One thing about the banding operation at Ruthven is you never know what will show up. We didn’t have a lot birds but we did have some interesting visitors – serious visitors that wanted to help and learn not just observe. The lower number of birds allowed me to help others get that banding experience which is fun and rewarding in and of itself.
It has been kind of slow for the past few days now – I will be interested to see what happens when the unsettled weather, forecast for the next several days, moves in. I think we will see an influx of birds behind it.
One of the visitors was Mac student Christina DeMelo (whose pictures can be seen in the blog from several days ago). She had an olive green hoodie on and looked very much like an elf frozen against a tree trunk as she tried to get pictures of birds at the feeder.
Another was Dr. Oliver Love from the University of Windsor – you can find out more about him on his website at the university. The section “Opportunities in the Love Lab” sounds almost risque…..Oli and I have worked on Snow Buntings in the Arctic the past 3 years. It’s good that he’s so close now (having been at Simon Fraser until this Fall).
Sandra Loher has learned to scribe and has become a big help. And newcomer Emily Clark shows promise as a bander. People make it fun – especially when the birds are sparse.
We did have the first Yellow-rumped Warbler of the Season though – the vanguard of the hordes to come.

Banded 27:
1 Hairy Woodpecker
1 Downy Woodpecker
1 Blue Jay
1 Black-capped Chickadee
3 Swainson’s Thrushes
2 American Robins
2 Magnolia Warblers
1 Yellow-rumped Warbler
2 Blackpoll Warblers
1 Ovenbird
1 Common Yellowthroat
1 Rose-breasted Grosbeak
1 Chipping Sparrow
2 Song Sparrows
5 White-throated Sparrows
2 American Goldfinches

Retrapped 7:

3 Black-capped Chickadees
1 Gray-cheeked Thrush
1 Chipping Sparrow
2 American Goldfinches

ET’s: 40 spp.

Rick