May 9th & 10th – Into The Maelstrom | Haldimand Bird Observatory

Lots of Yellow-rumped Warblers moving through right now. -R. Barnes

It’s one thing to have a class for an hour and a half; it’s altogether different to have that class for 24 hours. On the plus side: the intensity and breadth of learning is so much greater. On the minus side: whew! a group of 19 grade 4’s can be busy…..very, very busy. On the whole, though, it would be my preferred way to go – you end up feeling that you’ve imparted something valuable to the students…and it’s fun, interaction with the up and coming adults of tomorrow can be a LOT of fun.

Western Palm Warbler -R. Barnes

Fern Hill Burlington’s Grade 4’s spent an overnight at Ruthven, “camping” on the floor of the Coach House but spending most of their time outside exploring, learning and playing. We studied birds, animal tracks, pond life, plants, trails and bats.

Michelle instructing students about bats. -KAP

And we did it at a very good time: long-distance migrants finally showed up. We went from an ET species total of 63 on the 9th (which isn’t shabby) to a whopping 73 today, including 16 species of warblers. Of course some of this could be attributed to the return of Matt Timpf, birder extraordinaire. But most of it was due to a SW wind which was blowing yesterday evening (an incentive for birds to take flight) but then switched to the NE during the night bringing birds down. We’ve been waiting so long…..it was great to have warblers back in numbers again!

Matt and Janice replenishing their fat loads after a scorching 61 species census!

May 9th; Banded 53:
1 Mourning Dove
2 Blue Jays
1 Red-breasted Nuthatch

Our first Red-breasted Nuthatch banded in a couple of years. -MMG

3 House Wrens
1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Male Ruby-crowned Kinglet. -R. Barnes

1 Hermit Thrush
1 American Robin
2 Gray Catbirds
1 Blue-winged Warbler

Ruthven is home to a breeding population of Blue-winged Warblers. -MMG

3 Yellow Warblers
1 Yellow-rumped Warbler
1 Common Yellowthroat
4 Rose-breasted Grosbeaks

Male (left) and female Rose-breasted Grosbeak. Don’t you wish you could hear the communication going on between them. _KAP

1 Swamp Sparrow
6 White-throated Sparrows
1 White-crowned Sparrow
1 Red-winged Blackbird
2 Brown-headed Cowbirds
20 American Goldfinches

ET’s: 63 spp. (including a Great Egret)

May 10th; Banded 64:
3 Blue Jays

Old (ASY) jay on the lower left; young (SY) jay upper right. Note the difference in the colour and amount of black barring in the primary coverts. -MMG

2 Ruby-crowned Kinglets
1 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
1 Veery

First Veery of the year. -CHS

2 Gray Catbirds
2 Blue-winged Warblers
5 Yellow Warblers
21 Yellow-rumped Warblers
2 Western Palm Warblers
1 Black & White Warbler

Male Black & White Warbler. -CHS

1 Northern Waterthrush

First Northern Waterthrush of the year.

2 Common Yellowthroats
4 Rose-breasted Grosbeaks
3 Chipping Sparrows
1 Field Sparrow
1 Lincoln’s Sparrow
1 Swamp Sparrow
1 White-throated Sparrow
2 Eastern White-crowned Sparrows
1 Red-winged Blackbird
2 Brown-headed Cowbirds
1 Baltimore Oriole
4 American Goldfinches

ET’s: 73 spp.

Photo Gallery:

Matt Timpf will be the Bander-in-Charge on Sunday….for all of you that have missed him.

The correct way to hold a nasty cowbird. -KAP

Janice…..poster girl for positivity. -JDF

Caleb and Matt going over some of the finer points of aging and sexing a bird. -JDF

Two male Rose-breasted Grosbeaks. The one on the left is more than 2 years old; the one on the right was hatched last year and so is in its 2nd year. Note the brown vs black feathering on the young bird.

Upon seeing Carol’s revamping of the retrap card file, Marnie exclaimed: “It brings music to my heart.” So I was thinking what one of Carol’s strawberry-rhubarb pies would do to it…..