A glorious male Hooded Warbler; only the 4th one banded at Ruthven. -R. Camasta
It was hot and sticky at opening time (6:00 AM) and it just got hotter and stickier. Migrants were in small serendipitous groups – most well away from the nets. But…..we did manage to net only the 4th Hooded Warbler in the 21 years we’ve been at it – a beautiful male. So it kind of made up for an otherwise pretty slow day.
A honeybee, hind leg sacks swollen with pollen, work over the Meadow’s goldenrod. -E. Gosnell
For a few years now I’ve been paying attention to pollinators….or, more accurately, the lack of them.
Not that long ago honeybees could be seen almost everywhere but recent developments of GMO crops, neonicitinoids, and parasites resulting in catastrophic colony collapses have left fields empty around the world. So, a couple of days, I was surprised to hear the beautiful music of buzzing bees in the Butterfly Meadow. And there are LOTS of them!!! They are working over the goldenrod (that terrible noxious weed…ha!). Treat yourself and your children or grandchildren and take a walk in the meadow and experience the sound and sight of honeybees at work. Who knows how much longer you will be able to experience them…
Banded 20:
1 House Wren
5 Swainson’s Thrushes
1 Gray Catbird
8 Red-eyed Vireos
1 Tennessee Warbler
1 Bay-breasted Warbler
1 Hooded Warbler
1 Rose-breasted GRosbeak
1 American Goldfinch
ET’s: 47 spp.
BAGend Banding – 6:
3 Gray Catbirds
1 Common Yellowthroat
2 Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Gallery:
Black-throated Green Warbler. -R. Camasta
Hooded Warbler. -R. Camasta
Female Blue-winged Warbler. -E. Gosnell
Chestnut-sided Warbler (if you look closely you can see a band on its right leg). -R. Camasta
Rick