When the sun just cleared the horizon, it lit up the heads of two adult Bald Eagles perched one above the other in a tall spruce just to the north of the Mansion. They looked majestic and one could almost forget that they were largely carrion eaters…..
The light north winds yesterday evening with the advent of a high pressure system suggested to me that we could get an influx of birds today. This was NOT the case. However, we did get an influx of human beings. Haldimand County’s historic sites held their annual “Door’s Open” event today – free admission to all the Haldimand historic sites. There were a ton of people around – we counted at least 109 visitors to the banding lab alone. Some of these folks had come from as far away as Windsor, Wiarton and Ajax. It was really neat. Now, you have to keep folks entertained. The birds complied – we didn’t get large numbers but we got a steady trickle throughout the day (right up to 4:00 PM). In fact, it was probably much better that we didn’t get a large number as we would have been swamped – trying to explain what we were doing (over and over and over again) while still processing the birds. Thank goodness that Christine Madliger, Nancy Furber and Peter Thoem came to help out!!
We had a good mix of birds around though – 2 firsts for the Fall season were Black-throated Blue Warblers and a Ruby-crowned Kinglet. A Great Egret put in an appearance along the river as we chalked up 52 species seen for the day.
Banded 40:
1 Mourning Dove
1 Eastern Wood Pewee
1 White-breasted Nuthatch
2 Brown Creepers
1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet
1 Gray-cheeked Thrush
1 Swainson’s Thrush
1 American Robin
3 Gray Catbirds
1 Philadelphia Vireo
1 Red-eyed Vireo
1 Tennessee Warbler
3 Magnolia Warbler
2 Black-throated Blue Warblers
1 Bay-breasted Warbler
2 Blackpoll Warblers
1 American Redstart
1 Common Yellowthroat
1 Indigo Bunting
1 Song Sparrow
2 White-throated Sparrows
11 American Goldfinches
Retrapped 15:
1 Downy Woodpecker
3 Black-capped Chickadees
3 White-breasted Nuthatches
1 House Wren
1 Gray Catbird
1 Red-eyed Vireo
1 Song Sparrow
4 American Goldfinches
ET’s: 52 spp.
Rick