BIRD BANDING AT RUTHVEN PARK

February 25, 2004: Winter's icy grip has been shaken following two days with above freezing temperatures and with a sunshine you could feel. There is a promise of continuing warm temperatures to come. How did they know? Flying north high above Ruthven six Tundra Swans were getting a head start on their long flight to Nunavut well over a thousand miles away. These are just the vanguard. By the time the northward migration ends in mid-June, well over 1 billion birds will have made their way from their southern winter homes to their breeding grounds to the north.

Rick Ludkin and a volunteer compare notes.

The bird banding station at Ruthven Park has been set up to try to monitor this movement. Starting at the beginning of April and running to the end of May, we will catch passing landbirds in a series of mistnets; affix a uniquely numbered aluminum band that will serve to identify that individual should it ever be found again; take a variety of measurements and then let it go to continue on its journey.

As well as banding, we also try to get a sense of all the birds that are at Ruthven on any particular day during the migration. This is done both by counting all the birds we encounter while running the nets and by walking a predetermined census route along which we count as well. Putting these counts together as well as the numbers of birds banded, we come up with an “Estimated Total” for each species – in essence, an educated guess of how many birds there are of any one species seen on that day. By collecting this data over many years, we can compare it both at Ruthven from year to year and between stations across the country. For birds that nest in the far north and winter in the Tropics it is about the only way of getting an "objective" sense of whether their numbers are increasing or declining. Our efforts, added to those from other migration monitoring stations across the whole country, will be used to try to assess the health of these bird populations.

Ruthven’s banding station depends on the hard work and commitment of volunteers. If you are interested in birds and would like to learn more about them and about banding/monitoring please contact Rick Ludkin, the head bander. Phone: 905-765-4963 or e-mail: rludkin@hotmail.com

March 1, 2004: 7 degrees Celsius and rain. Five male Redwing Blackbirds wing their way along the River. There can be no question: the migration is under way!

Rick Ludkin, Bird Bander,
Ruthven Park Chair, Cultural Landscape Committee and Land Trust Board Member

BIRDBANDING WORKSHOP Saturday, May 8, 2004 8 am - 12 noon Watch for further details.