Open Spaces and Plants

Something was clearly different when we arrived at the banding site around 5:45 A.M. The lock was upside down so someone had been there during the week. Maybe Richard followed through on mowing the grass. It did look mowed. Andrew was even considering bringing his axe to clear out the downed tree near the end of the net lane.

The typical routine is that we walk in and drop off the net bag for Net 2 on the way to the banding table. This morning as we walked toward Net 2 certain landmarks were gone. Even in the dark there are certain plants and trees that guide us along with the assistance of headlamps.

Not there today. We could see the number 2 on the tree but where was the turn toward the river?

As the other nets were distributed we could tell that more than a simple lawn mower had traveled through here at some point. Huge swaths of vegetation were gone as were the couple of trees that were previously laying across the lanes.

Daylight revealed a newly cleared path all the way down to the lake. Maria took this gorgeous morning view.



We only captured 3 birds today (it was very quiet) and besides 2 recap Carolina Wrens we captured a young Northern Cardinal.



The rest of the morning was filled with pulling air potatoes, exploring the newly cleared vegetation to possibly add 2 more nets, and discovering plants to ID. This ID process is still ongoing and we may post some of these finds next week.

Until then, we rest and cheer on the Orlando Magic!
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Next Banding Day: Sunday, June 14th.

We will open nets just before 6:00 A.M.