Boxed solar panel on my head, banding gear tool box – heading to the car at the end of the season. Marg and I got the last 3 nets down and all the equipment packed up. -MAL
Well, it’s been a marvellous Fall migration at the Farm. And usually the finish ends with a whimper but not this weekend; we were busy over the weekend, banding good numbers (of sparrows) and then getting the nets down. There can be no question about the impact of planting the adjoining 7-acre field in prairie grasses: the sparrow numbers exploded. We banded a total of 1,791 birds; our second best Fall was last year when we did 852. We more than doubled that number. Below is the Top Ten for the Fall. The number in brackets is the total of that species for the last 2 years:
1/ Song Sparrow – 479 (98)
2/ Swamp Sparrow – 359 (108)
3/ American Tree Sparrow – 177 (6)
4/ White-throated Sparrow – 113 (162)
5/ Ruby-crowned Kinglet – 83 (119)
6/ Lincoln’s Sparrow – 64 (5)
7/ Dark-eyed Junco – 56 (5)
8/ American Goldfinch – 55 (31)
9/ Cedar Waxwing – 53 (2)
10/ Common Yellowthroat – 48 (54)
That impish smile belongs to Joanne Fleet – always a pleasure to work with. -DOL
As I mentioned, the weekend was busy.
November 11th; Banded 58:
4 American Goldfinches
40 American Tree Sparrows
3 Dark-eyed Juncos
2 White-throated Sparrows
4 Song Sparrows
2 Swamp Sparrows
1 Northern Cardinal
Several sets of hands – Joanne’s and Sam’s – made light work of extracting, banding and taking down 7 nets on the 12th.
November 12th; Banded 30:
2 American Goldfinches
24 American Tree Sparrows
Note the gray iris which indicates that this junco is a young one. -SHL
2 Dark-eyed Juncos
2 Swamp Sparrows
THANKS TO EVERYONE THAT HELPED MAKE THIS SEASON SUCH A SUCCESS!! I’m already looking forward to the Spring, to see what impact this new field will have on Spring migrants. The Fall was magical.
Rick