Both mornings were punctuated by clear, star-studded skies and chilly temperatures (with a touch of frost this morning delaying the opening of Net 4). We continue to catch a good variety of warblers but the increase in Yellow-rumped Warblers was quite noticeable this morning – we didn’t see any yesterday but banded 11 today and they were all over the grounds. This is just the start of their “big push”. We will see a LOT more of them throughout the next 5 weeks.

We had a couple of noteworthy sightings: yesterday a Peregrine Falcon blew down the river scattering everything in its wake and today an Olive-sided Flycatcher hawked insects from a high perch beside the Mansion.

We banded 20 more birds today than yesterday; the difference was in the number of American Goldfinches: 29 vs 9.

We also retrapped a White-throated Sparrow that, when it was originally banded on the 9th weighed 23.7 g and today weighed in at a hefty 29.0 g. I would imagine that it will soon be on its way south again.

September 23rd; Banded 56:
1 Least Flycatcher
1 Black-capped Chickadee
1 Red-breasted Nuthatch
1 Brown Creeper
1 House Wren
2 Ruby-crowned Kinglets
3 Gray-cheeked Thrushes
1 Swainson’s Thrush
7 Gray Catbirds
1 Red-eyed Vireo
3 Tennessee Warblers
5 Nashville Warblers
1 Chestnut-sided Warbler
3 Magnolia Warblers
3 Black-throated Green Warblers
3 Blackpoll Warblers
5 Common Yellowthroats
1 Chipping Sparrow
2 Song Sparrows
2 White-throated Sparrows
9 American Goldfinches

ET’s: 56 spp.

September 24th; Banded 76:
1 Mourning Dove
1 Golden-crowned Kinglet
1 Gray-cheeked Thrush
1 Swainson’s Thrush
1 Gray Catbird
4 Cedar Waxwings
1 Blue-headed Vireo
2 Nashville Warblers
1 Northern Parula
3 Magnolia Warblers
11 Yellow-rumped Warblers
1 Black-throated Green Warbler
5 Blackpoll Warblers
1 Common Yellowthroat
1 Wilson’s Warbler
5 Chipping Sparrows
1 Field Sparrow
2 Song Sparrows
3 White-throated Sparrows
1 Purple Finch
29 American Goldfinches

ET’s: 55 spp.
Fall Banding Total: 1,148
Year-to-date Banding Total: 3,733

Rick