We usually start Spring banding on April 1st. But as we’ve all noticed: the weather is changing; what little snow we get disappears early; temperatures are milder; “Winter” disappears long before it should. So….do birds respond to these changes by moving earlier. We think so and we thought we should take a look to see if this was the case. And it appears it may be. We banded for 7 days starting March 23rd and after today ended up with 151 banded and a host of retrapped birds banded here in previous years. We’ve done 40 American Goldfinches, which appear to be early migrants. They are all showing moult, changing into their alternate (or breeding) plumage. We’ve also done 28 Song Sparrows – they seem to be spread out all over the site, singing and defending territories….and it’s only March. They’re getting an early start.

We’ve just finished two days that in some ways felt very different but in others were the same. Yesterday it was obvious that birds were on the move: there was a variety of species about including 5 that were “new” for the year: Gadwall(1st ever for the Farm), Belted Kingfisher, Peregrine Falcon, Red-breasted Nuthatch (a species we rarely see here), and Brown Thrasher. At the end of the day we recorded 50 species!! And banded 28.

This morning there was a very different feel. Early there wasn’t much avian activity at all, net rounds were slow. I wondered if we would even get 10 birds. But then it warmed up enough that birds began to move about and we ended up banding 28, same as yesterday. But….the variety of species was greatly reduced: only 33 encountered. Quite likely the rain that fell in the late afternoon and night yesterday had a lot to do with it.
March 30th; Banded 28:
1 Golden-crowned Kinglet
1 American Robin
14 American Goldfinches
5 American Tree Sparrows
1 Dark-eyed Junco
1 White-throated Sparrow
4 Song Sparrows
ET’s: 50 spp.

March 31st; Banded 28:
4 Mourning Doves
4 Golden-crowned Kinglets

2 American Robins
8 American Goldfinches
4 American Tree Sparrows
2 White-throated Sparrows
4 Song Sparrows
ET’s: 33 spp.
Rick

I haven’t had this much fun in a long time. What a great group of people, who not only worked hard but looked for things to do (more of that later). In terms of banding we were not overly busy but there were a lot more birds around with some new species – banded our first Eastern Phoebe and Golden-crowned Kinglet. Our overall species count for the day was 41 – we’ve entered the “40 zone”, moving inexorably toward 50…and then….and then.

Weatherwise it was a funny sort of day with periods of threatening clouds followed by sunny periods and then back to clouds. But all through the morning there was a cold NW wind which would have limited migration.

A lot got done today: Net 6 was put up. We used a part-time net – the Laneway net (the laneway, sometimes, is a great place for sparrows). Jennifer and I dug up a number of dogwoods and a couple of small junipers and moved them over to the net 9 area to make it more appealing for low-level migrants. But the BIG job was initiated, out of the blue, by Eila and Nola who took it upon themselves to clean and tidy the banding hut, to rid it of 2 years of….usage. That they would undertake this was amazing but the results were even more so. What is interesting in the picture below is that, before this house cleaning, 3 people in the banding hut was a crowd. Now it accommodated 7 people with comfort.

Banded 15:
1 Eastern Phoebe
1 Golden-crowned Kinglet

2 American Robins
2 American Goldfinches
5 American Tree Sparrows
3 Song Sparrows
1 Swamp Sparrow

ET’s: 41 spp.

Our Mascot:

There’s a pair of Labs that live at a farm on Meadow Road. They are free range dogs that have been showing up at the banding hut every now and again for the past 2 years. A year ago they were joined by their young puppy. She has grown into a delightful, friendly, affectionate dog. Today it arrived on its own and let us all know that she was happy to see us and to hang out with us. All you had to do was pat her head and she’d roll over onto her back for a belly rub.


If there was an award for determination it would have to go to Rick Walford, a parent of a couple of keen birders at Fern Hill’s Oakville campus. A couple of trees had come down on a net. We were able to lift the trunks out of the way but a number of branches impeded the net lane. No problem….if you have a Swiss Army knife with saw….

It was -5 C when I opened nets this morning shortly after 8 AM and +13 C when I left in the middle of the afternoon – an 18 degree turnaround. And creatures didn’t lose any time responding to it. By the late morning Chorus Frogs were calling and Painted Turtles were hauling themselves out of the pond onto logs to soak up some rays/heat. [Note that the Canada Goose pair has taken over their sunning platform for a nest site.] I even sighted a brilliant Tree Swallow winging low over the river. It felt like the sort of day when I should be seeing the first Eastern Phoebe of the year but…..not yet.

The southerly winds (they had started in the NE) interfered with some of the nets so I closed those ones early but I still managed to keep 4 running and ended up banding 23 birds; 14 of these were American Goldfinches and the ones I caught were just a small slice of the goldfinches that were present, taking advantage of the 2 black oil sunflower feeders – one at net #1 and the other just outside the banding hut. At one point I counted 24+ around the latter feeder. All of them were moulting into their brilliant alternate (breeding) plumages. It was pretty easy to pick out the older males – they were bright yellow (whereas the younger males still had a lot of olive feathering and didn’t stand out nearly as much.

Despite the cold temperatures last night, the pond did not have any ice this morning and there was a good collection of ducks checking it out: 11 Wood Ducks, 6 Mallards, 2 American Black Ducks, 2 Green-winged Teal, and 6 Hooded Mergansers.

Banded 23:
14 American Goldfinches
5 American Tree Sparrows
1 Dark-eyed Junco
1 White-throated Sparrow
2 Song Sparrows
ET’s: 38 spp.
Rick

Mother Nature has been playing with us, testing our mettle as it were. Gave us some Spring weather and then snatched it away with 10 days or so of more Winter – sub-freezing temperatures and some snow. Some migration ground to a halt I think; e.g., a week ago I saw small groups of Tree Swallows over the Grand River; but I haven’t seen them for the past 3 or 4. But for many species it’s been business as usual and although they’ve had to work hard to find sustenance they’ve been doing OK. Killdeer are still around; Red-winged Blackbirds continue to stake out territories; our large local sparrow population have good fat loads – they’ll be moving off fairly soon; Turkey Vulture numbers continue to climb; and our pair of Canada Geese have an active nest on the go in the middle of the pond on the turtle-sunning platform. Tomorrow things are supposed to change for the better with temperatures going up into double digits. The migration will move back into full swing before you know it.

Liam, Sarah and I had a productive morning. Between banding 29 birds and handling 15 retraps (almost all from last year) they put up another net (8 of 10 now running) and started laying down gravel along one of the muddy paths….there’s always lots to do.

And although the temperature never rose above 2 C., it was quite pleasant sitting at the picnic table, basking in the sun, and watching activity around the pond: Green-winged Teal, Wood Ducks, and even a few Rusty Blackbirds.

Banded 29:

1 Blue Jay
1 Eastern Bluebird

5 American Goldfinches
14 American Tree Sparrows

1 Dark-eyed junco
5 Song Sparrows
1 Red-winged blackbird
1 Northern Cardinal

ET’s: 37 spp.
Rick