Myrtle Warbler could be found in most of the dogwood thickets. -CR
The conditions were ideal this morning for a “Big Day” – defined by us as a day on which we band >100 birds. And the birds were there. But we ran into conflict with the annual antique car show which took over the grounds and, after a couple of incidents and the noise and hubbub generated by the event, we decided to close early. We ended up banding 89 birds from our standard nets and another 4 from a non-standard net. We continued to get good numbers of Ruby-crowned Kinglets and White-throated Sparrows and these were joined by a nice “hit” of Cedar Waxwings (which are moving in to feast on our plentiful berry/grape crop) and the influx (finally) of American Goldfinches. We saw and banded our first Dark-eyed Junco today. This is very late. I checked in our old records; the birds are usually first seen in the last week of September with the latest record being October 3rd so these birds not showing up until October 14th is quite unusual. Note that while banding numbers are respectable the diversity of birds around the site has dropped considerably from just a few days ago. It won’t be long until the migration is over…..
Banded 93:
Winter Wren about to emerge from the weighing tube. -AAW
1 Winter Wren
12 Ruby-crowned Kinglets
2 American Robins
24 Cedar Waxwings
Nashville Warbler….another straggler. -AAW
2 Nashville Warblers
Myrtle Warblers are moving through in big numbers. -AAW
19 Myrtle Warblers
Male Black-throated Green Warbler – a late straggler. -AAW
1 Black-throated Green Warbler
4 Song Sparrows
9 White-throated Sparrows
1st junco of the season. -AAW
1 Dark-eyed Junco
18 American Goldfinches
The Golden Horde – American Goldfinches – is upon us. -CR
ET’s: 37 spp.
More Pics:
The family that bands together……. -JET
Myrtle Warbler –CR
Another look at our first Dark-eyed Junco. -JET
Day of the living dead? No…from a video clip of Ezra trying to do a back flip. It’s a good look for him. -AAW