Sunday April 27. 28 new of 13 species; 11 retraps; new species Sharp-shinned Hawk, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, and Wood Thrush. The first Ruby-throated Hummingbird is a big surprise in our nets and better yet, licensed hummingbird bander Erin Karnatz is able to put a band on it!

Monday April 28. 5 new of 2 species; 1 retrap. We only capture five birds before the rain moves in and we close nets for the rest of the day. It’s a disappointing start to the season for Betsy Brooks and Ryan Kayhart, our Research Assistant from Vergennes, VT.

Tuesday April 29. 27 new of 8 species; 11 retraps; new species Purple Finch. Ruby-crowned Kinglet is the bird of the day with 11 banded. Doug Smith bands a feisty but gorgeous after second year (ASY) male Purple Finch. Doug and Dominic Sherony work on getting the guy-wires for two elevated nets attached, and by the end of the day we have all our nets up and working.

Wednesday April 30. 20 new of 8 species; 11 retraps. Bird of the day is chickadee with 10 banded. It’s a cold day but we look forward to a warm-up starting tomorrow.

Thursday May 1. 44 new of 12 species; 9 retraps; new species Yellow Warbler and Common Yellowthroat. Dick O’Hara stops by to enjoy a few warblers including our first Yellow Warbler, a beautiful ASY male. Bird of the day is Ruby-crowned Kinglet with 26 banded. We still have not even seen a Golden-crowned Kinglet this spring. Cindy Marino brings are brand new Jessie Barry-designed t-shirts. Later that evening we enjoy the courtship ‘song’ and flight of an American Woodcock.

Friday May 2. 156 new of 22 species; 4 retraps; new species American Woodcock, Least Flycatcher, Nashville Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, Black-throated Blue Warbler and Eastern White-crowned Sparrow. The woodcock we heard in the field last night was captured this morning – a very photogenic handful! We have our best day of the spring so far and band eight warbler species including 32 Yellow-rumped Warblers. But the bird of the day is Ruby-crowned Kinglet with 57 banded. We enjoy a visit from Pete Gustas.

Saturday May 3. 126 new bands. New species Cooper’s Hawk, Warbling Vireo, Gray Catbird, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Ovenbird, Brown-headed Cowbird. David Bonter, Ryan Kayhart, and Marilyn Guenther welcome dozens of visitors from the Spring Field Ornithology course at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Fantastic species diversity highlights the day with 32 species captured. Thousands of Blue Jays were migrating over the station all day long. We appreciated the help of Kathy Habgood and Pat Lovallo.