When I think of Fall weather today is the sort of day I think about: cool/cold, stiff NW wind pushing heavy clouds across the sky. Even though the nets were billowing at times, we still had a good catch, with American Goldfinches making up about a third of it.
We banded two very interesting Gray-cheeked Thrushes. One weighed in at 42.7 grams – a huge amount of energy that could fuel it for a very long flight; the other was even heavier – 50.2 grams – enough fuel to get it to South America non-stop, which might be its strategy.
And speaking of fat and thrushes….. On October 10th Marnie banded a Hermit Thrush which weighed 28.9 grams; today we recaptured it at a weight of 34.9 grams, an increase of 6 g in just 7 days!
Banded 67:
1 Red-bellied Woodpecker
1 Downy Woodpecker
1 Golden-crowned Kinglet
6 Ruby-crowned Kinglets
2 Gray-cheeked Thrushes
9 Hermit Thrushes
4 American Robins
1 Gray Catbird
2 Cedar Waxwings
1 Tennessee Warbler
1 Nashville Warbler
1 Myrtle Warbler
1 Chipping Sparrow
1 Song Sparrow
9 White-throated Sparrows
3 Dark-eyed Juncos
23 American Goldfinches
ET’s: 43 spp.
Rick