Rain stops play!

This weekend, both the weather AND the birds conspired to make it an entirely forgettable effort. On Saturday we were forced to close early by a line of thunder storms crossing the region, although there weren't that many birds there anyway. After the storms passed through, it became very windy, then a cold front passed through overnight, with very strong north westerlies into Sunday morning. As it was far to windy to operate, the crew took down the nets early on Sunday morning, Erika fell in the swamp, thereby winning the day's "Doofus" award, and we were away just as it began to drizzle.

The Osprey pair is still in residence at the platform, and the female appears to be incubating, so there may yet be young Ospreys to band in July. Now, if Josh can procure the assistance of the local hydro company, we are in business!

Here is the list, such as it is, for Saturday morning:

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 1

Yellow Warbler 4

Lincoln's Sparrow 1

American Goldfinch 5

Gray Catbird 2

Rose-breasted Grosbeak 3

Red-winged Blackbird 4

Common Yellowthroat 1

Eastern White crowned Sparrow 1

White throated Sparrow 1

Song Sparrow 1

Common Grackle 1

Total 25, of 12 species.

As always, we are looking forward to more success next weekend. According to the record books for the property, this is the weekend to expect the arrival of migrant warblers. Time will tell....

(picture of Blue-gray Gnatcatcher and Common Yellowthroat copyright of Georg Hentsch)