How to Frustrate and Depress a Bird Bander! It is an astonishingly simple recipe. First, put an awesome and rare bird in a net; second, make sure not to have the proper band for it. That’s it! Easy as pie! So, this …
A New Visitor From the Far North Another gorgeous day at Cabot Head today: it is truly an indian summer, with warmth, sunshine, blue sky, and coloured leaves! Leaving colder climes, the first Fox Sparrow of the season was captured today. What …
A Flotilla of Mergansers! On Wingfield Basin this morning, there were 37 Common Mergansers swimming and fishing together. It was a neat sight, this tightly formed flotilla of feathers. They would all swim in the same direction, leaving sparkling wakes, and suddenly paddling …
The First, the Last, and the Odd! Today was incredibly sunny, with a deep blue sky, and moderate north wind. It was also relatively quiet at the nets while we were expecting more activity. Nonetheless, every day counts at a migration monitoring station. …
A Feast of White! This morning, we were delighted by the sight of a low-flying all-white Trumpeter Swan! Flying over Wingfield Basin, it was low enough to have a good look, especially on its all black bill, but the huge size and massive …
The Autumn of the Eagles! As mentioned in an earlier blog posting, Bald Eagles have been seen on an almost daily basis this fall. It is possible that some of the eagles observed have taken up residency, at least for a …
From Boom to Bust… to Boom Again! Migration brings birds but not always in a steady, constant flows. It could be better described as tidal waves, with ebb and flow, low and high. On Monday, September 27, we were close to submerged …
In Between Storms! This last week has seen almost all kind of weather here at the station (no, no snow yet)! We’ve had strong and warm south winds, bringing on amazingly powerful thunderstorms, calm and clear days, or cool and windy and overcast …
The Last (?) Breath of Summer And what a breath it is! When night was slowly surrendering to dawn, huge thunderstorms rolled in over Cabot Head, shattering the silent darkness. After pouring out their hearts, they moved on to other shores. Then, …
Sightings to lift up one’s spirit! On an overcast and rather cool morning, on Sunday September 26, with the north wind whipping up frosty caps on Georgian Bay, a family reunion of some sorts was happening in the sky. Four (4!) Blad …