The preparations for the PanAM Games officially kick off this weekend with two major events in the Hamilton area: a soccer tournament and….the Ruthven Bird Festival. (Yes!! we are an official part of the PanAM Games.) What better way to highlight the connection between the Americas than by celebrating the millions of migrant birds that divide their lives between the tropics and our temperate climes. It is this connection that we want to celebrate on the weekend.
The celebration starts Friday night with speaker Jody Allair from Bird Studies Canada who will be talking about “Conserving our Shared Birds”. This will be followed by a party (of sorts) – the music of the Latin Vintage Orchestra and a chance to try some South and Central American cuisine. A good time to chat and network and catch up with birders you haven’t seen for awhile.
Saturday will be a full day. The nets open before dawn and the banding lab will be open until the early afternoon – so lots of time to see what bird banding is all about and to learn about the many birds that are migrating right now. Matt Timpf will lead the census hike starting at 8. And there are two more hikes for those that have trouble getting up early…..
We have a great slate of speakers:
11 AM: David Agro will talk about the discovery of the Jocotoco Antpitta and the creation of the Jocotoco Foundation and new approaches to conservation in Ecuador.
2 PM: Geoff Carpentier will talk about the birds of Tierra del Fuego and the Falkland Islands.
3 PM: Matt Timpf will discuss his forays with Neotropical birds both at Ruthven and in Central America.
4 PM: Tom Mason will go over The Canadian Organization for Tropical Education and Rain Forest Conservation (COTERC) in Costa Rica.
And lots more….check out the brochure in the preceding post. It should be a LOT of fun with lots to be learned.
A delightful group of seniors from Simcoe – a nice change from the many school classes we’ve been getting.
What about today’s results (I hear you ask)? We were busy again, handling 86 birds (58 banded; 28 retraps) and encountered a lot of variety.
Hermit Thrush – usually, by now, we don’t get them. A cold April seems to have backed up a number of species.
Banded 58:
1 Northern Flicker
1 Tree Swallow
1 House Wren
1 Hermit thrush
1 Gray Catbird
1 Nashville Warbler
4 Yellow Warblers
1 Black-throated Blue Warbler
1 Yellow-rumped Warbler
12 Western Palm Warblers
2 Common Yellowthroats
1 Rose-breasted Grosbeak
1 Field Sparrow
1 Lincoln’s Sparrow
4 White-throated Sparrows
2 Eastern White-crowned Sparrows
1 Red-winged Blackbird
2 Brown-headed Cowbirds
2 Baltimore Orioles
1 Orchard Oriole
17 American Goldfinches
Species Count: 73 spp.
Rick