Southerly winds blew for much of the night. If I had been a neotropical migrant I would have been in the air last night taking advantage of the free ride. Quite a few I guess were. We had an interesting variety show up today. Not huge numbers but a good mix – 21 species banded; 45 species on census; 62 species for ET’s.

The winds may have blown the American Goldfinches away – we only banded 1! On the other hand (since there were lots around), it may have been the result of the nets billowing or the birds, having been caught before, being “net-shy”.

I netted a new species for Ruthven Park – a bat. Not being a “mammal guy”, I couldn’t tell you exactly what kind it was BUT I can tell you what it wan’t. It was not a vampire, flying fox, or fruit bat. My guess? Little Brown Bat.

John Millman brought his 9-year old granddaughter, Jordan, out to the lab – she is doing a project for school. She got lots of opportunity to see birds up close and was very helpful carrying all the bird bags back to the lab – AND she remembered what nets they were all from! I don’t know how many adults have failed this simple IQ test at Ruthven.

Banded 45:
1 Tree Swallow
1 American Robin
2 Gray Catbirds
2 Blue-winged Warblers
3 Nashville Warblers
10 Yellow Warblers
1 Magnolia Warbler
3 Yellow-rumped Warblers
1 Black and White Warbler
2 Ovenbirds
2 Northern Waterthrushes
2 Common Yellowthroats
1 Northern Cardinal
3 Rose-breasted Grosbeaks
1 Indigo Bunting
1 Swamp Sparrow
3 Eastern White-crowned Sparrows
1 Red-winged Blackbird
3 Baltimore Orioles
1 American Goldfinch

Retrapped 17:
4 Downy Woodpeckers
1 Tree Swallow
1 Black-capped Chickadee
1 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
4 Yellow Warblers
1 Rose-breasted Grosbeak
2 Chipping Sparrows
3 American Goldfinches

Some interesting retraps:
Yellow Warblers:
Originally banded September, 2005
” ” August, 2004
” ” May, 2002 (this bird would have to be at least 6 years old)
Tree Swallow – banded as a nestling in one of our nest boxes in June, 2005
Downy Woodpecker – banded in July, 2003 and not recaptured since then
Rose-breasted Grosbeak – banded in May, 2005

ET’s: 62 species

“New” birds this season:
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Red-eyed Vireo
Common Yellowthroat
Indigo Bunting

Rick

A few pictures from the day (click for a larger image):
John’s Grand-daughter Jordan

Her system for keeping the bags straight: