After yesterday’s heat (24+ C), this morning’s cool, almost cold, temperatures were a welcome change…to me anyway. After all, Fall should be about cool temperatures, right?

As noted previously, short-distance migrants are starting to move into the area. A sure sign of this is the call notes of White-throated Sparrows heard at first light while I’m opening the nets. There were a few this morning (although only two made their way into the nets). We did, however, get our first Ruby-crowned Kinglet and Yellow-bellied Sapsucker of the Fall season. The kinglet, as you would expect, was a female. In this species females trail the males by few days in the Spring and precede them in the Fall.

The leaves are falling in increasing numbers. (It’s odd isn’t it that the trees only release them when the nets are open and available to catch them?) Their loss is opening up the understory so that the wild grape and dogwood berry crops can be seen more easily. This year they are “patchy” – areas with thick clusters interspersed with thickets with none. This is very unlike last year when grape clusters seemed to be everywhere and berries festooned the dogwoods…. and Cedar Waxwings with them. By this time last year we had banded over 50 waxwings, on our way to banding over 1400! But We’re yet to catch any young birds this Fall.

Banded 31:
1 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
1 House Wren
1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet
3 American Robins
1 Gray Catbird
1 Red-eyed Vireo
2 Nashville Warblers
3 Magnolia Warblers
1 Black-throated Blue Warbler
2 Black-throated Green Warblers
2 Blackpoll Warblers
2 American Redstarts
1 Northern Waterthrush
2 Scarlet Tanagers
3 Song Sparrows
2 White-throated Sparrows
3 American Goldfinches

ET’s: 45 spp.
Rick