Once
again this year we were challenged by the weather. The first week was spent setting up the
station with two feet of snow still on the ground. The first few days brought
few birds and plenty of snow. Most of our observations consisted of the “winter
finch” and other “nomadics” category such as White-winged Crossbills, Common
Redpolls, Pine Siskin and Bohemian Waxwing. Ruby-crowned Kinglets were evident
and the local population of Boreal and Black-capped Chickadees were very busy. There
were at least two pairs of Trumpeter Swans working the marsh and oxe bow area
and possibly three. Ducks were few and far between as things remained ice
bound. Tundra Swan and Greater white-fronted Goose have been low in numbers as
they are expected at this time period. The familiar “big push of sparrows” is
yet to happen as we have had dribs and drabs of Slate-colored Junco, American
Tree Sparrow and Gambel’s White-crowned Sparrow. Fox Sparrows have been scarce.
The first Myrtle Warbler was only detected on May 3rd. Species detected, slowly increased in week two
bringing such familiar songsters as Varied Thrush. The first Hermit Thrush was
detected on April 28th as it was banded while the first Rusty
Blackbird was observed. Albert Creek’s star bird is still cooking for someone.
The Barred Owl has been heard daily. As of May 4th the Rusty
Blackbird crowd increased to 12 with a pair being banded.
Weather
changed in the second week bringing frozen nights but bright blue skies during
the day. The roblem was north winds prevailed with a brief change on May 3rd
when south winds prevailed. It has been a late spring so far for species and
numbers of species.
Thank you to our volunteers Susan Drury and Maxime Beauchamps for their help this past week, particularly with the arduous task of setting of the station.
Birds
banded from April 23rd – May 4th
Black-capped Chickadee – 1
Boreal Chickadee – 11
Ruby-crowned Kinglet – 20
Hermit Thrush -1
Varied Thrush – 1
Myrtle Warbler – 1
American Tree Sparrow – 12
White-crowned Sparrow -2
Slate-colored Junco – 11
Rusty Blackbird – 2
Common Redpoll – 4
Total
= 66 birds of 11 species
