Fox Sparrows are late migrants at Ruthven. -L. Stacey
November kicked off…..well, maybe “kick” is to generous…..we sort of stumbled, tripped into November. Especially after the 100+ day that ended October. The grounds on the first day of November seemed dead, empty. What happened to all the American Tree Sparrows we’d banded/seen the day before? We went from 44 down to 4 banded. In fact, we banded only 21 birds total (and one of these was a Saw-whet Owl caught the night before.
We are seeing the last of the White-throated Sparrows now….we have banded well over 300. -A. Wilcox
Today was a little better but not much – we banded 34. It was a beautiful day though and sooo warm. I had a hard time not flaking out on the picnic table for a snooze.
Juncos caught now at Ruthven might be migrating further….or they might be searching for a good place to spend the Winter. -A. Wilcox
November 1st; Banded 21:
1 Mourning Dove
1 Northern Saw-whet Owl (banded the night before)
1 Black-capped Chickadee
1 Hermit Thrush
4 American Tree Sparrows
1 Fox Sparrow
1 White-throated Sparrow
7 Dark-eyed Juncos
4 American Goldfinches
ET’s: 38 spp. Weekend visitors to the owl program got lucky Saturday night when Nancy caught two before the rain started. -E. Hannan -E. Hannan New feather fluouresce pink; old feathers don’t. This mix indicates that this is an older bird. -E. Hannan
November 2nd; Banded 34:
1 Red-bellied Woodpecker
1 Downy Woodpecker
3 Golden-crowned Kinglets
9 American Tree Sparrows
2 Fox Sparrows
14 Dark-eyed Juncos
4 American Goldfinches
ET’s: 34 spp. What a long season can do to a young bander…..or maybe it was Hallowe’en….. -A. Wilcox
Fern Hill School:
It was a beautiful, sunny day at Fern Hill today. Fifteen birds were handled with a Blue Jay being the highlight for one of our Young Ornithologists Pari.
Banded 11
1 Blue Jay
1 American Robin
1 American Tree Sparrow
6 Slate-colored Juncos
2 American Goldfinches
ET’s: 26 spp.
Janice
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