Migrants Still Around

In spite of the really lousy weather we've had the last week or so, I was able to get out this afternoon and do some banding at school. I waited until it warmed up a bit and then headed out. When I arrived at the banding site there were birds everywhere so I was ready for a busy day. I could hear Cedar Waxwings in the trees above and there were White-throated Sparrows all over. Funny thing was, I didn't catch any of either.


There are still some warblers around. I caught this Orange-crowned Warbler and a retrapped Yellow-rumped Warbler. I was excited about the Yellow-rump because I hadn't banded since last Sunday which means this bird hung around for a while. When I caught it the first time it was carrying zero fat. Today it was full of fat. In the last 6 days this bird gained 3 grams of weight. That may not sound like much but when you only weigh 14 grams that's quite a bit.


Last catch of the day were 2 Golden-crowned Kinglets. With the days getting shorter I was banding this bird as it was almost dark. You can tell by the photo that I was getting finished just in time.


The bird that was in the toughest shape today was this male Northern Cardinal that I got in the first net run of the day. The bird was in full molt, it had pin feathers all over. The oddest thing though is that it was missing part of its right leg. It appears to be an old injury that is completely healed. Besides the injury the bird was in good body condition. I couldn't tell if there was a specific problem or what. It's plumage was adult.


When it came out of the bag for banding it had shed it's tail feathers. You can see how much of the retrices were still in their sheath.

Totals for the day are as follows:

Golden-crowned Kinglet (2)
Yellow-rumped Warbler (2)
Orange-crowned Warbler (1)
Black-capped Chickadee (2)
Fox Sparrow (4)
Northern Cardinal (1)
American Robin (1)

We're going to try and make a run to Wisconsin to band at Mr. Neil's tomorrow but the weather sounds iffy. It will be nice just to get back to the place to see what's around. I would love to catch some more Tufted Titmice before this year's banding is over.

Cool and Windy Sunday Morning

After yesterday's great banding, I was excited to get out again this morning to see how many more birds we could catch. One of the biggest enemies of banders is wind and I woke up to a very windy morning. Luckily my net lanes are protected from all but the strongest winds. Today was going to test that.

I was not disappointed. Sure, we spent a lot of time picking leaves out of the nets but by 11:30 we had 20 birds of 8 species with some surprises. First surprise - Yellow-rumped Warblers still around in good numbers. This beauty posed for us in the sunlight just before release.



Another real shock were 2 Tennessee Warblers. These girls should have been out of here already. We also hoped for a Palm Warbler or an Orange-crowned Warbler but missed on those.



A nice bonus today were 3 different sparrow species including a chunky Fox Sparrow. I hadn't seen any of these around my feeders for a while.



This is the time for White throats but we only had one today as opposed to many yesterday. This is a great example of how habitat can influence captures.



Song Sparrow is a common breeder around here but this fellow should be far south of here by now.

Totals for the day are as follows:

Tennessee Warbler (2)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (1)
Yellow-rumped Warbler (7)
Black-capped Chickadee (1 new and 2 retraps)
Song Sparrow (1)
White-throated Sparrow (2)
Fox Sparrow (1)
American Robin (3)

Not sure how many days are left when we can get out but we're going to try our site in Wisconsin next Sunday.

A Very Busy Morning!

After nearly a week of terrible weather, the sun finally broke through and provided us with a glorious fall day. I knew it was going to be good when I could see flocks of birds springing from the road shoulder as I drove along the nature center driveway. Lots of Dark-eyed Juncos and White-throated Sparrows along with some other surprises.

It was the kind of day when you could have put a net in the middle of the parking lot and you would still catch a load of birds.


The total for the day was 49 birds of 10 species with juncos and White-throated Sparrows being the most numerous captures. The Golden-crowned Kinglet and the Ruby-crowned Kinglets were the "best" catches of the day though we had some other notable species like a relatively late Eastern Phoebe.

Of all the birds netted, only 2 were retraps.

Totals are as follows:

Ruby-crowned Kinglet (3)
Golden-crowned Kinglet (1)
Black-capped Chickadee (5)
Dark-eyed Junco (15)
Yellow-rumped Warbler (1)
Field Sparrow (1)
Eastern Phoebe (1)
White-throated Sparrow (18)
White-breasted Nuthatch (2)
Hermit Thrush (2)

I also got a short video clip of volunteer Ben taking data on the GCKI.

Golden-crowned Kinglet from Roger Everhart on Vimeo.

Tomorrow looks like it will be even warmer than today so it's back out to the banding station at school to see if we can't catch a few more migrants before they head south. Lots of dogwood berries still on the shrubs to attract the Yellow-rumped Warblers I saw flitting around tonight.

Mid-October Snow!

The weather is forever entertaining but this is a bit ridiculous. Snow is falling as I type and the prediction is for 2-3 inches by noon. Luckily, the temps should warm up enough that the snow should be gone tomorrow. Normally we should be enjoying temps in the 60's. This is more like November and I really don't want to rush the calendar.

It will be interesting to see what this front might push into the area. Anything good out there? I know Wisconsin is hosting a Rufous Hummingbird right now and that last week there were several jaegers seen along the south shore of Lake Superior. I think this weekend will be nice enough to do a bit of searching around but unless things change significantly banding season may be over for the year. I hope not.

For a bit oh humor to get you through the day see this blurb on a "new bird species".