April 13th

Noting the lack of cloud cover and predicted below freezing overnight temperatures I decided to sleep in for half an hour. As it turns out I probably could have stayed in bed for a lot longer as the dawn temperature was -5C and showed no indication of ever increasing. Since it was too cold to open the nets I set the traps, filled the feeders and headed out on an early census. Remarkably, one of the first birds I encountered was an early Baltimore Oriole hunched miserably in one of the trees behind the mansion. Frankly at that point I too was hunched miserably behind the mansion although I was unprepared to do so in a tree.

After an otherwise uneventful census the temperatures had risen to a level suitable for net opening and a merry crowd had gathered. Some were human but for the most part the merry crowd was a ravenous pack of American Goldfinch and Slate-Coloured Juncos.

New sightings for the season were Rough-Legged Hawk, Swamp Sparrow, and the aforementioned Baltimore Oriole.

Banded: 28
American Goldfinch 19
Slate-Coloured Junco 4
Swamp Sparrow 1
Song Sparrow 2
American Robin 1
Mourning Dove 1

Retrapped: 23
American Goldfinch 6
American Tree Sparrow 1
Slate-Coloured Junco 8
Black-Capped Chickadee 3
Song Sparrow 4
Downy Woodpecker 1

Brian

April 12th

A very cold dawn with frost covering the furled nets. This delayed opening for about an hour or so. There seemed to be very little bird activity other than at the feeders. The bright sunlight was nice, but best enjoyed from inside the warm(ish) banding lab.

A small flight of Double-Crested Cormorants heading up river seemed to be the only new sighting for the spring.

Banded: 16
American Goldfinch 9
Slate-Coloured Junco 4
Brown-Headed Cowbird 1
Song Sparrow 1
Mourning Dove 1

Retrapped: 26
American Goldfinch 5
Slate-Coloured Junco 10
Black-Capped Chickadee 2
Purple Finch 1
Song Sparrow 6
White-Throated Sparrow 1
American Robin 1

Brian