The migrants have almost all gone through. It’s just residents now and these have become quiet and much less noticeable as nests have been made and females are sitting on eggs – all the females we’ve caught are sporting brood patches. Just 10 days ago we were counting 20+ Baltimore Orioles and Rose-breasted Grosbeaks every morning. Now that count is much reduced…but it’s not that they’re not around, they’re just quiet and more furtive.
Some of the residents now are long-distance migrants that make Ruthven their Summer “home”. The retraps are interesting in this regard: a Yellow Warbler that is 6 years old; a Red-eyed Vireo that is at least 4 years old; and an Eastern Wood Pewee that is at least 6 years old.
May 19th; Banded 15:
1 Eastern Wood Pewee
1 Traill’s Flycatcher
2 Gray Catbirds
2 Cedar Waxwings
1 Blue-winged Warbler
2 Yellow Warblers
1 Magnolia Warbler
2 Common Yellowthroats
1 Song Sparrow
1 Lincoln’s Sparrow
1 Red-winged Blackbird
ET’s: 51 spp.
May 30th; Banded 9:
1 Eastern Wood Pewee
2 Gray Catbirds
2 Yellow Warblers
1 Chestnut-sided Warbler
1 Magnolia Warbler
1 Song Sparrow
1 Baltimore Oriole
ET’s: 60 spp.
Ruthven Photo Gallery:
Rick
Fern Holl – Burlington:
It was a hot and sticky day at Fern Hill, but our nets were open and we had a nice number of birds. Child Ventures’ JK and SK classes joined us for the morning to watch a banding demonstration. I was so proud of my Young Ornithologists who joined us to help scribe and demonstrate their considerable and ever growing knowledge and banding skills.
We had a slow but steady stream of birds in the nets, with a total of only 13 banded. It was a nice pace and just enough birds for the students to see without having to worry about the nets being full of birds..
Banded 13:
1 Mourning Dove
1 Traill’s Flycatcher
1 Eastern Bluebird
3 Grey Catbirds
1 Cedar Waxwing
3 Yellow Warblers
1 Common Yellowthroat
2 Northern Cardinals
1 Song Sparrow
1 American Goldfinch
Fern Hill students are also monitoring Eastern Bluebird boxes, and after the weekend we discovered that several of the Tree Swallow nests occupying the boxes had 1-2 day old chicks! They looked like tiny pink jelly beans, and we were all very excited!
ET’s: 33 spp
Katherine