October 21st:
The day started off with a fairly heavy fog which took quite a while to burn off. We then had beautiful blue skies but with a wind that proceeded to fill some of the nets with leaves. We thought that most of the leaves had fallen already….but we were wrong, very wrong. There was a significant drop in the number of birds that were around the site. First thing in the morning for the past 10 days or so we have been hearing the call notes of large numbers of White-throated Sparrows. We heard some this morning but only a few. This presaged the sort of catching day that transpired.
One surprise was a very late Warbling Vireo. This was an adult moult that had yet to complete the moulting of its flight feathers. Not sure what was going on there…..
Banded 24:
1 Golden-crowned Kinglet
2 Ruby-crowned Kinglets
2 Hermit Thrushes
1 American Robin
1 Warbling Vireo
1 Nashville Warbler
1 Myrtle Warbler
1 Song Sparrow
12 White-throated Sparrows
2 American Goldfinches
ET’s: 44 spp
Rick
October 22d:
Even on rainy days, the banding station strives to have a few birds in the lab for a banding program when students are scheduled to come. It would be just as easy to say that the station is closed but we almost always come through! A few nets were opened during a lull before the heavy rain settled in for the morning. In less than hour, we had a few sparrows and goldfinches that I was able to show the forty plus students (in two groups) the banding process. Handled 10 today!
Banded 7:
2 Black-capped Chickadee
1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet
1 White-throated Sparrow
3 American Goldfinch
ET’s: 33 species
Nancy
Some recent pics:
Rick