As Mike notes below, bird banding can be VERY unpredictable. So far this Fall, really “nice weather days have been a bust. But today Mike recorded the best day of the Fall so far, banding 63 of which 35 (56%) were Blackpoll Warblers. Meanwhile, I was at Fern Hill in Oakville where we ended up with just 4 birds (although one was a Gray-cheeked Thrush). Go figure……you just have to be in the right place at the right time.
“A Blackpoll Invasion with some Chestnuts at the Flanks!”
What a surprise it was when we ran out of bird bags at net lane #4!
With such warm, humid conditions who would have expected such a “rush-hour” that turned into an “invasion” of 35 Blackpolls caught and banded! An assortment of other warblers created a nice little aside; particularly 3 Chestnut-sided Warblers (pun intended) – personally, I think they look more spectacular in their fall plumage!
Adding to an amazing day, were a skillful Osprey diving into the Grand and successfully catching a good sized Large-mouth Bass; and, a bit later, a couple of lovely adult Bald Eagles soaring in tandem quite low.
Today was a good example of how unpredictable bird banding can be; it’s what keeps us coming back to it season after season! What’s more, every day is completely different.
Total Banded: 63
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher 1
Gray-cheeked Thrush 1
Swainson’s Thrush 5
Gray Catbird 2
Warbling Vireo 2
Red-eyed Vireo 4
Tennessee Warbler 3
Nashville Warbler 1
Chestnut-sided Warbler 3
Magnolia Warbler 3
Blackpoll Warbler 35
Common Yellowthroat 1
Wilson’s Warbler 1
Scarlet Tanager 1
Total Recaptured: 11
Black-capped Chickadee 1
Swainson’s Thrush 4
Red-eyed Vireo 2
Magnolia Warbler 1
Northern Cardinal 1
Song Sparrow 1
American Goldfinch 1
ET’s: 46spp.
Mike
Doldrums at Fern Hill Oakville
It was a very slow day in Oakville. We caught 5 birds in the first net round and then got nothing for the rest of the day. Notable were: a Gray-cheeked Thrush (this long-distance migrant will winter in the jungles of South America), 2 observed Western Palm Warblers (a common winter bird in Cuba!), and a Horned Lark that passed overhead.
Banded 4:
1 Black-capped Chickadee
1 Gray-cheeked Thrush
2 American Robins
ET’s: 24 spp.
Rick