It’s been a hectic couple of days with school groups and visitors. But the most noticeable thing has been the marked influx of migrants into the area (although not necessarily into the nets). On the 7th we encountered 76 species (including a first ever Summer Tanager, found by Mike Furber along the Fox Den Trail) and today we had 81 Species including 13 types of warbler!
American Goldfinches continue to pour through. In these 2 days, between new bandings and retraps we’ve handled 81! Some of the retraps have been 4 or more years old and seem to make Ruthven a regular stopover in both the Spring and Fall (we don’t seem to catch them in the Summer months or in the Winter). They are a great “teaching bird”: easy to extract and handle as well as age and sex and a novice can handle a LOT of them.
May 7th; Banded 32:
2 House Wrens
2 Ruby-crowned Kinglets
1 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
1 Eastern Bluebird
1 Hermit Thrush
1 Gray Catbird
1 Blue-winged Warbler
1 Yellow Warbler
1 Western Palm Warbler
1 Black & White Warbler
2 Common Yellowthroats
1 White-throated Sparrow
1 Red-winged Blackbird
1 Brown-headed Cowbird
14 American Goldfinches
ET’s: 76 spp.
May 8th; Banded 55:
1 House Wren
3 Ruby-crowned Kinglets
1 Veery
1 Wood Thrush
1 American Robin
2 Gray Catbirds
1 Warbling Vireo
2 Blue-winged Warblers
2 Western Palm Warblers
1 Northern Waterthrush
6 Common Yellowthroats
2 Rose-breasted Grosbeaks
2 Chipping Sparrows
5 White-throated Sparrows
2 Eastern White-crowned Sparrows
2 Red-winged Blackbirds
2 Brown-headed Cowbirds
19 American Goldfinches
ET’s: 81 spp.
Photo Gallery:
Rick