May 8th, 2006

Ruthven

"Can you hear the unbridled majesty in those noble calls? Do you know who are making those heart-stirring sounds - those glorious clarion calls of untrammelled freedom? They are....turkeys in the mist."

As per usual with me opening lately it was cold and frosty. However, for added variety it was also very foggy too. So much so in fact that visibility was almost nil for about an hour after dawn except for an inexplicable small clear patch between the station and the mansion. The Wild Turkey and some surly ruminations of a distressed cow were amongst the only sounds to penetrate the thick blanket of mist.

Not much moving around the nets today, and the hoard of ravenous sparrows around the front of the house has moved on. There were many new sightings for the season though. Lincoln's Sparrow, Yellow-throated Vireo, and Yellow-billed Cuckoo were observed near the Thompson Cemetery and Black-and-White Warbler and Magnolia Warbler were caught and banded.

The male Purple Martin continued his lonely vigil on top of one of the martin houses.

Banded 26: AMGO 7, BGGN 2, RCKI, MAWA, BWWA, HOWR 2, CHSP 2, YWAR 3, BAWW, SOSP 2, EWCS 2 (including an absolute porker weighing in at 37.3g!), GRCA 2

Retrapped 12 : AMGO 2, BHCO, OROR, YWAR 3, BAOR 2, DOWO 2, EWCS

A Red Fox was observed during census - running across the field on the far side of the creek opposite Net 6.

The first Six-Spotted Tiger Beetle of the season was also observed.

B

Selkirk

A nice bit of variety early, but bird movement ceased by about mid day.

Banded: MODO 1, LEFL 2, HOWR 3, RCKI 9, VEER 4, SWTH 1, HETH 2, AMRO 2, GRCA 6, NAWA 2, YWAR 5, MAWA 4, BTBW 2, BTNW 1, BAWW 2, OVEN 10, COYE 3, RBGR 1, LISP 7, SWSP 2, WTSP 21, EWCS 6, RWBL 2, BHCO 1, AMGO 7 = 106

John