Sunday, May 31, 2009

May Week 3

21st May



Much the same weather as yesterday but less cloud first thing as the radar showed birds flying over without stopping. Numbers of Blackpoll numbers were up to 16 and a new female Hooded warbler was one of 190 birds banded. Just after lunch a walk around the wood delivered a Black-billed Cuckoo, Northern Flicker, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher nest building and then the briefest glimpse of a Red-headed Woodpecker as it flew up in front. A calm evening had a Nighthawk, Whip-poor-will and 2 roding Woodcock still on good form just outside.


Blue-gray Gnatcatcher


20th May



Southwesterly wind remained resulting in mass arrival. A very busy morning brought us to 100 bird species and forms banded this spring with Eastern Wood-pewee, Traill’s Flycatcher and Blackpoll Warbler being new. 53 species were banded today with a total of 465 birds. After a late closure a walk to Traverse added to an impressive warbler tally. The days totals were 4 Blackpoll, 6 Bay-breasted, 4 Tennessee, 1 Canada, 80 Yellow, 20 Chestnut-sided, 80 Magnolia, 6 Myrtle, 1 Cape May, 6 Black and White, 14 Black-throated Green, 6 Black-throated Blue, 40 Redstart, 5 Ovenbird, 3 Northern Waterthrush and 14 Common Yellowthroats.


Traill’s Flycatcher


19th May



Sunny again with a southwesterly wind and the woods were alive, well with over 500 Cedar Waxwings anyway. A surprise catch for the morning when a female Yellow-breasted Chat was discovered (only the 7 caught in spring), also seen was a Northern Mockingbird and 3 Tennessee Warblers. The Afternoon was spent going to town for essentials, on route a roadside pool held 8 Least and a Solitary Sandpiper. Just to the west of Picton a marshy area had 6 Black Terns and a Common Nighthawk hawking overhead.


Yellow-breasted Chat


18th May



The sun was out again with a cool northwesterly wind. The morning total just fell short of our average total with 94 new birds with the best being a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher. Also retrapped was the Hooded Warbler from the other day. At lunch a flock of 110 Red-breasted Mergansers passed by, as did a Blackpoll Warbler through the yard. Traverse was quiet with 4 Blackburnian Warblers, 12 Purple Martins over and a young White-tailed Deer.



17th May



A sunny day with a brisk westerly wind. The morning banding was relatively productive starting off with a male Mourning Warbler followed by a Wilson’s, Bay-breasted and a Canada Warbler. The highlight for the afternoon was a pair of Eastern Bluebirds that showed well feeding around the cottages on the south side of the harbour. Also noted were 2 Philadelphia Vireo, 2 Tennessee and 5 Cape May Warblers along with a few Redstarts and Northern Parula.


Eastern Bluebird
Trip total reached 175 – 46 lifers


16th May



A day with great promise but for the weather. First net round started off well with a Grey-cheeked Thrush and Bay-breasted Warbler on an overcast morning. As the morning developed a rain front also developed just to the west so the nets were promptly closed at about 08:30 with hopes of re-opening within the hour but as time passed more fronts appeared that followed behind at frequent intervals with short heavy spells of rain. It wasn’t until mid afternoon that we decided to open the nets for a while as the showers had stopped and it was now very humid as temperatures exceeded 18oC. The haul was mainly Magnolia and Yellow Warblers with the addition of a Canada Warbler and a Philadelphia Vireo. The ground traps took the day’s tally past a hundred with 20 Blue Jays.


Canada Warbler


15th May



A great contrast to yesterday with no wind and wall to wall sunshine. Whilst opening the nets a different bird could be heard singing, a Black-billed Cuckoo. The nets started producing with a female Hooded Warbler, Canada Warbler and then a little gem in the form of an Orchard Oriole.


Hooded Warbler


The day count of Blackburnian Warblers reached 10 with a walk to Traverse where there were also 3 Eastern Wood Pewee and a Philadelphia Vireo.

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