September Week 3

21st September – owl season starts!

Last night the fall owl banding started on a calm warm (14 degrees Celsius) evening. Hopes for a bird were low as the standard period passed with no sign so I called it a night. Crazy Dave however goes all night no matter what and on his last net check in the late early hours he got his reward. So as I surfaced I was greeted with a bag in the banding lab that contained a cracking little (very cute!) Northern Saw-whet Owl.


Northern Saw-whet Owl

Afterwards the nets were opened and we followed on with the story of the week, ground traps good with 77 birds and nets slow with 11 birds! A much quieter day all round with only 66 AMGO’s as 11 Blue Jays made up the rest of the ground trap total. Out of the nets came a Sharp-shinned Hawk, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Blue-headed and Red-eyed Vireo, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, …….

Long Point finally updated their fall totals for last week and I’m not saying that Dave is competitive! But he is a very happy man. Even with our relatively slow week, well lets be truthful above average week thanks to all those Goldfinches we have banded more birds than ALL THREE stations put together down at Long Point Bird Observatory.

20th September – rusty starts to move as record is reached

A calm and sunny day meant a few birds were on the move again. Jays were heading over straight from first light shortly joined by a few Red-winged and 3 Rusty Blackbirds. Finally we broke the Goldfinch record today as we passed 1400 birds! A Yellow-bellied Sapsucker was also added to the season’s list.


male American Goldfinch
(hatch year – second year – after second year)

19th September – first sign of coolness

The first cool morning of the season as temperatures just dropped into single figures (9.5 degrees Celsius). Hoping this may spur some birds to move it was good to see a slight increase from the nets. Starting off with a Lincoln’s Sparrow that was an addition to the list, also caught were 8 Brown Creepers, 8 Blackpoll, 2 Ovenbird, 7 magnolia and 4 Black-throated Blue Warblers. But of course we can’t forget the 131 AMGO’s. As the day heated up by noon a Red-tailed Hawk circled with a flock of Turkey Vultures.


female American Goldfinch
(hatch year – second year – after second year)

18th September – that’s 3000 for the fall

A cloudy day with the odd light shower and a westerly breeze. Not a great deal around but a Ruby-throated Hummingbird was the first at our feeders for some time, Out of the nets came 2 Black-throated Green and 4 Black-throated Blue Warblers whilst overhead flocks of Blue Jays moved over with an estimated total of 3000. The fall banding total passed 3000 with yet a further 174 AMGO’s banded.


American Goldfinch (bright female – male)
These are still possible to age as after second years because they are only just starting to moult after their late breeding season.

17th September – pisi drops in

Much the same weather as yesterday, with only 34 birds coming from the nets continuing on the same recent pattern. First for the fall was a little Winter Wren (tangle just the same as at home!) whilst other birds included 2 Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Chestnut-sided Warbler, 2 Northern Parula and a Myrtle Warbler that hung around the yard. The ground traps delivered again with 225 yellow and black things (all except one that was grey!) as well as a little surprise with a Pine Siskin thrown into the mix.


Northern Parula

16th September – afternoon twitch

Overnight a strong northeast wind developed that reduced bird numbers greatly. Once again however the Goldfinches continue to move with another 127 today. Otherwise there was a sprinkling of warblers including a Blackburnian, Northern Parula and yet another Mourning as a Tree Swallow migrated south.

In the afternoon we headed towards Point Petre on the southwest tip of the county where earlier in the week there had been reports of a Black Vulture and a Dickcissel. But all we could find was a flock of Chipping Sparrows that contained a single White-crowned as they sheltered out of the wind under a tree. Just further up the road another good bird had been present the day before. Once in the vicinity we slowed right down and started to scan the roadside bushes and electiric (hydro) wires from the car. First spotted were a couple of Purple Finch, then a few Chipping Sparrows and then “there is that it?” as a bird was picked up perched low on top of a telegraph pole, being blow about by the wind. Yes that was it, a Western Kingbird, the bird showed well for a minute or two before it flew off over the field being followed by two Chipping Sparrows. Despite spending the next hour in the area we failed to relocate the bird finding just an Eastern Kingbird instead!


Western Kingbird

15th September – thrushes dominate the wood

Back too normal today as we catch 116 American Goldfinch (AMGO) on a partly cloudy day with a light northeast breeze. There was a bit of life in the trees today with a Black-billed Cuckoo and a late Blue-grey Gnatcatcher being seen. The nets tallied up 18 species with most numerous being 15 Swainson’s and 10 Grey-cheeked Thrush. A visit to the harbour found the Night Heron still in situ showing well whilst catching frogs.


Black-crowned Night Heron