Now don’t get me wrong; I generally really like kids. I like to teach them and expose them to the wonders of the natural world around them. But….sometimes I get tired of them. At Ruthven, for the past month, we’ve “entertained”/taught a lot of school kids during the week and over the weekends, putting up with their inane questions and antics – you know, kid stuff. So this morning, with Natalie, the educational co-ordinator away for three days, we didn’t have ANY and it felt like a holiday. I didn’t have to explain nothin’ to nobody – just net rounds and banding and observing and shooting the breeze with adults with similar interests. Lovely. And it will be like that for the next two days. Lovely. So if you’re an adult and have been putting off coming out so you don’t get trampled….this is the time.

I had to delay opening while I waited for rain to move on – just like the radar indicated. When we did open (about an hour later), we had a steady catch of birds; nothing momentous, just steady. Interestingly, Ruby-crowned Kinglets were the most caught (21), These delicate birds are such a delight to handle. It’s hard to fathom how this little 6-gram bird can make the long flights it does between summer and wintering areas. Most of the kinglets we caught were carrying good fat loads (3+) so they had the energy reserves required to make the flight. They also had the energy required to deal with the cold (3 degrees), wet conditions during the night.

Even when the sky began to clear, the temperature didn’t get up above 7 or 8 and when the wind picked up you could feel a touch of Winter. I like the cold. I especially like being outside on cold crisp evenings as the sun sets and paints the snow in the local fields. We’re not there yet….but it’s coming. And with it maybe Snow Buntings!

Juncos and White-throated Sparrows are still around in good numbers. The former must moving into the area, the latter on their way out for more southern climes. Yellow-rumped Warblers, too, were around in small groups, but the large flocks have passed through and now are well south of us.

Although we banded only 12 Cedar Waxwings, there were still a lot around (our Estimated Total for them for the day was 300). They just didn’t find their way into the nets in any number. Did you know that a grouping of waxwings is known as an “earfull” or a “museum”. Hmmmm…..an earfull of Waxwings. Who comes up with these names, anyway!?

Banded 86:
1 Black-capped Chickadee
2 Brown Creepers
5 Golden-crowned Kinglets
21 Ruby-crowned Kinglets
8 Hermit Thrushes
5 American Robins
12 Cedar Waxwings
3 Myrtle Warblers
1 Chipping Sparrow
1 Field Sparrow
2 Song Sparrows
1 Swamp Sparrow
3 White-throated Sparrows
12 Dark-eyed Juncos
1 Rusty Blackbird
1 House Finch
7 American Goldfinches

ET’s: 41 spp.

Photo Gallery:

Rick