May 23rd, 2006

Ruthven

A cold wind was blowing from the WNW. The temperature was +1 and frost patches mottled the nets. Good training for the Arctic (only two weeks away!) but pretty damned uncomfortable conditions for the end of May! Didn't seem to bother the birds though - they were singing vociferously by 4:15 (Standard time).

There was no "big" net round - just slow but steady. Ended up banding 36 and retrapping 15. Had the first Swainson's Thrush and Eastern Wood Peewee of the year.

36 banded: 1 MODO, 1 TRFL (probably a WIFL), 4 LEFL, 1 HOWR, 1 RCKI, 1 BGGN, 1 SWTH, 5 GRCA, 1 BRTH, 6 YWAR, 1 MAWA, 1 COYE, 1 WIWA, 1 RBGR, 1 CHSP, 1 SOSP, 3 RWBL, 2 COGR, 1 BHCO, 1 OROR, 1 AMGO.

15 retraps: 1 WAVI, 8 YWAR, 1 MAWA, 1 COYE, 2 SOSP, 1 BHCO, 1 AMGO.


Jack-in-the-pulpit - a common flower at Ruthven (and an inspiration to keep the Garlic Mustard under control).


The paid staff taking a couple of hours for lunch in order to enjoy the sunshine and....warm up. The unpaid staff were either digging in the gardens, digging at the archaeological site or closing up the banding lab in order to hustle off to work. It's a strange world sometimes, isn't it?


Good Samaritan or Sexist Pig? YOU MAKE THE CALL!! Brian, seen here running a cup of hot tea over to the Summer student Liz....she was cold. This was at 11:00 AM, intense sunshine and 15 degrees. At 6:00, cold wind, 1 degree, I didn't see any tea coming MY way.


Selkirk

Another so so day at Selkirk. A lot of the species one would expect at this time of the year just have not shown themselves at Selkirk and particularly in the banding area. The odd new bird continues to show up in the nets but the trees have not been dripping birds as one would expect at this time of the year.

Selikirk will be closed Thursday May 25th as I will be spending the day doing the birdathon entirely in Haldimand County. It seems that whatever day I pick to do this it is a wet windy day or there are no migrants easily found. So far rain is not the forecast. Maybe we will finally have a "good" day.

Banded today; LEFL 1, HOWR 1, RCKI 1, GRCA 2, BRTH 1, OCWA 1, NAWA 2, YWAR 7, MAWA 5, MYWA 2, LISP 2, RWBL 3, AMGO 3 = 31

John