13 October 2014 – Lincoln’s Sparrow and Carolina Chickadee

Here we are in another autumn migration with birds showing up dead at the south entrance.  It was certainly a shame to see this vibrant bird (fat = 3) cut down and reduced to ant food on a brick walkway beneath the serenade of befouling starlings under the eaves of the Noble Research Center.  This bird might have started its life in some glorious boreal bog in Canada.

With an origin likely somewhere in Stillwater, this Carolina Chickadee (fat = 2) was the second casualty today.  This bird was at the bottom of the stairwell at the northeast alcove, providing further evidence that our skunk, if local, is not very good at this scavenging thing.

12 October 2014 – Grasshopper Sparrow

Grad assistant Corey Riding checked on the Noble Research Center today.  He found some Clay-colored Sparrows by the main north entrance but they didn’t seemed trapped.  In the northeast alcove he found this Grasshopper Sparrow, as well as a skunk that might have been interested in scavenging it.

11 October 2014 – 4 trapped Clay-colored Sparrows

Clay-coloreds are on the move through Stillwater, and four of them got hung up for a bit in the northwestern alcove of the Noble Research Center.  They were lucky that Scott Loss was on hand to steer them in a safer direction.