fat load of ‘4’ (out of 6) and weighed over 36 grams, well above its fat-free weight of around 28 grams. This bird was prepared to travel a long distance yet.

Banded 29:
1 Northern Flicker
1 Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
1 White-breasted Nuthatch
4 Eastern Bluebirds
1 Gray-cheeked Thrush
10 Cedar Waxwings
1 Yellow Warbler
1 Chestnut-sided Warbler
4 Magnolia Warblers
2 Blackpoll Warblers
1 Black & White Warbler
1 Rose-breasted Grosbeak
1 Indigo Bunting

Species Count: 66 spp.
Rick