warblers warp to northern Ontario hummingbird banders recommend a good red to attract ruby throats

We are so lucky to have Nicole Richardson back to the marsh. She was just down birding and banding near point Pelee  and made the trek north to  help out with our banding before she goes to Montana to research sparrows out west. While down south they had very few yellow rumped warblers and Nicole described the birding as very slow . Nicole told me while in the south she only  saw 5 yellow rumps in any outing  but today we were able to band 34. So it is almost like they warped  north of all of the southern banding stations and have arrived in northern Ontario. We will know better after this week as we have a great forecast and folks  that are here to help. It is also great to have Ethan Quinton helping out.

Amanda  Nicole and Ethan

 Ethan is our returning  summer crew chief and long time volunteer and past Terra student  who has been a consistent part of our success at the marsh over the years. We also welcomed Nicole's friend Amanda who helped out by scribing and carrying  bird bags and reminding us how cool it is to hold birds for the first time and celebrating the migration.

Amanda

 Despite strong winds  we had a great day of banding and managed to capture the following  birds . we banded 103 birds  representing 10 species


34 yellow rumped warblers
26 palm warblers
9 ruby crowned kinglets
8 white crowned sparrow
5 white throated sparrows
5 american tree sparrows
4 red winged blackbirds
3 american robins
3 common grackles
2 Nashville warblers

seen but not banded  were  black and white  warblers  and sora

had several re-trapped swamp sparrows and  red winged blackbirds from the last two years  always great to see returning birds finding the marsh.  We also had a bird we banded at the humming bird garden party that was re-trapped  today.


With the cold front that moved through today and buoyed by 3 reports of ruby throats in the area  Joanne  got busy making hummingbird bands. Note all of the essential  tools needed to form bands  including  a good red!!

Required Red for Rubythroats

This year we decided to purchase another hummingbird kit so we can band at the marsh  and Joanne can band ruby throats with the kids at kerns public at the same time. When we were being trained to band in West Virginia one of the key questions Bob Sargeant kept in the fore front was how many hummingbirds would we be able to band in North Eastern Ontario. He would always smile when we would shrug our shoulders and say you will never know until you try. This year we are going to give it a real try. Last year we banded 217 the record setting bird was banded at kerns public and was captured in a trap  by Cameron Aitchison a grade 5 kerns public student.

Cameron Pacey and Gabe  record humming bird  trappers from Kerns public School

 That  bird was caught  September 3rd and he will be back this September ready to set a new record  for our hummingbird research. Our mentor Bob would be proud. We can only guess where some of the birds  we band will end up after they are banded at the marsh or at kerns. Every band Joanne formed today has the chance  to travel with a ruby throat back to mexico across the gulf  powered by northern nectar  and all of our admiration for  all the excitement a hummingbird at the feeder can muster. Stay tuned  for more boreal banding bulletins.


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bird is the word!!!