October 4th – More Action North Of The Lake

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GO JAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The 16 Blue Jays that we banded in the space of half an hour (half of which are shown here) at Fern Hill Oakville should be a good omen for tonight's big game.
GO JAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The 16 Blue Jays that we banded in the space of half an hour (half of which are shown here) at Fern Hill Oakville should be a good omen for tonight’s big game.

For the second day in a row, the banders at Fern Hill School (yesterday it was Burlington, today Oakville) have banded more birds than the banders at Ruthven despite the latter running many more nets. The action certainly seems to be north of Lake Ontario.

At Fern Hill Oakville this morning we caught and banded 16 Blue Jays in the space of about half an hour. We no sooner got the nets up before they were throwing themselves into them. This can only be a good omen for the big game tonight. To add to it, there wasn’t an Oriole anywhere to be seen! GO JAYS!!

Another BIG SURPRISE was this young male Cooper's Hawk that flew into a net. -K. Paveley
Another BIG SURPRISE was this young male Cooper’s Hawk that flew into a net. -K. Paveley

To add to the excitement, a young male Cooper’s Hawk flew into a net chasing a Song Sparrow!! The Black-throated Blue Warbler, normally a bird of great interest, was only anti-climatic…..much to its chagrin.
A (washed-out picture of a) young male Black-throated Blue Warbler that wandered into the Fern Hill nets in the midst of our Blue Jay/Cooper's Hawk excitement.
A (washed-out picture of a) young male Black-throated Blue Warbler that wandered into the Fern Hill nets in the midst of our Blue Jay/Cooper’s Hawk excitement.

Back at Ruthven, Nancy’s cause wasn’t helped at all by the floodlights being left on all night. Fortunately, this was the last day of filming and in the late afternoon everything was being packed out and trailered away. Tomorrow should be better.

Ruthven; Banded 15:

A nice Eastern Phoebe. -N. Furber
A nice Eastern Phoebe. -N. Furber

1 Eastern Phoebe
White on the outer tail feathers (rectrices) is another good cue that this is an Eastern Phoebe. -N. Furber
White on the outer tail feathers (rectrices) is another good cue that this is an Eastern Phoebe. -N. Furber

2 Tufted Titmice
2 Black-capped Chickadees
2 Ruby-crowned Kinglets
1 Gray-cheeked Thrush
1 Yellow-rumped Warbler
2 Song Sparrows
2 Lincoln’s Sparrows
1 White-throated Sparrow
1 Purple Finch
Purple Finch. -N. Furber
Purple Finch. -N. Furber

ET’s: 45 spp.

Fern Hill Oakville; Banded 29:
1 Cooper’s Hawk
16 Blue Jays
8 Black-capped Chickadees
1 Black-throated Blue Warbler
2 Song Sparrows
1 House Finch

ET’s: 21 spp.
Rick

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