Andrew’s Posting For August 26th – 30th

Windy Week at Cabot Head Brings New Birds

This week the wind has been blowing strongly mostly from the west but many days we were not able to open all of our nets and bird diversity and activity have been low due to the winds. On the 26^th south-west winds blew out most of our nets for most of the day and we banded only 3 birds. Eastern Phoebe, Northern Flicker and Cedar Waxwing were the highlights for the day. The wind dropped off for the 27^th and we were able to operate most of our nets. We banded: our first Downy Woodpecker for the year, Traill’s Flycatcher, Swainson’s Thrush, Ovenbird and a Yellow-billed Cuckoo. 2 Northern Rough-winged Swallows and 2 adult Bald Eagles were seen during census. On the 28^th we banded Least Flycatcher, Traill’s Flycatcher, Yellow-shafted Flicker, Nashville Warbler, Black-throated Blue Warbler and Wilson’s Warbler.  A small flock of Cedar Waxwings moved through early in the morning. 2 Bald Eagles and an Adult Peregrine Falcon were seen during census. On the 28^th we banded Eastern Phoebe, our first Philadelphia Vireo, Red-eyed Vireo, American Robin, Magnolia, Black-throated Blue and Black-throated Green, Myrtle, Blackpoll, Wilson’s and Canada Warbler, White-throated Sparrow and Song Sparrow. We banded A total of 37 birds of 18 species. We also saw a Bald Eagle, Red-tailed Hawk, Peregrine Falcon and several Merlins. In the afternoon we also first spotted Great-horned Owl sitting on the grass then it flew to a nearby birch snag. The 30^th was slow due to strong west winds blowing through the woods and preventing us from opening all our nets. Despite this we banded 21 birds of 11 species including: Red-eyed Vireo, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Swainson’s Thrush, Nashville Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, Myrtle Warbler, American Redstart, Ovenbird, Northern Waterthrush, Mourning Warbler and White-throated Sparrow. Weather looks windy for the next week but hopefully the birds will still move through.