The slide toward Winter, as exemplified by the last two days, has been interesting. We’re catching good numbers and, while there’s lots of sparrows, we’re also getting some other things that we weren’t expecting. Like the three Tufted Titmice we caught this morning.
A couple of weeks ago, Sarah and crew moved the feeders that were close to the field house back further, closer to the pond edge. This move has generated much activity. I think the spot is less exposed to possible aerial predation and so the birds feel safer. Aerial predation is a constant for small birds and they’re always on the watch. Yesterday we had a good first round and saw quite a few birds bouncing over the grasses or along the edge. But when we started the 2nd round it was dead – not a bird to be seen! Or heard. This lasted for over an hour. At last a Cooper’s Hawk was spied in the distance. It made a fly-by. It wasn’t until the hawk was long gone that birds began to move around again – but by then it was almost time to close up. What amazing perception these small birds have – a must, I guess, if they want to stay alive.
We had another nice start today with lots of bird action as soon as the sun cleared the horizon and peeked through the clouds. But today there was no sign of a hawk so the action was fairly continuous – which was a great thing as there were interesting birds that we hadn’t caught many of throwing themselves into nets. [It’s an interesting thing that bluebirds and waxwings do: when one of a group flies into a net, it gives an alarm call. This animates its group mates that come storming in to see what the problem is….and sometimes get caught themselves.]
November 1st; Banded 24:
2 American Goldfinches
1 Purple Finch
7 American Tree Sparrows
1 Dark-eyed Junco
1 White-throated Sparrow
8 Song Sparrows
3 Swamp Sparrows
1 Red-winged Blackbird
[16 retraps]
November 2nd; Banded 68:
3 Tufted Titmice
4 Eastern Bluebirds
10 Cedar Waxwings
11 American Goldfinches
11 American Tree Sparrows
2 Dark-eyed Juncos
7 White-throated Sparrows
14 Song Sparrows
6 Swamp Sparrows
[21 retraps]
Rick