Migration Monitoring – October 20th-22nd

October 22nd
Another unseasonably warm day at Ruthven Park with beautiful sunshine all day long. The wind is still strong, and from the south. Actually, we have had a strong southerly wind for most of the last week.

There was a moment of excitement this morning, as I had a Sharp Shinned Hawk in net 10, but it escaped as it saw me making my way down the hill.

Banded 45
1 Brown Creeper
4 Ruby Crowned Kinglets
2 Yellow-rumped Warblers
1 Chipping Sparrow
2 Song Sparrows
3 White-throated Sparrows
5 Eastern White-crowned Sparrows
5 Dark-eyed Juncos
1 Purple Finch
21 American Goldfinches

Retrapped 17
3 Black-capped Chickadees
3 Ruby-crowned Kinglets
2 Hermit Thrushes
3 Eastern White-crowned Sparrows
1 Dark-eyed Juncos
5 American Goldfinches

Loretta

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October 21st
Beautiful clear night; winter constellations blazing overhead at opening. Stiff SW wind though – had been blowing all night. Very little activity along the edges but, once the sun got up, the birds appeared. Especially American Goldfinches. I am absolutely flummoxed as to where they are all coming from -each day. We banded 47 today but only retrapped 4 out of the hordes we’ve been getting. Where can they all be going?
Almost all of the long-distance migrants have gone (if not all). The short-distance migrants have taken over, sparrows, juncos and Yellow-rumped Warblers.

Banded 86:
1 Eastern Phoebe
2 Black-capped Chickadees
1 Golden-crowned Kinglet
5 Ruby-crowned Kinglets
2 Hermit thrushes
4 Yellow-rumped Warblers
1 Northern Cardinal
9 Song Sparrows
2 Swamp Sparrows
2 White-throated Sparrows
3 Eastern White-crowned Sparrows
6 Dark-eyed Juncos
1 Purple Finch
47 American goldfinches

Retrapped 14:
1 White-breasted Nuthatch
1 Golden-crowned Kinglet
1 Song Sparrow
1 White-throated Sparrow
3 Eastern White-crowned Sparrows
3 Dark-eyed Juncos
4 American Goldfinches

ET’s: 37 spp.

Rick

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October 20th

Strong SW winds blew throughout the night. This, coupled with overcast skies, grounded many migrants so today we did not have many ‘new’ birds (other than American Goldfinches -where can they all be coming from!?) and we recaptured many birds that we have banded within the last few days; they just haven’t moved on as they’re waiting for better conditions. Perhaps the best bird of the day was an Eastern Tufted Titmouse. These large relatives of the Chickadee are just about at the northern limit of their range here in southern Ontario.

There was a clearing trend throughout the day. If the skies stay clear AND the wind drops, tomorrow could be pretty interesting as I’m sure there are a good number of birds “bottled up” north of us that will have been waiting for better weather as well.

Banded 60:
1 Blue Jay
3 Black-capped Chickadees
1 Eastern Tufted Titmouse
3 Golden-crowned Kinglets
4 Ruby-crowned Kinglets
2 Hermit Thrushes
1 Blue-headed Vireo
1 Tennessee Warbler
2 Yellow-rumped Warblers
1 Song Sparrow
1 Eastern White-crowned Sparrow
7 Dark-eyed Juncos
33 American Goldfinches

Retrapped 35:
1 Blue Jay
8 Black-capped Chickadees
1 White-breasted Nuthatch
5 Ruby-crowned Kinglets
1 Hermit Thrush
1 Yellow-rumped Warbler
3 Eastern White-crowned Sparrows
4 Dark-eyed Juncos
11 American Goldfinches

ET’s: 35 spp.

Rick

One thought on “Migration Monitoring – October 20th-22nd

  1. I came home to massive computer troubles, however, as soon as I’m back up and running as per normal, I will send along some pics of the ETTI and the hole it made in my finger. Sure was feisty and such beautiful plummage.

    I should be at the station Wednesday morning.

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