It’s getting to be crunch time. Days are shorter and the temperatures are (finally) dropping; there was even snow up north. Time for lingering long-distance migrants to head south and for southern winter residences to move out of the north for wherever their winter “home” is, whether it’s Yellow-rumped Warblers going to Florida, White-throated Sparrows to Virginia, or Juncos to southern Ontario.

Although today was a washout at Ruthven, in the previous 3 days (Friday to Sunday) we banded 460 birds there.

October 12th; Ruthven Park:
This was the anniversary of last year’s record Big Day – 379 birds were banded. Three of those participants were there to try to recreate the magic: Marnie, Karen, and Nancy. They were not able to better that mark but still had a big day.
Banded 127:
1 Downy Woodpecker
1 Eastern Phoebe
2 Blue Jays
1 Tufted Titmouse
1 Black-capped Chickadee
3 Golden-crowned Kinglets
15 Ruby-crowned Kinglets
1 Swainson’s Thrush
14 Cedar Waxwings

1 Cape May Warbler
3 Nashville Warblers

1 Black-throated Blue Warbler
50 Myrtle Warblers
3 Blackpoll Warblers

1 Pine Warbler
1 Common Yellowthroat

1 Indigo Bunting
9 Song Sparrows
1 Swamp Sparrow
4 White-throated Sparrows

9 Dark-eyed Juncos
4 American Goldfinches

ET’s: 57 spp.

October 12th – Owl Night;

It was a night of patchy drizzle, no owls, but great good (thanks to Irene Fotheringham)!

October 12th; Fern Hill School Oakville Campus:
We had cool overcast conditions and it was a bit “breezy” but we did reasonably well.
Banded 24:
3 Black-capped Chickadees
1 White-breasted Nuthatch
1 Brown Creeper
1 Winter Wren
1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet
1 Tennessee Warbler
1 Nashville Warbler
1 Northern Parula
12 Myrtle Warblers
1 Song Sparrow
1 Dark-eyed Junco

ET’s: 33 spp.

October 13th; Ruthven Park:

We had a wonderful day – bird-wise and people-wise. We had a class of biology students from McMaster visiting to begin to learn birding/banding skills and we had a group of 5 young ladies ranging in age from 9 – 14 who wanted to do the same. So…..we established 3 banding stations and began to teach as we processed birds. Interestingly, ALL of the students (of all ages) were female! Where are the males!? We caught a lot of birds today so there were lots of learning opportunities. And we caught lots of Cedar Waxwings which are great birds to learn on as they are relatively docile, easily manipulated and easy to age and sex. Perfect.

Banded 183:

1 Hairy Woodpecker
1 Blue Jay
2 Black-capped Chickadees
1 White-breasted Nuthatch

4 Golden-crowned Kinglets
7 Ruby-crowned Kinglets
3 Hermit Thrushes

121 Cedar Waxwings
1 Blue-headed Vireo
1 Tennessee Warbler
1 Orange-crowned Warbler
1 Magnolia Warbler
21 Myrtle Warblers
1 Black-throated Green Warbler
2 Western Palm Warblers
1 Chipping Sparrow
2 Song Sparrows
1 Lincoln’s Sparrow
2 White-throated Sparrows
2 Dark-eyed Juncos
1 Purple Finch
6 American Goldfinches

ET’s: 46 spp.

October 13th; Lowville Park:
Ben Oldfield was running his station in Lowville. I don’t know what his totals were but he did send pictures of two neat birds: a Pine Siskin, denizen of the boreal forest and a Yellow-billed Cuckoo, which should have been well on its way to Central America.

October 13th; Impromptu Owling at Ruthven:

Nancy was providing “security” at a wedding on the grounds and decided to try for owls while doing so. A few of us were asked to help out at the last minute. After 3 fruitless net checks I packed it in to try and get some beauty sleep for the next day but those that toughed it out were rewarded by the catching of 2 Northern Saw-whets! W

We also were treated to a surprise visit by Christine Madliger, husband Chris and little Elliot.

October 14th; Ruthven Park:
Cool, overcast, and no wind – great Fall banding conditions for us.
Banded 150:
1 Mourning Dove
2 Northern Saw-whet Owls (from early morning)
1 Downy Woodpecker
1 Black-capped Chickadee
1 Brown Creeper
1 House Wren
13 Golden-crowned Kinglets
31 Ruby-crowned Kinglets
9 Hermit Thrushes
1 American Robin

28 Cedar Waxwings
1 Blue-headed Vireo
4 Tennessee Warblers
6 Myrtle Warblers
1 Blackpoll Warbler
1 Northern Cardinal
1 Field Sparrow
8 Song Sparrows
1 Swamp Sparrow
31 White-throated Sparrows
2 Eastern White-crowned Sparrows
1 Dark-eyed Junco
4 Purple Finches
5 American Goldfinches

ET’s: 45 spp.

October 15:
Funny how different weather can be only 30 kilometers away. Ruthven was pretty well rained out while at Fern Hill Oakville we got just patchy light drizzle and were able to open with frequent net checks until the drizzle stopped altogether around mid-morning. As well as banding some nice birds we got a look at a passing Peregrine Falcon!

Banded 17:

1 Hairy Woodpecker
1 Golden-crowned Kinglet
2 Hermit Thrushes

4 American Robins
3 Myrtle Warblers
1 Western Palm Warbler
4 Song Sparrows
1 White-throated Sparrow

ET’s: 30 spp.
Rick