Young Brianna’s rendering of her family’s outing to Ruthven. -A. Wilcox
The waiting game continues. Interestingly we did not see any American Tree Sparrows or Dark-eyed Juncos today. They must have taken off during the night for their breeding areas in northern Ontario. But the void they left was not filled with incoming migrants. In fact, the woods again seemed empty and eerily quiet. It’s hard to understand.
Mother Killdeer sitting tight despite the heavy human traffic. -R. Mueller
Banding was very slow. But it provided lots of opportunity to teach: new bander Samuel learned some of the finer points of bird handling (and about the McMaster Rule); Alessandra, who has ben dong a lot of banding, got a chance to learn how to scribe; our ecological restoration crew – Giovanni and Dody – learned how to lean on shovels but were able to put in a good few hours moving gray dogwood from an unwanted area in the Butterfly Meadow to the environs of Net 9 which was recently cleared of Black Walnuts by Giovanni; and me? I got to shoot the breeze with a wide range of friends and new acquaintances and sample muffins and cookies from 5 (yes! count ’em…5) sources.
The “replanting crew” – Cody and Giovanni. Their job? Move errant gray dogwood from the Butterfly Meadow to the area around Net 9.
The crew hard at work. -A. Wilcox
The crew replanting dogwood by net 9.
Samuel with his first banded bird – a female Tree Swallow.
Ironically, when I got home I went for a cycle along the Rotary Riverside Trail, which runs from York to Caledonia, within 400 meters, I heard the first Yellow Warbler of the year. And I became aware of a shift in the wind, which has been blowing steadily from the north (albeit lightly). So…..tomorrow. Things will be better….tomorrow.
The day’s most “exciting” catch: a white-morph White-throated Sparrow.
Banded 11:
1 Tree Swallow
1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet
1 American Robin
1 Chipping Sparrow
1 Field Sparrow
1 Song Sparrow
2 Swamp Sparrows
1 White-throated Sparrow
1 Red-winged Blackbird
1 American Goldfinch
Species Count: 50 spp.
Photo Gallery:
Eastern Bluebird….trying to make inroads against the Tree Swallows. -R. Mueller
Turkey Vulture taking flight. -R. Mueller
A brilliant male Tree Swallow. -R. Mueller
Female Tree Swallow with nesting material. -R. Mueller
Male Eastern Bluebird. -R. Mueller
Turkey Vulture. -R. Mueller
Rick