The Season Wraps Up

Time to take a break during the hot, hot weather. This was the last day of our first banding session at Lake Lotus which began way back on my birthday in September. We will start the next session on the second weekend in August when the first migration warblers should be heading our way.

As for today's activities, the first capture of the day was not a bird at all but a Ring-necked Snake (Diadophis punctatus) that Andrew found along the trail.



These snakes are only 10-15 inches when fully grown making this snake pretty much there.

The birds began to arrive shortly afterward. We capture a couple of young Cardinals today including this male.



Later in the day we also banded a young female.



As nets were being deployed at dawn we could hear Brown Thrashers calling in the bushes and we were lucky enough to catch a juvenile as the morning wore on.



Of course, what would these recent weeks be with a Carolina Wren...



...or two...



...or three.



Down by the riverside there were the remains of some sort of reptile or turtle hatching.



The insects were well represented. Besides the growing mosquito population we found other insects such as this Damselfly.



PLus, a really cool wasp-like critter.



Another week, another sighting of our Cuban Treefrog watching over us.



Different flowers are still emerging like this lovely yellow bloom along the trail.



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Next Banding Day: Sunday, August 9th. This will be the beginning of the second banding session at Lake Lotus.

We will open nets around 6:15 A.M.