Black-billed Cuckoo – a much sought after species by the Young Baggers who, sadly, were not able to blow off school and take it in. -DOL
I guess the thing that struck us the most was the tranquillity. It was just Carol and me to cover the morning – no visitors, no novices, no chatter. Just the occasional satisfied grunt as I dug into the cheesy zucchini quiche (still warm) that Carol had made. And because it was so relaxed I was surprised when we tallied things up at the end of the day and found that we had pulled off the highest banding total of the Fall so far – 52. Highlites of the day included the banding of a young Black-billed Cuckoo and the sighting of at least one Olive-sided Flycatcher.
A young Blue Jay. -IT
You can still find hummers in Carol’s garden. -IT
Banded 52:
4 Mourning Doves
1 Black-billed Cuckoo
2 Red-bellied Woodpeckers
1 Downy Woodpecker
5 Eastern Wood-pewees
1 Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
1 Traill’s Flycatcher
2 Least Flycatchers
1 White-breasted Nuthatch
1 House Wren
1 American Robin
1 Cedar Waxwing
2 Warbling Vireos
4 Red-eyed Vireos
1 Nashville Warbler
2 Magnolia Warblers
1 Bay-breasted Warbler
2 American Redstarts
5 Ovenbirds
4 Common Yellowthroats
1 Wilson’s Warbler
Female Scarlet Tanager. -CAJ
1 Scarlet Tanager
2 Northern Cardinals
2 Rose-breasted Grosbeaks
3 Song Sparrows
1 American Goldfinch
ET’s: 48 spp.
We’ve had some pretty neat young people volunteer at the station over the years and it’s always interesting to see where they end up on their travels. Lyn Brown volunteered last Fall and I just received this note from her:
White Pelican – a real armful! -LB
Hello Rick,
I hope you have been having a productive fall banding season.
I wanted to let you know that I am working at the Kalamazoo Valley Bird Observatory as a bird banding assistant this fall. The time I spent at Ruthven, set me up well to start here. I really appreciated the guidance and teaching that you and others at Ruthven provided in introducing me to bird banding. At Kalamazoo, we have had over 300 birds so far including warblers like the Canada warbler seen in the attached photo.
Lyn with a brilliant male Canada Warbler. -LB
I also got the chance to band pelicans as part of my summer job in North Carolina. That was an awesome experience! We banded 1249 pelicans in one morning (see attached photo). The island had about 4000 pelicans and terns nesting on it. It was quite a sight to behold.
Hope you are doing well.
Lyn
Rick
How lovely for you to hear from th8s young lady !