The weather forecast for the next week shows a lot of unsettled conditions. We were getting some of that this morning – the wind was up and blowing fairly strongly at opening and only got stronger through the morning. And then a cloud bank began to move in from the west (and brought a few showers in the mid-afternoon). But it was the wind that was the factor, billowing the nets and filling them with leaves. We didn’t open all the nets and we closed a few early as all they were catching was leaves (just wait until the big leaf fall begins….yikes!). It will be interesting to see what these unsettled conditions do to our catching numbers.

That being said, we had a reasonably good early Fall day banding 67 (including 9 species of warblers – one being the first Yellow-rumped Warblers of the season). After decrying the fact that we had no wild grapes and we wouldn’t catch any/many Cedar Waxwings, we saw flocks totalling over 150 birds and managed to catch and band 10 of them. While we don’t have any grapes we do have grey dogwood berries and hawthorn fruit in good supple – maybe that’s what they were after…..

Banded 67:
1 Eastern Wood Pewee
1 Golden-crowned Kinglet
1 Gray-cheeked Thrush
3 Swainson’s Thrushes
1 American Robin
2 Gray Catbirds
10 Cedar Waxwings
3 Philadelphia Vireos
4 Red-eyed Vireos
5 Nashville Warblers
6 Magnolia Warblers
3 Yellow-rumped Warblers
1 Black-throated Green Warbler
1 Western Palm Warbler
7 Blackpoll Warblers
2 American Redstarts
3 Common Yellowthroats
2 Wilson’s Warblers
1 Scarlet Tanager
1 Song Sparrow
2 House Finches
7 American Goldfinches

Retrapped 14:
1 Mourning Dove
1 Eastern Tufted Titmouse
2 Black-capped Chickadees
1 Red-eyed Vireo
1 Chestnut-sided Warbler
2 Magnolia Warblers
1 Blackpoll Warbler
1 Rose-breasted Grosbeak (a female initially banded in 2009)
2 Song Sparrows
1 Purple Finch
1 American Goldfinch

ET’s: 50 spp.
Fall Banding Total: 931
Year-to-date Banding Total: 3,519

These fine pictures were sent to me today from Christine Don who was here on the weekend:

Rick