Very bright adult male Nashville Warbler
Since the beginning of the Fall banding season on September 1st we haven’t had a hard steady rain at the time of my alarm going off (5 AM). So I have had to haul my…self out of bed, get to the banding lab, and open nets. Now sometimes there’s been scattered showers or light drizzle but these conditions don’t count as you can usually open at least a few nets and people will show up to help out so you have to be there.
An Orange-crowned Warbler we retrapped.
But this morning was different. At the alarm I peaked out the window to see hard rain drumming down, a drenching rain with now thoughts of imminently stopping. Wonderful!! I jumped back into bed, rolled over contentedly and didn’t wake up until 8! And I have to tell you I didn’t feel in the least bit guilty, just simply well-rested for the first time in 39 days. Glorious.
I arrived at Ruthven just after 9 and the rain stopped with my arrival although it looked like it could start again at any time. I opened about 2/3’s of the nets thinking I could race around and collapse them if the rain did restart – but it wasn’t necessary. And it turned into a good banding day with a nice mix of both short- and long-distance migrants.
Shirley, a visitor from Elmira, with a Blackpoll Warbler.
Banded 38:
1 Winter Wren
4 Ruby-crowned Kinglets
1 Hermit Thrush
6 Cedar Waxwings
2 Tennessee Warblers
3 Nashville Warblers
14 Yellow-rumped Warblers
1 Black-throated Green Warbler
1 Blackpoll Warbler
4 White-throated Sparrows
1 Eastern White-crowned Sparrow
ET’s: 36 spp.
Rick