Cold southwest winds pushed a few birds north

I guess the sun will not come out today either. The winds are cold and out of the southwest. A cold Pacific wind. The birds were around even while we were dodging raindrops and mist on occasion. We hung it up after 5.5 hours.

It was a great day for flickers! We captured 4 today and split it down the middle with 2 males and 2 females. Usually we do not catch many flickers because they are so big and strong and can flip themselves out of the net before getting caught in the net.

One hundred and nine new birds including 13 recaptures were the catch of the day. Seventeen species for this early in April is not bad! Highlights for the day were: Fox Sparrow, Yellow-shafted Flicker and American Tree Sparrow. Pine Warber was heard on site again today. This will be the last few days to see an American Tree Sparrow and the Fox Sparrows are moving out as well.

Top 6 species:
Hermit Thrush – 21
Myrtle Warbler – 17
Ruby-crowned Kinglet – 16
White-throated Sparrow – 8
Golden-crowned Kinglet – 7
Slate-colored Junco – 7

**remember Myrtle Warbler is a race of the Yellow-rumped Warbler
and Slate-colored Junco a race of the Dark-eyed Junco.

Looking forward to the sun…

Overcast and easterly winds did not deter the gnatcatchers

Cold easterly winds made for an uncomfortable day for humans and probably not much better for our feathered friends. Fifty-eight new birds were captured including 11 recaptures. Many of the recaptures were Hermit Thrushes and White-throated Sparrows hanging around. No use moving north on winds like these. Myrtle Warbler was the only warbler caught. However, the Pine Warbler was singing at the site. Highlights were two Field Sparrows and our first Blue-gray Gnatcatchers.

Top 6 species are:
Ruby-crowned Kinglet – 20
Golden-crowned Kinglet – 10
Swamp Sparrow – 6
Blue-gnatcatcher – 4
Brown Creeper – 4
Hermit Thrush – 4

The sun will come out tomorrow I hope!

Warm winds bring an unusual visitor

First day of the official spring migration season and what a day! I helped put up the nets and then left Mark and the crew to take over while Karen Mitchell and I took care of the Boy Scout Camporee out front of Davis Besse Power Station. A warm day for April with a strong WSW wind made for a good diversity of birds to show the scouts.

During net set-up Mark had a Chuck-will’s-widow fly in front of him while setting up the net. He went back later when it was light and got a good look at it with its reddish brown plumage. He said it was the biggest nightjar he had ever seen. One of the volunteers commented that it looked like a crow coming at her as it spooked when they were searching for where Mark had last seen it land to get a better look at it. I never got the opportunity to see the bird. There has been a lot of western and southern birds appearing in odd places. The winds have been strong from the west and that may be bringing them into Ohio.

With the nets up for eight hours we captured 104 birds including 9 recaptures previously banded resident birds (Northern Cardinal, Carolina Wren, etc.). Highlights are Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Field Sparrow, and this trilling songster (quizbird).

Top 5 species are:
Hermit Thrush – 23
Golden-crowned Kinglet – 22
Ruby-crowned Kinglet – 15
Myrtle Warbler (Yellow-rumped) – 9
White-throated Sparrow – 5

Enjoy early spring for Fox Sparrows are getting slim in numbers! They are moving north!

P.S. Quizbird is a male Pine Warbler considered an overflight warbler- overflying its normal breeding range.