It seems that we’ve jumped from Winter into Summer without much Spring in-between. On my drive over to Ruthven the moon hung ominously over the western horizon, a red ball (probably due to water vapour in the air). It was 18 degrees while opening and quickly climbed into the mid-20’s early in the morning, with no wind or clouds. Conditions like these can be dangerous for birds caught in the nets. So, for the second day in a row, we closed an hour early before temperatures reached their peak. And also for the second day in a row, we weren’t seeing any migrants that looked like they were still moving on (i.e., none were carrying any fat).
Although banding totals for many species are below average, We continue to catch Baltimore Orioles and Cedar Waxwings at a record rate. We got our 50th and 51st oriole today breaking the old record of 50 set just last year and we went ahead with Cedar Waxwings as well; today we banded 7 bringing our total to 47, 2 ahead of the old record set in 2011.
Banded 22:
1 Ruby-throated Hummingbird
2 Eastern Wood Pewees
2 Gray Catbirds
7 Cedar Waxwings
1 Red-eyed Vireo
1 Yellow Warbler
1 Indigo Bunting
1 Chipping Sparrow
2 Baltimore Orioles
4 American Goldfinches
ET’s: 53 spp.