May 5th, 2005

Ruthven

It was a beautiful still morning, the thermometer outside the banding lab read 2C, and I was surprised that it was that cold. It didn’t feel cold, with no wind. But the temperature was confirmed when I turned the potter trap over, and there was ice on the bottom side! The cool air and relatively warm river water made conditions just right for mist to rise and hang in the still air. A truly breath taking dawn.

When I was opening the nets I was encouraged to hear so many species calling. But the banded migrant results were slim, bolstered by our staple bird, American Goldfinch. 14 banded)

I was treated to 3 Orchard Orioles this morning, (1 female).

3 Lesser Yellow legs were seen on census. The gravel bar is showing again in the river, as the river level has receded. This aids our shore bird counts!

Banded today (37): 1 TRES, 2 BLJA, 1 WBNU, 1 HOWR, 2 RCKI, 1 WOTH, 6 YWAR, 1 WPWA, 3 RBGR, 1 WTSP, 4 EWCS, and 14 AMGO.

Retrapped (14): 2 DOWO, 1 WAVI, 1 BWWA, 1 BRWA, 2 YWAR, 1 NOCA, 2 WTSP, 1 EWCS, and 3 AMGO.

The Blue-winged Warbler and the Brewster’s Warbler were retrapped together in the same net, on the same net round. It is the first time we have seen this species this season, and both birds were banded as hatch year birds last year, a week apart.

Loretta

Selkirk

Very quiet to start the day off. First impression from the lack of song and bird movement was that the station would be hard pressed to reach 10 banded birds. However a flitration through the pines occurred throughout the morning, resulting in a fairly decent day.

Banded: EASO 1 (rehabilitated bird), LEFL 1, HOWR 2, RCKI 5, HETH 1, WOTH 1, GRCA 1, BRTH 1, MAWA 1, MYWA 2, WPWA 2, BAWW 1, OVEN 2, CHSP 2, FISP 1, LISP 1, WTSP 5, EWCS 5, RWBL 2, COGR 1, BHCO 1, AMGO 7 = 44

John

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