First PUFIs of summer 2009! (Minnesota, USA)

I got a late start to netting but I caught my first 3 PUFIs (purple finches)!! 2 males with very large cloacal protuberances and 1 female with a very large brood patch. The female is probably on eggs and one of the males may be her mate!

Other birds caught:
50-60 American goldfinches and Pine siskins (at once)
Rose-breasted grosbeak
Chipping Sparrow
Blue jay

I also saw an indigo bunting near the feeders, but haven't caught him yet!

I'll be heading over to another site later tonight.

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Later - I had to return to my original site because I wasn't catching anything at site IBS2 except for goldfinches. Karin's family joined me in catching birds. We caught a male and female ruby-throated hummingbird and a male indigo bunting!!! No more PUFIs though. I'm preparing myself for 2 + more days of rain. Hopefully I'll be able to get in a few hours tomorrow morning of netting!

I caught a pine siskin that was banded by someone else. The band # had a 2500 prefix. How exciting!! I can't wait to hear where it was originally banded! UPDATE: the bird was first banded 26 May 2008 in Ontario - more details in a few weeks!

That's it for today!

SAK

The Beginning of Itasca (Minnesota, USA)

Well, I told myself I would never write a blog because they can be incredibly narcissistic, but a bear is currently eating my feeders so I have a little time on my hand. Basically, this blog will contain new birds I've caught, animals I've seen, and events that I think you might care about.

Tonight I was attempting to catch birds and as I was taking a goldfinch out of the net, a bear and her cub came tromping out of the woods. She sniffed my tent, walked towards me - most likely to eat my sunflower seed - then the cub ran up the tree. I walked to my car and grabbed some people to help me get her out of the area. Well she finally left.... but we'll see if she's gone when I return to my tent tonight!

Today was beautiful at Itasca. Warm, calm, everything I expected! I only was able to net for about an hour, but today I caught:

Rose-breasted grosbeak (F)
Red-breasted nuthatch
White-breasted nuthatch
American goldfinch
Pine siskin
Black-capped chickadee
Chipping sparrow
Red-winged blackbirds

One of the red-breasted nuthatches was first captured on 15 June 2008 at 9:30 am!!

A month and a half until I'm in SLC!