Sorry it has been a few days, folks! There is a gallery at the bottom of this post with shots from various times in the past week or so.

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September 11 – The Bird of the Season

Despite the second day of heat and humidity, it was a very good day with the banding. We handled 25 birds and most of the net rounds had no birds but it was a quality day with the birds that we did process. The bird of the season was the Connecticut Warbler, this bird breeds in the far northwest and we may only band one each fall season. This bird was caught early in the morning on our first net round. Thereafter, we had net rounds where there were no birds in the nets and I said to Carol that maybe ‘the wheel had fallen off’ . But, that was not the case. By mid-morning, there was a small ‘hit’ of birds in the same net as yesterday. A nice variety of vireo’s, warblers and …. a female Scarlet Tanager. The tanager was a new bird for the day and the fall season. One new observation today was a Broad-winged Hawk soaring above the grounds of Ruthven park.

14 Banded
2 House Wren
1 Gray-checked Thrush
1 Swainson’s Thrush
2 Red-eyed Vireo
1 Nashville Warbler
1 Chestnut-sided Warbler
2 Magnolia Warbler
1 Blackpoll Warbler
1 Scarlet Warbler
1 Connecticut Warbler

11 Retrap
1 Blue Jay
3 Black-capped Chickadee
1 Gray Catbird
1 Philadelphia Vireo
2 Red-eyed Vireo
1 Chestnut-sided Warbler
1 American Redstart

ET’s: 32

Nancy

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September 10 – Not One, But Two

You could feel the oppressive heat at opening. The wind was relief that was gusting out of the SW but the nets were billowing and filling with leaves. It was the kind of day you didn’t expect to see many new birds caught, and with each net round most of the nets were empty. Thinking it was going to be a relatively uneventful morning, we were pleasantly surprised with the first Yellow-billed Cuckoo of the season and then, there was a small ‘hit’ of warblers and vireos at the one sheltered net. On my round to close nets, I found our second Yellow-bellied Cuckoo for the day and when I was extracting it another cuckoo was calling nearby.

24 Banded
2 Yellow-billed Cuckoo
1 Eastern Wood Peewee
2 Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
1 Triall’s Flycatcher
2 Philadelphia Vireo
7 Red-eyed Vireo
1 Chestnut-sided Warbler
1 Magnolia Warbler
1 Blackburnian Warbler
2 Blackpoll Warbler
3 American Redstart
1 Northern Cardinal

14 Recap
2 Tufted Titmouse
1 Black-capped Chickadee
1 White-breasted Nuthatch
1 Swainson’s Thrush
1 American Robin
4 Red-eyed Vireo
1 Magnolia Warbler
1 Northern Cardinal
1 House Finch
1 American Goldfinch

ET’s: 40

Nancy
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September 09 – An Amazing Day!

An amazing day today with the diversity of warblers that were handled, super people to work with, and good weather. Today, with each net check from the first to the last, the warblers and the vireos in their fall plumages were amazing to see. Two new birds for the fall season were the Philadelphia Vireo and the Black-throated Green Warbler. The highlight for all of us today was banding a Yellow-throated Vireo.

42 Banded
1 Morning Dove
1 Downy Woodpecker
5 Eastern Wood-Peewee
1 Black-capped Chickadee
2 House Wren
5 Swainson’s Thrush
2 Gray Catbird
2 Cedar Waxwing
1 Philadelphia Vireo
1 Red-eyed Vireo
1 Yellow-throated Vireo
1 Magnolia Warbler
2 Black-throated Blue Warbler
2 Black-throated Green Warbler
5 Blackpoll Warbler
1 American Redstart
1 Ovenbird
1 Common Yellowthroat
1 Rose-breasted Grosbeak
1 Chipping Sparrow
1 Song Sparrow
3 House Finch
1 American Goldfinch

17 Retrap
2 Black-capped Chickadee
3 White-breasted Nuthatch
1 House Wren
2 Gray Catbird
2 Red-eyed Vireo
1 Chestnut-sided Warbler
2 Blackpoll Warbler
1 Northern Cardinal
1 Rose-breasted Grosbeak
1 Chipping Sparrow
1 Song Sparrow

ET’s: 41

Nancy
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September 08, 2013

Instead of getting brighter as I finished opening the nets, the wind picked up and it was only getting darker. There was a light sprinkle of rain and the look of more coming with the threatening clouds. The first net round had more leaves in the nets than birds to band. We were wondering what kind of day it was going to be and if it was going to be cut short. The rain didn’t come and it eventually cleared; the rest of the morning was warm and sunny.

The total number of birds banded today was ‘bumped’ up because of the 22 Cedar Waxwings that were in the net at one time, weighing it down and generating some excitement. With lots of hands, that soon turned purple, the birds were extracted within a short time.

47 Banded
1 Mourning Dove
3 Swainson’s Thrush
1 American Robin
22 Cedar Waxwing
6 Red-eyed Vireo
1 Chestnut-sided Warbler
4 Blackpoll Warbler
1 Common Yellowthroat
1 Northern Cardinal
6 Chipping Sparrow
1 Song Sparrow

11 Retraps
1 Downey Woodpecker
1 Black-capped Chickadee
1 Eastern Wood-Peewee
1 Tufted Titmouse
1 American Robin
1 Gray Catbird
2 Red-eyed Vieo
2 Wilson’s Warbler
1 Chipping Sparrow

ET’s – 37

Nancy
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A number of pictures from the past few days are below. Many were taken by Peter Thoem, who also keeps a blog of his own at http://www.mybirdoftheday.ca/. Go take a look for some stories to go along with the photos!