May 17th, 2006

Special Note: Take a moment to read this article by the Globe and Mail. It discusses the growing threat that Garlic Mustard presents to Southern Ontario's forests and native plant species (I guess the people and cities aren't enough). Ruthven has plenty of this stuff around. While we are encouraging people to pull it up, caution is needed: (an excerpt from the article)

"Do not rush out to the garden to erase any trace of it, either – that may end up doing more harm than good, he added.

“If people are pulling it up while it's in seed, you can actually spread the seeds around by pulling it up.”

When garlic mustard is in flower, usually from April to mid-May, it has not started seeding and is safe to pull up. After that, however, weeding, trampling and even composting can just mean more seeds strewn across a lawn or garden, he said."

Ruthven

A bit more bird life around today despite an unpromising start due to mist and threats of rain.

The Ruthven summer staff came out and spent the morning at the station and seemed to bring good luck as the banding totals were the highest since Saturday. They also managed to collect a large number of ticks, with at least a dozen being encountered between them.

A heavy but brief rain fell soon after the nets were closed.

Banded 31: NAWA 2, MAWA 5, AMGO, BTNW, YWAR 7, HOWR, MYWA, TRFL, OVEN 3, REVI, LISP, INBU, GRCA 4, RBGR, COGR

Retrapped 20: HOWR, BCCH 2, YWAR 3, BAOR 4, SOSP 2, COYE 2, RBGR, GRCA 2, DOWO, AMGO 2

An abandoned Wild Turkey egg was found dug in to the bark mulch around some cedars at the mansion.

B

Selkirk

Not much moving early but a few warblers were heard singing. The nets were active in the morning and we ended up with a good day with nice variety.

Banded: LEFL 3, HOWR 2, RCKI 2,VEER 1, AMRO 2, GRCA 8, CEDW 4, OCWA 1, NAWA 2, YWAR 8, MAWA 8, BAWW 1, OVEN 5, COYE 2, CAWA 1, SOSP 1, LISP 1, EWCS 3, BAOR 1, AMGO 5 =61

John