We had a big day this morning. I had been expecting it as yesterday, when I touched up the bait piles early at 7:30, there was a mixed flock of around 300 Horned Larks, Snow Buntings, and Lapland Longspurs waiting for me. They had finished yesterdays offerings and were patiently waiting for more. They descended on the cut corn as soon as I turned to go back to the car. But….I wasn’t able to band due to appointments in the city. Late in the afternoon, upon my return, the morning corn was gone so I put out more. But the cold has been making these birds ravenous.

It was the same this morning – a large flock waiting to be fed. Only this time I was able to stick around and set out traps. Thankfully I was joined by Sarah and Liam. They did all the banding while I scribed. They also did most of the trap extractions which made things much easier on my knees. We had a bumper day, banding a total of 125 birds: 35 Horned Larks, 74 Snow buntings, 15 Lapland Longspurs….and 1 Northern Shrike. This gives us a total of 78 Snow Buntings, which is more than we banded in all of last year’s disastrous mild, 75-bunting season.

For most of the morning there were at least 200 birds hanging around. Whenever we went out to clear the traps they would fly up and land about 100 m. back in the winter wheat field. But as soon as we returned to the car they were right back to the corn. That is until a juvenile Northern Shrike showed up. It flew in surreptitiously and we weren’t aware of it’s presence until we noticed the panic in the traps. When Liam sprang from the car the shrike was outside the trap but by the time he quickly covered the 20 m. to the traps it was inside and managed to kill one bunting before he could grab it. It was amazing how quickly the bird solved the puzzle of how to get into the trap – if only buntings were as fast. The shrike put a damper on feeding, so after half an hour without many birds even in the area, we called it a day. But it was a good one!

We had an interesting “return” today: a Horned Lark that had been originally been banded here January 30th, 2023 – almost exactly a year ago. I wonder if it played a role in bringing birds to the site…..
Photos:





Rick

We have the cold and all we were lacking was snow. As I left the house, a light dusting was coating the roads and fields and by the time I got to the York Airport site it was covered by a centimeter – not much, but enough. And like I’ve been preaching: to catch these Arctic-nesting Winter birds you must have cold and snow. Well, we finally got both and the birds responded. Mixed flocks of Horned Larks, Snow Buntings, and a few Lapland Longspurs took turns cycling through the trap area. Numbers ranged from just a few to over 75. In a little less than 3 hours I banded 20 Horned Larks, 4 Snow Buntings (3 females and a male), and a lovely male Lapland Longspur.


But the important thing is that this site had been “discovered”!! There’s a large group of birds now that know where there’s a good (and consistent) supply of food and this will bring them back day after day. Of course, they will spread out over the countryside, they won’t just stick to this site. But whenever conditions get difficult they’ll be there.

As with most activities, it’s important to look one’s best. And nothing says bird bander like stylish accessories from Sarah and Emma’s Banding Boutique. Above, I’m sporting the latest in bird bag totes – useful, colourful, and with a message. Perfect!

Rick

So far it has been a mild, wet Winter but, finally….we’ve begun to get some cold, Winter temperatures; it was -17 C last night going into sunrise this morning. And, although there was just a dusting of snow over the fields (and none on the gravel pad where I set my traps) I figured it was worth the chance of getting out to see if i could get some birds. The traps were set by 8:10. Although I hadn’t seen any birds when I arrived it took only 5 minutes for a mixed flock of Snow Buntings (~30) and Horned Larks (~10) to land to check them out. They were very flighty, setting down around the traps briefly and then flying up, swirling around, and then landing again. This went on for 5 minutes and then…..they were gone, off to the west. But, what’s this!? There was a bird bouncing around in one of the traps! Looked a little smaller than the larks and buntings…sure enough it was. Lapland Longspur – the first Arctic-nesting migrant of the season. What a treat!

I hadn’t picked it out in the swirling mass of the flock. But it hadn’t taken it long to get caught. And it didn’t surprise me in the least. I’ve discovered that, when they do show up, they have an uncanny ability to find their way into the traps – and the food – very quickly. I’m not sure why this is the case but, if they come to the traps, they invariably get to the corn quickly while their compatriots spend a great amount of time ambling round and round them trying to figure out how to get to the corn. The Longspurs just seem to be better spatial problem solvers: go down the tunnel, make a right, and presto, a cornucopia.

Half an hour later a group of 9 Horned Larks showed up and one of these was trapped as well. So it was a good morning and a good start to the season. The cold helps greatly; snow cover would help even more.

Rick

“These are the times that try men’s souls.” -Thomas Paine

Although this famous quote is drawn from a completely different context, it is certainly fitting to my current mood. These are the “doldrums”, the time between the end of the Fall banding season and the beginning of the Snow Bunting banding season. But given the impact of climate change on our “Winter” temperatures and precipitation, the advent – even the possibility – of there even being a Snow Bunting season is questionable. But hope springs eternal as they say so, since the end of December, I have been putting out my cut corn bait piles at my banding site close to the York (International) Airport on 9th Line.

I haven’t been optimistic so far as temperatures have been mostly above freezing and there hasn’t been any snow. This should be Winter….but it’s not…and it’s very trying. However, yesterday morning, quite early, I was awoken by the sound of a snow plow running down the street. I peeked outside. C’mon….one, maybe two centimeters of snow. This snow plow driver really wanted some work! I checked the temperature: just above freezing. I was faced with a dilemma: take a look at the bait site or…go back to bed. Amazingly, sloth did not win out. What the hell…..you just never know…although the fact that I hadn’t seen any Horned Larks even near my site was a very bad sign as they usually show up before the buntings and “show” them where the food is.

To my great surprise, upon my arrival I found a flock of about 35 female Snow Buntings spread between the two bait piles!! When I pulled in they took off and headed due west. They didn’t even look back. This was a migratory flock, heading for their wintering area, not a feeding flock that would remain in the area to take advantage of my largesse. I’ve seen this many times before: at the beginning of the season, the birds that initially show up are very “flighty” and are on the move – once they lift off they’re gone. Feeding flocks might leave the site initially when disturbed but will circle around, possibly sit out in the field to see what is going on, and then return to the corn when they feel the coast is clear. But the important thing is that a flock of buntings had returned and had found the food. Wintering flocks range over a wide area. They will store this information away and when/if conditions get more difficult they quite likely will return (unless this is a group that is headed to the midwest).

The big question that intrigues me, though, is how did these birds find these bait piles!? At the time of their arrival the corn would have been under 2 centimeters of snow and, to my eye at least, invisible. Are they able to pick up different wavelengths that would result in their being able to “see” under the snow? Another possibility, and one that appeals to me the most, is that the flock contained an older bird that had been here before and had led the flock to it. Unlikely….but not impossible. Whatever the explanation, these birds had found my bait piles and may do so again. It didn’t look like a random thing either. The piles are about 2 meters apart. When I checked them (the birds had uncovered them to get at the corn), their tracks were all within just a couple of meters of the corn. There was no sign that they had wandered in from a distance. They either saw the corn or knew it was there and dropped in to feed.

I went back this morning. The snow is disappearing, still a bit on the ground. No Snow Buntings. I checked the tracks that were present: crows, rock doves, and some smaller passerines. Later, Marg saw a group of 5 Horned Larks feeding there. Things are heating up…so to speak.
Rick