Sometimes it doesn’t rain but it pours! We’ve had a very hectic and busy couple of days. Nancy started it off the night of the 17th with an owling night – they ended up catching 5! We followed this up on the morning of the 18th with a really big day – we banded 214 birds!! And then, that night, we headed to Fern Hill Oakville for more owling. There we caught and banded 2 more in front of a very appreciative and enthusiastic audience. Then this morning, Nancy was at Ruthven and I travelled back to Oakville. Whew! And tomorrow is the start of our annual Bird Festival with banding and talks during the day, owling at night, a sleepover for keeners, and then more banding Sunday morning. You’re given only so many migrations; you don’t want to waste any of them……
October 18th; Ruthven Park, Banded 214:
4 Mourning Doves
1 Eastern Phoebe
4 Black-capped Chickadees
1 Red-breasted Nuthatch
3 White-breasted Nuthatches
2 Golden-crowned Kinglets
16 Ruby-crowned Kinglets
1 Brown Creeper
1 Winter Wren
2 Eastern Bluebirds
1 Swainson’s Thrush
8 Hermit Thrushes
10 American Robins
91 Cedar Waxwings
5 Myrtle Warblers
1 Chipping Sparrow
1 Field Sparrow
4 Song Sparrows
14 White-throated Sparrows
3 Eastern White-crowned Sparrows
3 Dark-eyed Juncos
5 Purple Finches
33 American Goldfinches
ET’s: 54 spp
Fern Hill Burlington:
Banded 23:
Mourning Dove – 1
Downy Woodpecker – 1
Blue Jay – 1
Black-capped Chickadee – 1
White-breasted Nuthatch – 1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet -1
Chipping Sparrow – 1
Field Sparrow – 3
Song Sparrow – 2
White-throated Sparrow – 1
Eastern White-crowned Sparrow – 2
American Goldfinch – 1
House Sparrow – 7
ET’s: 39 species
Katherine
Fern Hill Oakville:
2 Northern Saw-whet Owls
October 19th; Ruthven Park:
The catching was more subdued due to the brisk wind but there were good numbers of birds around – especially robins and waxwings. It’s too bad we don’t have nets on the river flats……
Banded 68:
2 Black-capped Chickadees
1 Brown Creeper
3 Golden-crowned Kinglets
2 Ruby-crowned Kinglets
2 Hermit Thrushes
12 American Robins
12 Cedar Waxwings
11 Myrtle Warblers
3 Northern Cardinals
1 Fox Sparrow
4 Song Sparrows
1 Swamp Sparrow
5 White-throated Sparrows
1 Red-winged Blackbird
3 Purple Finches
2 American Goldfinches
ET’s: 42 spp (including a Common Nighthawk!)
Fern Hill Oakville:
We had quite a good day at the school. Although it was windy first thing in the morning we caught some nice birds in the sheltered nets. It was a busy day at the school as there was a dunk tank for raising funds for local charities. Students got to purchase the opportunity to dunk their teachers (a bunch of good sports I can tell you as it was quite chilly in that wind!!).
Banded 29:
2 Mourning Doves
1 Downy Woodpecker
2 Black-capped Chickadees
2 Golden-crowned Kinglets
4 Ruby-crowned Kinglets
5 Hermit Thrushes
2 Nashville Warblers
1 Northern Cardinal
1 Chipping Sparrow
1 Fox Sparrow
1 Song Sparrow
1 White-throated Sparrow
3 Dark-eyed Juncos
3 House Finches
ET’s: 34 spp.