Early mornings at the Farm can be glorious. -DOL
The past 3 days at the Farm have been busy….and rewarding…as Fall slips away. We are still getting LOTS of sparrows but there is a subtle transition happening as White-throated Sparrows are on the wane, their place being taken by increasing numbers of juncos and, especially, American Tree Sparrows. But Song and Swamp Sparrows continue to hold steady: we’ve banded well over 400 of the former and approaching 400 of the latter.
Friday, October 25th: it was a cold night and the resulting frost slowed opening. It’s pretty frustrating when you can hear birds “chipping” all around but the have nets that are frozen shut and iced poles that let them slide shut. However, as soon as the sun cleared the horizon, we were soon in business. One very interesting thing was that the hay field immediately to the east had been very recently mowed and the bales taken. The farmer spread a fresh topping of manure, a natural fertilizer….and also a food source for American Pipits. We counted at least 20 of them working the field over.
I was joined by an old friend, Cathy Badger, who brought along a wonderful photographer from Australia, Jeremy Lund. His concentration on the feeder just outside the banding hut paid off with this remarkable shot:
Several White-breasted Nuthatches spend their entire day grabbing sunflower seeds from the feeder and whisking them away into the trees where they are stashed for nutritious recovery during the Winter. -JL
Banded 65 (and handled 40 retraps):
1 Eastern Phoebe
1 Golden-crowned Kinglet
1 Purple Finch
2 House Finches
3 American Goldfinches
3 Field Sparrows
7 American Tree Sparrows
2 Fox Sparrows
1 Dark-eyed Junco
8 White-throated Sparrows
19 Song Sparrows
11 Swamp Sparrows
3 Red-winged Blackbirds
1 Myrtle Warbler
2 Northern Cardinals
ET’s: 36 spp.
Saturday, October 26: The night was relatively mild. So while there was no difficulty getting the nets up there just weren’t that many birds around. I’m assuming that there had been a massive flight during the night. The Pipits were still around though…at first anyway. Just after the sun got up a loose flock of at least 50 rose up out of the adjacent field and headed off to the southwest.
Sparrows are a great bird to handle (and learn how to handle) and the relaxed pace allowed some teaching to go on:
Quinn with his first banded bird: White-throated Sparrow. -DOL
Banded 25:
1 Golden-crowned Kinglet
4 House Finches
3 American Goldfinches
3 American Tree Sparrows
2 White-throated Sparrows
7 Song Sparrows
3 Swamp Sparrows
1 Red-winged Blackbird
1 Northern Cardinal
ET’s: 28 spp.
Sunday, October 27th: I started the day being greeted by a very special old friend – an American Tree Sparrow that I had banded on April 3rd, 2021, making it one of the very first birds banded at the Farm. It was carrying no fat suggesting that it was here for the duration of the Winter…the Farm 9ior its environs) is its Winter home. I’m sure it likes the prairie meadow with its cornucopia of seeds as opposed to the soybean desert that was here when I banded it.
It was cold during the night with a light frost but the nets still opened easily. Birds had moved in during the night as we banded a nice variety and in good numbers.
Banded 69:
1 Red-bellied Woodpecker
1 Blue Jay
1 Black-capped Chickadee
2 Cedar Waxwings
6 Purple Finches
6 House Finches
7 American Goldfinches
8 American Tree Sparrows
4 Dark-eyed Juncos
2 White-throated Sparrows
17 Song Sparrows
10 Swamp Sparrows
1 Red-winged Blackbird
2 Myrtle Warblers
1 Northern Cardinal
ET’s: 31 spp.
Rick