Nasty Weather, and Dickheads steal nets.....

Some periods of heavy rain and strong winds on Saturday meant we could not operate at all. By Sunday, the wind had died down and after an overcast start to the day, the sun came out and dried everything up. As we stumbled through the woods to get to the furthest net lanes, we were shocked to discover that two nets had been stolen. The net poles were laying on the ground, but even the guy pegs and chord were missing. A thorough search of the area was made, to ensure that they hadn't been tossed into the river, or left draped over the plants. Finding nothing, I can only assume that a Do-Gooder must have discovered the furled nets and decided to remove them once and for all, believing they may have been used for hunting purposes. If the person who did this is reading this post, then, sir or madam, you are a moron. I will take some of the blame too, for not having signs attached to the furled nets explaining why the equipment is there in the first place. That is being taken care of for the future, so perhaps it will make a difference.

                                                             Bay-breasted Warbler

                                                                                   Blackburnian Warbler

 Philadelphia Vireo

                                                               Net thief suspect???

Operating with just four nets, we still managed to band 31 birds of 16 species. Brett and Erika added a further 54 birds up at Springbank Farm, for a respectable 85 birds, and 20 species. New additions to the year list were Black-throated Green Warbler and Blackburnian Warbler. Here are the totals:

Nashville Warbler 3
Wilson's Warbler 7
Black-throated Green Warbler 1
Chestnut-sided Warbler 1
American Goldfinch 40
Indigo Bunting 1
Field Sparrow 1
Common Yellowthroat 3
Bay-breasted Warbler 1
Blackburnian Warbler 1
Blackpoll Warbler 4
Black-capped Chickadee 3
Warbling Vireo 1
Philadelphia Vireo 2
Red-eyed Vireo 5
Song Sparrow 5
Swainson's Thrush 1
Gray Catbird 2
Northern Cardinal 1
American Robin 2

The total so far this Autumn stands at 881, with 61 species on the list.

The coming weekend's forecast is reasonable, so we are looking forward to another productive couple of sessions. Stay tuned......