Although the last two days presented beautiful weather, the bird activity was very different between them. Yesterday (10th) the field edge didn’t feel “busy” and there didn’t seem to be many birds around. Whereas today sparrows festooned the edges and there was an interesting variety about including some seasonal firsts: Ring-necked Duck, Greater Yellowlegs, Lesser Yellowlegs, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Chipping Sparrow. Migration isn’t a smooth flow. Birds move in “pulses” taking advantage of weather conditions that will make their travels easier or sitting out less advantageous conditions. I think the wind shifting to the SW during the night can account for today’s results.

We caught the above Blue Jay in net 1. The crude band – a thick plastic zip tie cut off at the lock -was caught in the fine mesh. Note that whoever applied it had caught the rear toe (hallux) inside the band. We were able to cut it off. We were quite concerned that the hallux may have been damaged but slowly the bird began to flex it and we were relieved when he grabbed hold of a finger…ouch! The bird seemed to be in good shape without any loss of muscle mass due to the impediment. They’re tough birds!
April 10th; Banded 16:
1 European Starling
2 American Goldfinches
12 American Tree Sparrows
1 Dark-eyed Junco

Species Count: 35

April 11th; Banded 27:
1 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
1 Blue Jay
2 Golden-crowned Kinglets

1 Eastern Bluebird

5 American Goldfinches

10 American Tree Sparrows
3 Dark-eyed Juncos
1 Song Sparrow
1 Swamp Sparrow

1 Red-winged Blackbird

1 Common Grackle

We retrapped 19 birds including a pair of American Robins; check out the plumage differences:

Species Count: 44
Rick

What a lovely day! Cool at first but warmed up. Blue skies and low winds. And LOTS of birds. I can’t get over how productive the field edge continues to be since we took out so much buckthorn, built brush piles out of the slash, and transplanted dogwood. Again, there was a surge of sparrow activity all along the edge and we were able to tap into it (se banding results below). The field just has so much more life. Six species of sparrows, killdeer, and Red-winged Blackbirds and American Robins making forays into it, bouncing back and forth between the food it offers and the protection offered by the edge.

It’s good to have a keen and capable young naturalist like Liam helping out as you can depend on his identifications and his energy seems boundless. The new census route is working out well and gives a pretty good picture of what is at the main site, especially what birds are using the “new” field. And observations made while checking out the far side of the pond and the river add to our totals – which are quite respectable for this time of year.

There were lots of things to take in today:
– a Canada Goose nest on the far side of the pond with 3 eggs
– the pair of Blue-winged Teal acting as if they are nesting

– a pair of Wood ducks (maybe 2 pairs) also acting as if they’re nesting
– We first noticed the Osprey yesterday. Today it was being harassed by an adult Bald Eagle.


– The pond is alive with frogs – we are hearing Chorus, Leopard, and Spring Peepers – and a Painted Turtle found a good log to sun on.
– And frogs are attracting snakes. We came across a group of 5 Garter Snakes that most likely had just emerged from their hibernaculum.

– And of course there’s always the camaraderie that abounds around the picnic table with the exchange of great ideas. Karen and Liam are convinced that it would be nothing to erect and run a net system across the pond. Right…..

Banded 32:
1 American Robin
3 American Goldfinches
20 American Tree Sparrows
3 Dark-eyed Juncos
1 Savannah Sparrow
2 Song Sparrows
1 Swamp Sparrow
1 Red-winged Blackbird

Species Count: 44
Rick

The temperature dropped to -4 C. during the night producing a skim of ice in places but didn’t freeze the nets. The pond and accompanying wetland is attracting a variety of ducks: Blue-winged Teal, Mallards, Wood Ducks, and a pair of American black Ducks. The water level at the moment is quite high (reflecting the near-flood on the Grand River) but is receding, having dropped a few centimeters since yesterday. Thank goodness! Liam was able to find a way through it to get a count done on the river without overflowing his boots. Still, the water in the wetland is quite high, preventing us from putting up a couple of nets.

Interestingly, there was a considerable mixed flock of sparrows along the edge of the field. The birds would fly out into it to feed then head back into the scrub piles and dogwood edges that we’ve created. We are going to try to take advantage of this seeming bonanza – we put up two nets along the edge which we hope will tap into them. We would especially like to get the Vesper Sparrow that is hanging out there (and was there yesterday too). I think the cutting of the dense buckthorn that ran along the edge is making a difference already in how birds use the site. American Tree Sparrows, which we’re seeing in large numbers, are getting ready to head back north but most have not put on much fat so they may be around for a few more days at least. Most of the juncos we caught were females and many of those observed were probably females as well as they looked pretty brown. I think they might be like Snow Buntings with flocks of males departing before the females in order to establish territories for when the latter arrive. Some Song Sparrows nest here while others head farther north. We retrapped two that we banded last year – one in April, the other in September. These are likely local breeders returning home. Swamp Sparrows, which thrive in this habitat, are just returning.

It was interesting to listen to the travels of two of the helpers today: Sam Lewis just got back from a month-long exchange program in Germany where he expanded his life list considerably chalking up 70+ European species – quite a feat at this time of year in northern Europe. And Liam Thorne recently returned from a birding expedition with his father to Texas where he chalked up 225 species including 80 “lifers”. Wow! And we had a new volunteer today – Emma Kunert, who travelled all the way from Guelph and got to band her first birds.

Banded 28:
1 Red-bellied Woodpecker

2 Black-capped Chickadees
1 Eastern Bluebird

3 American Robins
8 American Tree Sparrows
6 Dark-eyed Juncos
3 Song Sparrows
2 Swamp Sparrows
2 Red-winged Blackbirds

Species Count: 45

Rick

Before leaving for Labrador, I had been kind of kicking myself that we had put up only 5 out of the planned 9 nets. Thank goodness we put up just five!!! When I arrived to open this morning I found all 5 on the ground/partially submerged. The terrible weather of the past two weeks – torrential rains and high winds – had taken its toll. We were able to get two of them back up in good shape; another one had to have a trammel repaired (thanks Nancy and Joanne!!!); but the other two were write-offs and we replaced them. So essentially we had only 3 operational nets for the morning. And forget about putting up the rest: the water is much too high and will take probably a week to ebb to a point that we can do so.


But it was still a good day. We banded 14 birds: 9 American Tree Sparrows and 5 Song Sparrows. And migration was in the air as the day produced 39 species including some interesting ones: 2 Blue-winged Teal and 3 Wood Ducks in the pond; at least 15 Sandhill Cranes; a flight of 42+ Bonaparte’s Gulls; Turkey Vultures (14+); an Eastern Phoebe; a Common Raven; Tree Swallow; couple of Golden-crowned Kinglets; 4 Eastern bluebirds prospecting for nest boxes/tree cavities; a Vesper Sparrow; a Rusty Blackbird.

We also got a lot of work done. On top of Nancy and Joanne fixing nets and putting up new ones, Eila and Sarah worked hard at continuing our dogwood replanting project. On the south side of River Road, bordering a soybean field, there is a line of gray dogwoods. Every now and again the County workers come by with a side cutter and take them out. So we’ve been “rescuing” them – moving them to the rehabilitation area where we’re trying to reintroduce them to the cleared areas now free of buckthorn. We know from experience that migrants love dogwoods. Our most productive net is ensconced in a dogwood thicket. On the one hand it was wonderful that Eila and Sarah were able to work so hard at the project (between episodes of banding) but that it provided a golden opportunity for them to practice tree planting and get closer to their goal of going to B.C. to do a summer of tree planting. We were pleased to provide them with this opportunity!