Busy, busy, busy!
After a seemingly long stretch of five days of overcast conditions, clear skies and bright sun returned on September 29 and have been with us ever since. The return of good weather brought a lot – and I mean, A …
Category: STATION NOTES / BLOG
Autumn has arrived!
There is definitely a shift in temperatures, birds, and mood: autumn has arrived. The days are shorter, the skies often obscured by clouds, cooler temperatures prevail. And the assemblage of bird species has shifted from long-distance, early migrants to short-distance, …
Equality on Earth: Fall equinox is on September 22!
If the Earth was not tilted relative to the Sun, there would be no seasons, no variations, no changes throughout the year. But it is tilted and everything is different. In a few days, on September 22, it will be …
Equality on Earth: Fall equinox is on September 22! Read more »
What’s in a name? Or how the misnamed Connecticut Warbler does not breed there…
The frenetic banding pace of the first 10 days of the season has slowed down, albeit with still good numbers in our nets from time to time. It is becoming more and more clear that we have a Red-breasted Nuthatch …
What’s in a name? Or how the misnamed Connecticut Warbler does not breed there… Read more »
So. Many. Birds! A very busy start of monitoring.
It has been a very busy first 10 days of the fall monitoring with high banding totals almost every day. Usually banding is relatively relaxed in mid-August when a big day would be about 40 birds captured. This summer though, …
So. Many. Birds! A very busy start of monitoring. Read more »
A great start to the fall migration monitoring!
As per tradition, fall starts on August 15 at Cabot Head when a new season of monitoring begins. For the next 78 days, we will rise before dawn to open the mist nets, with our eyes and ears open to …
The end (of spring monitoring) is coming soon!
It was a long and stormy week! There was very active weather all throughout last week reducing or precluding banding on all but two days. It was mostly strong wind that hindered the banding operations, as we had no rain …
Migration is still on!
It is said that in North America there are migratory birds on the move in any month of the year with an ever so faint lull in June and December. Arctic breeding shorebirds for example, may start their southward migration …
A (mega) rare visitor from the West!
On May 20 in mid-morning, I was finishing extracting a bird from the first net when my eyes were attracted to a Buteo-like raptor soaring close by (Buteo comprises Red-tailed and Rough-legged Hawks, for example). The bird seemed different, its shape unusual …
A blast of summer before mid-May!
There was some incredibly hot weather last week, brought in with strong south wind blowing furnace air into southern Ontario. It was summer weather in early May bringing a sudden explosive leaf-out at Cabot Head, greening the trees in a …