|
|
McGILL BIRD OBSERVATORY |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Welcome
to the McGill Bird Observatory weekly report.
Click here for a complete listing of our archives.
Banders-in-charge:
Seabrooke Leckie, Barbara Frei, Marie-Anne
Hudson Notes: This week started out cool and clear with the presence of some small warbler flocks hinting at what was to come. And with the warm sunny weather, the warblers appeared! By the end of the week, we had seen Tennessee, Nashville, Orange-crowned, Yellow, Chestnut-sided, Magnolia, Black-throated Blue, Yellow-rumped, Black-throated Green, Western Palm, Yellow Palm, Blackpoll, Wilson's, and Black-and-white Warblers, as well as American Redstart, Ovenbird, Northern Waterthrush, and Common Yellowthroat. Saturday through Monday had these little guys positively dripping from the many trees and shrubs around MBO. We just hope it’ll continue for the weeks to come, though we know it’ll have to taper off eventually as they continue their migration southward. This week saw many species banded for the first time this fall (and no, not all of them were warblers…). These were Savannah Sparrow, Winter Wren, Orange-Crowned Warbler, Yellow Palm Warbler, Gray-cheeked Thrush, and House Finch. We were so excited about these guys that we posted all of their photos above, as we were unable to choose amongst them. We also managed to add a new species to our observed list, with our first Northern Goshawk of the fall popping up at the end of Chris Murphy’s census, quickly being replaced by an American Kestrel (not new but exciting nonetheless). If only all our raptors were that obliging! While we’re on the subject of raptors, we’ve been noticing an increase in the number of Sharp-shinned and Cooper’s Hawks milling around MBO. Pair those with the 3 Osprey and 4 Turkey Vultures that flew over on Sunday and our resident Red-shouldered Hawks, and the growing gang of American Crows will have plenty of raptors to chase and harass over the coming weeks. As usual, the week ended with a bang on Monday, with 55 individuals representing 23 species banded, the highest total of both individuals and species this week.
This week’s top ten banded species has been turned on its head, with Yellow-rumped Warblers soaring to the number 1 position, and the previously top-rated species, Magnolia Warbler, falling to 5th. Warblers have been so numerous of late, that 4 out of the 5 top species banded are warblers. It would almost be possible to get away with saying that the top 5 species are warblers, as the only odd one out, the Ruby-crowned Kinglet, is often mistaken for one! Alright… we’ll stop talking about warblers now…
|
