A busy day at the station... and more!

Today, on another warm morning, as if summer finally wants to prove something, calls were heard from everywhere as we opened the nets at dawn. Sure enough, the rustles in the leaves and multiple contact calls materialized in many a sparrow caught in our eager nets! An interesting palette of sparrows were captured, from the Song to the White-crowned, with the occasional Lincoln's and an interesting 4 Swampies (Swamp Sparrows, of course). But the most common were the dark-eyed Juncos (9 banded) and undoubtedly, the White-throated Sparrow (with 31 banded). All in all, we banded 75 birds, including a remarkable 7 Hermit Thrushes (which, for their first appearance this fall at the station, made a splash!). An American Redstart and a a few Red-eyed Vireo are noteworthy, not necessarily the latest in the season, but certainly after peak time for these species.

A flock of White-winged Crossbills was seen today, this species being regularly observed since the start of the fall monitoring this season.

Other interesting obs. and banding news: a yellow-billed Cuckoo was banded on 24 September; 2 Black Scoters were observed on Georgian Bay on 22 September (as well as several White-winged Scoters); A young Bald Eagle was perched on a big red Pine for a few hours on 19 September; A Ruby-throated Hummingbird was seen that same day too; a Snow Goose, all by itself, was observed flying high towards Georgian Bay on 18 September (a very uncommon sight at Cabot Head: I believe it's only the 2nd one!); and a Clay-coloured Sparrow on 16 September.

Even though mid-September has been relatively slow (up to those last few days), there is always something special to keep us happy! Not least among the magic moments is the reflection of... no, not the moon, but Jupiter on Wingfield Basin! Skies are so dark on the Bruce Peninsula that on a clear, moon-less night, we can have a Jupiter-lit body of water!!