Stéphane’s Posting for Oct. 14/10

Last of the Last (?)

Yesterday (October 13), we got a Pine Warbler in our nets! It was a very striking young male, with yellow throat and breast. It was also very late, although as a short-distance migrant headed to the southern States, it probably can linger a little. Which is not necessarily the case for Red-eyed Vireos, as they have to make it all the way to the Amazon forest. We’ve been catching one a day since Tuesday! Maybe they are the last of the last, but who knows? There are still a little more than 2 weeks of migration monitoring: we’ll keep you posted.

Small flocks of Pine Siskins have been wheezing by, up to 40-50 in one flock. The Bald Eagles are still around, even if they haven’t been mentioned in the blog for a while: 6 were seen today, 4 young and 2 adults. We also caught a young male Sharp-shinned Hawk today, on which we could put a band. Yes! No more of  the unbanded funny release of raptors…

Strangely, this fall, very few Gray Catbirds have been banded, even though they were heard and seen quite frequently in September. So, today was a surprise to get one in the nets, only the second one for the fall.

Stéphane