The website was offline for a while on the weekend because the domain name expired and we weren’t aware of this until too late. Sorry about the outage!
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October 13th
Opening in the dark this morning I heard 2 different species of owls: a Great Horned Owl calling in the distance across Highway 54 and an Eastern Screech Owl calling from the river flats in front of the Mansion (perhaps checking out a Wood Duck box along the river for a potential nesting site).
At first light there was a flurry of activity along the edges as the White-throated Sparrows and Song Sparrows woke up and started to “chip” (and some to call). I was struck though by the lack of Yellow-rumped Warblers – only a few were around at any time today. As the sun got up and it began to heat up (who would ever think of 20+ degree temperatures in mid-October!?) the birds petered out and by 11:00 it was fairly quiet – except for Red-winged Blackbirds along the river.
Banded 42:
1 Golden-crowned Kinglet
3 Ruby-crowned Kinglets
1 Swainson’s Thrush
5 Hermit Thrushes
1 Yellow-rumped Warbler
8 Song Sparrows
1 Swamp Sparrow
15 White-throated Sparrows
1 Dark-eyed Junco
6 American Goldfinches
Retrapped 8:
2 Hermit Thrushes
2 Song Sparrows
1 Swamp Sparrow
3 White-throated Sparrows
ET’s: 38 species
Rick
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October 12th
A bright, sunny day. Warm for any season let alone Thanksgiving weekend. There was not as much bird activity compared to the previous few days but there were still birds for our many visitors to encounter. It was nice to see so many people enjoying the Ruthven property on such a glorious day.
Banded: 45
Golden-Crowned Kinglet 2
Ruby-Crowned Kinglet 6
American Goldfinch 5
Slate-Coloured Junco 9
Chipping Sparrow 4
Yellow-Rumped Warbler 1
Field Sparrow 1
Hermit Thrush 4
Song Sparrow 2
White-Throated Sparrow 10
Blue Jay 1
Retrapped: 12
American Goldfinch 2
Yellow-Rumped Warbler 2
Black-Capped Chickadee 1
Song Sparrow 4
White-Throated Sparrow 1
Grey Catbird 1
Northern Cardinal 1
B
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October 11th
The roar of large automobile engines and nostalgic music filled the air at Ruthven today – yes, the Slate-Coloured Juncos have hit town. Oh, wait, it could have been the Classic Car Cruise too. Anyways, there were a lot of neat cars and juncos around. I suppose the juncos could have descended upon Ruthven like Marlon Brando and the motorcycle gangs in “The Wild One”. They were certainly skulking around and acting unruly. Maybe they drove…
Maybe I need sleep too.
A sunny, clear and unseasonably warm day at Ruthven. Many sparrows were around early in the morning but by noon most birds had ceased moving. Surprisingly sparse were Yellow-Rumped Warblers. There were a handful around at dawn and then they cleared out.
A total of 41 species were encountered.
Banded: 48
Ruby-Crowned Kinglet 4
Golden-Crowned Kinglet 1
American Goldfinch 8
Field Sparrow 2
Winter Wren 3
Blackpoll Warbler 1
Slate-Coloured Junco 10
Black-Capped Chickadee 1
Blue-Headed Vireo 1
Hermit Thrush 2
White-Throated Sparrow 5
Song Sparrow 5
Swainson’s Thrush 1
American Robin 2
Blue Jay 1
Mourning Dove 1
Retrapped: 14
American Goldfinch 2
Golden-Crowned Kinglet 1
Black-Capped Chickadee 4
Chipping Sparrow 2
White-Throated Sparrow 1
Song Sparrow 2
White-Breasted Nuthatch 1
Downy Woodpecker 1
B