McGILL BIRD OBSERVATORY

SPRING MIGRATION MONITORING PROGRAM

Week 3:  April 11-17, 2007

Welcome to the McGill Bird Observatory weekly report.  Click here for a complete listing of our archives.
Comments or questions are welcome at "mbo AT migrationresearch.org".

PICTURE OF THE WEEK:



A sight to wake up for – early Saturday morning a pair of Wood Ducks were living up to their
names a they perched in a large tree overlooking Stoneycroft Pond. We hope that one of
the 2 or 3 pairs sighted almost daily might make use of one of the 4 nest boxes on site.

(
Photo by Barbara Frei)-
 

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THIS WEEK

THIS SPRING

2007 TOTAL

SITE TOTAL

# birds (and species) banded

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41 (8)

9359 (96)

# birds (and species) repeat

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12 (3)

1561 (52)

# birds (and species) return

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4 (2)

204 (26)

# species observed

36

49

53

181

# net hours

--

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37.0

14059.8

# birds banded / 100 net hours

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110.8

66.5

Note: table does not include nocturnal banding (owls)

Bander-in-charge: Barbara Frei
Assistants: Jean Beaudreault, Martin Bowman, Shawn Craik, Jean Demers, Gregor Gilbert, Gay Gruner, Barbara MacDuff, Betsy McFarlane, Clémence Soulard,

Notes:  The 3rd week of the spring was a turbulent one indeed, and most would agree that a good portion of it did not feel spring like in the least! This was the final non-banding week of MBO’s spring 2007 season, and thanks to some dedicated volunteers everything was ready to go, with the census route clipped, nets readied and pole strings tightened.

Despite the well-below normal temperatures and snowfall on Sunday night, further signs of spring slowly emerged beneath the frosty exterior. Wood Ducks were seen 6 out of the 7 days, and other waterfowl such as Mallards, American Black Ducks, Green-winged Teal, Ring-necked Ducks and Hooded Mergansers were seen visiting our ponds or flying overhead.

Four new species were seen for spring 2007 this week. Some large flocks of Snow Geese joined the Canada Geese on their continued migration northwards, and if you were patient enough to scan the flocks you were usually rewarded with a sight of the darker ‘blue-morph’ of the species. The rattling call of a male Belted Kingfisher greeted censusers early Saturday morning as it perched atop the large cottonwood trees bordering the rear ponds.  Cold and blustery Sunday and Monday morning censuses brought a sole White-throated Sparrow and Northern Harrier respectively, a small but pleasant reward for stiff fingers and frosty binoculars.    

This week's top 10
(last week's rank in parentheses)

# individuals banded

mean # individuals observed daily

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Canada Goose (198) (1)

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Red-winged Blackbird (31) (2)

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Snow Goose (28) (-)

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American Crow (20) (3)

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American Robin (13) (5)

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Black-capped Chickadee (9) (6)

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Blue Jay (9) (10)

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 Mallard (8) (8)

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Ring-billed Gull (8) (4)

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Song Sparrow (6) (6)

With the cold weather and northern winds stalling the migrants south of us, the top ten this week has not changed a great deal. The migrating Canada Geese and ubiquitous Red-winged Blackbirds remain at the top of the species observed. The flocking Snow Geese, often recognized by their higher pitched call and far more disorganized flight than their larger and darker cousins, rapidly jumped to 3rd place.  Wood Duck and European Starling dropped from the top ten this week as Black-capped Chickadees and Blue Jays slowly climbed the ranks. 


With the sighting of several duck species this week as well as the appearance of the season's first Belted Kingfisher, the naturalist curiosity kicked in for some of us – leading to a closer look at what exactly is beneath the water of our ponds and small wetlands. The answer thus far is several dozen leeches and water beetles, as well as a healthy salamander population.  (Photo by Barbara Frei)

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© 2002- The Migration Research Foundation Inc.