Cedar Waxwing eating flowers. -I. Turjansky
It’s almost over folks; another migration has just about passed us by. The early long-distance migrants that breed locally are well into their nesting season. Purple Martins are carrying nesting material; early Yellow Warblers are completing nests; some female Rose-breasted Grosbeaks have brood patches indicating that they’re already sitting on eggs.
Female Yellow Warbler just finishing off her nest. -I. Turjansky
What I would like to know is: where were all the warblers!? For example, this Spring we have banded only 9 Magnolia Warblers. That’s our lowest total ever and well below the long-term Spring average of 44. And at this stage of the game we can pretty well assume that they’ve flown by. Sure, we may get a couple more but the bulk of this species is now well north of us. And it’s this way for most of the warblers – their numbers are simply down. What happened?
Interestingly Baltimore Oriole numbers banded sit at 47, our second highest total for this species. Many of these will breed in the immediate area so it seems that this population at least is doing fine.
Banded 36:
1 Traill’s Flycatcher
2 Great Crested Flycatchers
3 Blue Jays
2 Swainson’s Thrushes
2 American Robins
3 Gray Catbirds
5 Cedar Waxwings
Note the red drops of “sealing wax” that gave the Cedar Waxwing its name.
2 Red-eyed Vireos
2 Tennessee Warblers
5 Yellow Warblers
1 Blackpoll Warbler
A real long-distance flyer: Blackpoll Warbler.
3 Common Yellowthroats
1 Wilson’s Warbler
1 Rose-breasted Grosbeak
1 Field Sparrow
1 Baltimore Oriole
1 American Goldfinch
ET’s: 63 spp.
Photo Gallery:
Pictures of birds in the hand are interesting – from a learning perspective – or “cute” – the smile of a young child holding a bird or the pride in the face of a novice holding her first banded bird. But my favourite shots are of birds “in the wild”. Increasingly we have been getting good photographers coming to Ruthven to take their photos and many of them pass them on to me. Of course they always whine and complain that they don’t have any “good ones”…..but you judge for yourself from these shots (mostly) taken yesterday.
Female Yellow Warbler. -R. Camasta
Brilliant male Baltimore Oriole. -I. Turjansky
Cedar Waxwings have shown up in good numbers over the last several days. -I. Turjansky
Cedar Waxwing feeding on blossoms. -I. Turjansky
Gray Catbird at full voice. -I. Turjansky
Laura with a Warbling Vireo. -I. Turjansky
Polina laying the law down to this oriole. -I. Turjansky
First release. -I. Turjansky
Song Sparrow….giving song. -I. Turjansky
Tessa giving the bird the (wrong) finger. -I. Turjansky
Mathew with his Common Yellowthroat. -I Turjansky
Philosopher King watching the world go by….. -R. Camasta
Red-winged Blackbird cleaning up the bait site. -R. Camasta
Song Sparrow. -R. Camasta
White-breasted Nuthatch. -R. Camasta
Female Ruby-throated Hummingbird waiting for Nancy to come back and band it. -C. Blott
Fern Hill School – Burlington Campus:
What a fabulous day at Fern Hill School Burlington! Janice and I had a great day of birding with the students. I knew today would be a special day when I pulled up this morning and was delighted to see a pterodactyl soaring above me! I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes, took a glug of coffee and examined closer with my binoculars and was relieved to see that I had not time travelled, it was in fact a Great Blue Heron flapping across the sky. The day only got better from there. Janice called me over and showed me our first Blackpoll Warbler of the year, a handsome male. As the early birds (Young Ornithologists) began to arrive at the Field Station we spotted a Rose Breasted Grosbeak and an Indigo Bunting zipping out of the Oak Savannah forest. We banded regularly throughout the morning, but had time to fit in a killer census. We followed our usual path around the school, but when we got to the section of the land called “The Nature Trail/Carolinian Forest” by the students, we were led astray by some tantalizingly “warbley” chips coming from high up in the crowns of the oaks, maples, and shagbark hickories.I showed Janice the secret path around the front of the school, known only to the deer, birds, and Field Studies students. Gazing up at the treetops we added added more birds to our daily total including Baltimore Orioles, Eastern Bluebirds, Scarlet Tanager, Eastern Wood Pewee, Red Eyed Vireo, Cedar Waxwings, Tennessee and Yellow Warblers, and one other that we just couldn’t place by call alone. We continued on, following the footsteps of deer and along a stream when we flushed an American Woodcock from it’s hiding place in the brush (our second for the day). I think I almost convinced Janice to follow me through an underground culvert when we decided perhaps it was high time to get back to the nets.
Back to banding business…all in all we banded a total of 10 birds that contributed to our all time high of 51 ET species! We banded:
1 Gray Catbird
1 Warbling Vireo (first banded and observed)
2 Tennesse Warblers
1 Yellow Warbler
1 Blackpoll Warbler (first banded)
1 Northern Waterthrush
3 American Goldfinches
Photos:
Tree Swallow eggs in a well-feathered nest. -KAP
Melissa and Madeline – a great Young Ornithologists team. -KAP
Male Blackpoll Warbler. -KAP
Tennessee Warbler. -KAP
Warbling Vireo. -KAP
Katherine