Today marked the start of our 20th Fall Season at Ruthven. It doesn’t seem that long ago when the banding “lab” consisted of a foldup stool set up under a big tree close to current net #7. The bands and banding equipment were carried around in a fishing tackle box and laid out on a towel on the ground at my feet.

If today’s banding was likened to a 400 meter race (one lap of the track) it would have gone like this: we exploded out of the blocks and went hard as far as the second turn; we laboured dreadfully down the back straight and limped into the final turn; but turned it on over the final 50 meters for a respectable finish.

We banded a lot of birds with great variety in the first two and a half hours. More than anything it was the variety that was so noteworthy. We ended up banding 31 species, 15 of which were warblers. Then the bottom fell out and there was hardly a bird to be seen. At closing time the nets were empty until the last one, #10; it held 14 birds, mostly warblers and vireos.

I think the overcast skies were a positive factor in the catching as they tend to obscure the nets.

We enjoyed lots of birds and lots of visitors as well as the first homemade muffins and cookies of the Fall Season.

Banded 79:
1 Downy Woodpecker
1 Eastern Wood Pewee
2 Yellow-bellied Flycatchers
2 Blue-gray Gnatcatchers
1 American Robin
4 Gray Catbirds
3 Warbling Vireos
2 Philadelphia Vireos
9 Red-eyed Vireos
1 Yellow-throated Vireo
2 Blue-winged Warblers
5 Chestnut-sided Warblers
3 Magnolia Warblers
1 Black-throated Blue Warbler
1 Black-throated Green Warbler
2 Blackburnian Warblers
1 Bay-breasted Warbler
4 Black & White Warblers
1 Canada Warbler
5 American Redstarts
2 Ovenbirds
2 Northern Waterthrushes
1 Mourning Warbler
4 Common Yellowthroats
1 Wilson’s Warbler
2 Rose-breasted Grosbeaks
3 Indigo Buntings
2 Chipping Sparrows
2 House Finches
7 American Goldfinches

ET’s: 79 spp.
Some of today’s birds (thanks to Raffaele Camasta):

Rick