The rain through the night continued into the morning, backing up our opening time. We didn’t finish opening the nets until after 8:00 AM. And then the action started and we were on the go right up until closing time.

I was alerted to the first birds I observed by a whup, whup, whup of wings as 4 Wild Turkeys took to the air from their night-time perches high in the trees above net 4. Their lumbering flight always reminds me of old Lancaster bombers amongst the Avro Arrows of the rest of the bird world.

There were large numbers of Cedar Waxwings cruising in to take advantage of the grapes. And Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warblers seemed to be everywhere. White-throated Sparrows could be heard along all the hedge rows and field boundaries. Last night’s inclement weather must have brought a lot of birds to ground in the area. One big surprise was a female Rose-breasted Grosbeak. These birds are usually long gone by this date on their way to the Wintering ground in Central or South America. The bird had a good fat reserve and was well-muscled….but has a long way to go!

The 108 Cedar Waxwings that we banded today brought our Fall total up to 780, well above the record 662 we banded two years ago. On the other hand, the 3 American Goldfinches we banded brought our total up to 38, well below the record 1,316 we banded last year. What’s going on with goldfinches!?

Banded 211:
2 Northern Flickers (both had been eating grapes)
1 Eastern Phoebe
3 Golden-crowned Kinglets
5 Ruby-crowned Kinglets
1 Eastern Bluebird
2 Hermit Thrushes
15 American Robins
108 Cedar Waxwings
46 Myrtle Warblers
1 Rose-breasted Grosbeak
1 Chipping Sparrow
3 Song Sparrows
1 Swamp Sparrow
18 White-throated Sparrows
1 Dark-eyed Junco
3 American Goldfinches

ET’s: 37 spp.

Rick