On Saturday, Joyce banded our 2000th bird of the Fall – an American Tree Sparrow. This is a new record – the old one having been set last year: 1,791. DOL
The weather in November has been all over the place: a couple freezing nights pasting the nets and poles with frost, interspersed with mild nights. And today…temperatures in the low 20’s!? But each day has had gusting winds, usually from the SW which limited the number of nets we could open. A SW wind seems to be the worst one we could get as it billows all but the most protected nets.
Still, we opened what we could and continued to catch and band. Sparrows continue to be the type of bird most encountered and, although not as plentiful as two weeks ago, can still be observed flying about the tall uncut grasses before dropping back down into it.
Amanda (left) and Bev having just helped me relocate a net. -DOL
We’ve had a number of interesting young people come out recently to volunteer and their interest and zeal are not only energizing (for old folks like me) but give hope for the future of the project. Thanks to Amanda, we have established a “conduit” to the University of Waterloo. And this is the nice thing about sparrows…..they’re great birds for new people to learn on: easy to hold and handle and readily identifiable in the hand when you learn what to look for…and that’s easy. So all the new folks got a great opportunity.
Genevieve (the good looking one on the left) came all the way from Quebec to learn about banding. Here she shows off her first banded bird – American tree sparrow. -SGS
Nela with her first banded bird: Song Sparrow. -AMA
November 1st; Banded 16:
3 Eastern Bluebirds
Male Eastern Bluebird. -DOL
Female Eastern Bluebird. -DOL
1 House Finch
3 Purple Finches
5 American Goldfinches
4 American Tree Sparrows
1 Red-winged Blackbird
ET’s: 21 spp.
November 2nd; Banded 32:
2 American Goldfinches
12 American Tree Sparrows
1 Dark-eyed Junco
1 White-throated Sparrow
13 Song Sparrows
3 Swamp Sparrows
ET’s: 24 spp.
November 3rd; Banded 21:
1 Downy Woodpecker
1 Blue Jay
3 American Goldfinches
1 Field Sparrow
10 American Tree Sparrows
4 Song Sparrows
1 Swamp Sparrow
ET’s: 40 spp.
November 4th; Banded 12:
2 American Goldfinches
1 Field Sparrow
5 American Tree Sparrows
4 Song Sparrows
ET’s: 17 spp.
Northern Saw-whet Owl with an old injury to the right eye. -SGS
Sarah has been doing some “episodic” Northern Saw-whet Owl banding at Ben Oldfield’s Lowville site. She’s had great success, banding 35 owls so far.
Rick