Let me give you again a feel for this historic private property [weedy fields, marsh, woodlands, horses] which is groomed for birds & butterflies & more where we are currently banding - we sit there at the banding table with hundreds of finches, sparrows mixed with warblers, Bluebirds, woodpeckers & several other species [Phoebes, kinglets, thrushes] shooting around us - nonstop - we operate with a limited number of nets open given the crew size knowing at any moment a net could suddenly have 20+ captures. The last 4 days of banding at this site, the heat, bright sun shuts us downquickly - Monday we banded only 2.25 hrs and had 30 captures - today we did approx 3 hrs and had 44 captures - in the 4 days we banded about 104 birds in limit hrs. & nets due to the heat & sun. - of those 104, many Am Goldfinches, Chipping & Wht-thr Sparrow with a mixture of Juncos, Phoebes, Bluebirds, Chickadees, Titmouse, C Wrens, only a few Catbirds, Hermit Thrush, Yellow-r Warbler, House Finch, Lincoln & Swamp & Song Sparrows, C Yellowthroats, Downy Woodpeckers, Blue Jay, Cardinals plus our highlight bird Wht-eyed Vireo - the next day in the same short net while the Wht-eyed Vireo was vocalizing, we captured a Blue-Headed Vireo.Meanwhile we are seeing all these other species around the nets like the Kinglets, Rusty Blackbirds, thrushes, late warblers, all the woodpecker species including sapsuckers that are teasing us - we just need cooler weather, overcast skies & no wind to deal with those & all the others flying around us.Given all the food below, Sharp-shinned & Cooper's Hawks are flying about along with Red-shouldered & Red-tailed Hawks.Given rain Wes, plan is band Thurs & Fri given the cooler weather. Wonderful way to spend a morning! Strickland Wheelock Uxbridge Ma
