The early morning sun touches the treetops….and Mansion.
What a beautiful day! Cool, crisp, mostly clear skies….and goldfinches…everywhere. We’ve been wondering where they’ve been given their almost total absence in September and October. Historically, they have been our most banded bird by far. So we were a little concerned. But today they were around in big numbers and we banded 35. We have a cylinder niger feeder hanging just outside a banding lab window. At any one time you could see 4 to 8 birds on it.
A “Flaming” Sycamore.
Juncos and tree sparrows were also numerous. Between banded and retrapped birds we handled 35 of the former and 21 of the latter. We got the first retrap of a previously banded junco for the season – we banded in February of 2014. It has returned home for the Winter.
Banded 70:
1 Mourning Dove
1 White-breasted Nuthatch
2 Yellow-rumped Warblers
19 American Tree Sparrows
1 Fox Sparrow
1 Song Sparrow
1 White-throated Sparrow
8 Dark-eyed Juncos
1 Purple finch
35 American Goldfinches
ET’s: 37 spp.
Fern Hill School
After the ferocious winds yesterday it was nice to have a calm, frosty morning at Fern Hill. The first few net rounds were plentiful with numerous Slate-colored Juncos being captured while the students began to trickle in, dressed in their Halloween best.
A Northern Owl Pumpkin at Fern Hill. -J. Chard
Banded 16:
1 Black-capped Chickadee
2 American Robins
1 Northern Cardinal
1 American Tree Sparrow
7 Slate-colored Juncos
4 American Goldfinches
ET’s: 24 spp.
Janice