Late yesterday afternoon I checked on my banding site and, while there were no birds to be seen, the corn put down that morning was mostly consumed. So….I replenished the piles in anticipation of this morning’s banding.

I arrived around 7:20, set and baited the traps, and then climbed back into my heated car to wait and watch. (At -17 C. (wind chill >22 C) the heated car was a treat.) At 7:20, it was still fairly dark and, although I could see the traps, I couldn’t make out much detail. I’m always curious about what time birds might (or might not) show up to feed. At around 7:35 I “thought” I saw a movement but couldn’t make anything out. And then, a short way off, some more movement…maybe. I reached for my binoculars and started to scan directly around the traps. Nothing there. But then, just past them, in the clods of exposed dirt I saw a head poke up, and then another…and another. Within a couple of minutes I could see at least a dozen Snow Buntings standing and looking around – all within 10 meters of the traps.

The only plausible explanation is that these birds, after feeding on the freshly replaced corn, had hunkered down in the lee of clods of dirt just a few meters away from the bait site itself to spend the night. Good plan as they could feed almost as soon as they woke up. At least 25 birds, all at once, rose up and approached the trap area and then….took off in a flash, landing 200 m away in the field to the west. I waited…but they didn’t return. A quick look around turned up an American Kestrel sitting on the wires directly behind me. It too was hungry and looking for an easy breakfast. The Snow Buntings weren’t going to provide it.

I had to laugh at the thought that these little birds watched me set the traps and bait them, all within 10 m of me…and I had no idea they were there.
Rick