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