A long-distance returnee – this male Blue-winged Warbler was banded last July as a juvenile.
A brilliant waning half moon lit my way as I opened nets this morning. An American Woodcock peented in the distance as the early risers – robins, field sparrows, song sparrows – started off the dawn chorus. But these kind of faded into the background as I concentrated on listening for something new. This might mark the return of another species for the year after a long hiatus. I seemed to be listening in vain when off in the distance I picked up the buzzy beeee-bzzzz of a Blue-winged Warbler followed shortly by the wheee-eep of a Great Crested Flycatcher – both species had to have come in during the night as they weren’t around yesterday. For some reason that is a magical thing to me. Later a pair of Upland Sandpipers flew over and around, circling a couple of times before heading off to the east. All 3 species were new for the year for the banding area.
Two ages of feathers – brown juvenile feathers and black adult feathers – indicate that this is a young or Second Year(SY) male Rose-breasted Grosbeak.
After opening the nets I sat back, poured a cup of tea and some granola and waited for the Common Loons. Like clockwork, (if there are any) they go over about 10 minutes after the sun clears the horizon. Right on cue one winged its way toward a boreal lake, the golden sun burnishing its undersides. Life is good.
Mix of juvenile and adults rectrices on the same bird.
The underwing colour of this bird would be much brighter if it were an older bird.
After that….it slowed down and birds – of any species – were few and far between. The bright sunshine and clear blue skies beat down on a forest largely devoid of migrants. But the sun did open the buds and seemingly in front of my eyes a green “furze” spread across and through the forest. The migrants won’t be far behind.
A dense stand of Mayapple at the head of the Fox Den Trail. -A. Klaus
Banded 23:
1 Mourning Dove
3 House Wrens
1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet
1 American Robin
1 Yellow Warbler (I counted 7, a couple of which were banded)
1 Rose-breasted Grosbeak
3 Chipping Sparrows
3 Song Sparrows
2 White-throated Sparrows
3 Brown-headed Cowbirds
4 American Goldfinches
ET’s: 54 spp.
Rick