Leaving Powdermill

Dawn over Powdermill

After an all to brief three week stay at Powdermill it is already time to return to Ontario. During the past two weeks I have had few new species, but the birds we've caught have definately been memorable. Cheif amongst these have been two American Woodcocks, a Yellow-billed Cuckoo and two Sharp-shinned Hawks (male & female).

Yellow-billed Cuckoo

In the latter part of my stay our capture success was greatly influenced by the weather with precious days being lost to wind and rain. During the first week of October the number of warblers declined sharply and we began to the wait for the arrival of the sparros, Yellow-rumped Warblers and kinglets. The sparrows did arrive and so did a few kinglets, but the Yellow-rumps remained scarce until I left. Maybe they migrated past while we were experiencing the poor weather? Or will they arrive later? I'll have to keep an eye on the Powdermill bird banding website/.

Examining moult

In all I had a great stay, learning a lot about identifying the birds of Eastern North America, how to apply my existing knowledge of bird moult to the patterns found in Eastern birds and enjoying the colours of Autumn. I was sad to leave, but I'm sure that I'll return at some point. Thanks to everyone I met who helped make the trip so wonderful.

Blue-headed Vireo