Trick or Treats?

So, what would it be today. Here it is Halloween morning and we wonder if will get a trick or low numbers or a treat somewhere along the way?

More of the former. Very few birds flying today. grand total of 4 birds captured was all we could manage for the morning. Good flying weather, high humidity, winds changed direction. Who knows what the reason actually is.

Our first catch was a female Northern Cardinal. Twigs were at the ready to avoid bites.



Stephen watches as Grace helps to record the data for the Cardinal.



A bit later we got an Ovenbird to up the tally to 2.



Grace brings in our Catbird for the morning.



Andrew weighs the bird in the bag before continuing the processing of information.



The star of the moment. A young Catbird as told by the light inner bill color.



Balsam Apple vines are producing fruits down near the end of the trail and opening to reveal its seeds.



Next to Net 3 we found an abandoned cocoon in the oak tree. Most likely belonged to a Polyphemous Moth.



Maria bot a nice shot of the berries on the Yaupon Holly tree we planted a couple of weeks ago.



We recaptured the young male Common Yellowthroat we banded last week as we were closing up for the day.



Next week is predicted to be the coldest of the season. In the 40s. Brrrrr.... Maybe we can get some Wintering birds.
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Next Banding Day: Sunday, October 31th.

All nets will be opened by 7:10 A.M.

Banding a Northern Harrier

Our friends at the Avian Reconditioning Center had been rehabing a female Northern Harrier for quite a while. It was finally time to set her free as she seemed healed well and there were sightings of other Harriers moving down for the Fall.

Richard and Christine got the privilage of doing the banding last week. Here, Scott holds the bird as Richard begins to apply the band to the bird's right leg.



Next, Richard secures the band and the bird is ready to be set free on the next opportunity.



Carol emailed us on the 29th and reports, "...we released her today and she flew & flew & flew.....it was beautiful!"

Farewell little lady!

Orange Audubon Visits

We opened dark and early, as usual. Several of our volunteers seemed to enjoy the full moon and took photos while setting nets. Humidity was up as the winds had shifted from the North to from the Southeast. Radar was indicating a lower amount of bird movement overnight.



As Maria arrived, she found a burrow by the front fence. Gopher?



We had our fingers crossed for at least some birds to show to the anticipated arrival of members of the Orange Audubon a bit later in the morning. Early birds don't wait, however, and we had to process a few birds before the visitors showed up. Including a couple of Indigo Buntings.



Then things got quiet. REAL quiet. We took the group down the net lanes explaining the set up and did a little bird watching and gave some history along the way. Once we moved out of the way of Net 9 a waiting bird made its break for it. Right into the net. We had one of our Brown Thrashers to show off.

Andrew prepares to process our Brown Thrasher

One of the visitors was Milton Heiberg, one of our well-known local photographers. He graciously contributed several photos for this post. Click on his name back there to open his site in a new window.

Andrew tightens the band on a previously banded Brown Thrasher

Things were really slow compared to the beginning of the month, as expected, but it was a while before we got our next birds. We finally managed another Ovenbird (the first was just after sunrise and was a recapture) and the gang gathered around for a lot of photos.

A newly captured Ovenbird gets it's own special number

These chunky warblers are very silent in the hand but rather striking to look at. Especially when you can get a close-up of their head stripe.



Next up, a Gray Catbird. Though a common visitor during the Fall through Spring, this season it seems that their numbers are down a bit.



The OASis members were not too disappointed by the shortage of bird. At least we had a few banding opportunities to share with them.

Milton Heiberg focuses in for a shot of the Catbird to be extracted from the bird bag.

Cameras were clicking away throughout the morning.



Our newest Catbird poses once more before being released.



As we like to point out, when the birds aren't flying we study the area around us for flora and fauna. Almost stepped upon, Bill found an Imperial Moth along the trail. Nice spotting!

Imperial Moth

Not often seen but they are local breeders. Beautiful moths.



Other insects were discovered along the net lanes. Remind us to be careful the next time we start pulling plants again!



We continued our trek up and down the trail. Each time revealed different birds to watch ("Kingfisher!", "Red-bellied Woodpecker!", "Tufted Titmouse!") and more info to be given out by the banding group.

Richard offers flyers on native plants

We finally decided to wrap up the day about 10 AM. Fortunately, we captures a couple more birds just as we started to fold nets. Interestingly, Andrew found a normally high-feeding bird very low in one of the nets at the end of the net lane.

American Redstart

As we pointed out, most of the time one usually sees these birds from beneath as they feed in the mid to high story in the trees. The female must have been chasing an insect all the way toward the ground.

Tour leader Gallus Quigley gets to hold a Redstart for the first time

Plenty of insects are around for this good looking girl. She should make the most of it in this bountiful habitat.



As the main group made the way back with the Redstart, Maria was busy extracting a bird from Net 11. One quick glance made it appear as an adult female Common Yellowthroat. Closer examination revealed otherwise. Once we could see the whole face...

First year Male Common Yellowthroat

Young males differ from females by the incoming black feathers around the chin and cheek area. Another documentation here, Common Yellowthroats hate the sound of digital SLRs about the take a photo. They are the most sensitive species we have found and most of the pictures taken with those cameras look about like this!



The OASis crowd headed for the park proper across the river and we headed home. Not a bad day but things are easing into the Winter residents being the only thing around. We have a short time to capture some more migrants before then but we will also get ready to do more site work and wish for a warmer Winter than last year!

Thanks for stopping by to all of the Audubon members. We hope you had a great time. Swing by anytime.

Next week we start in the dark of Halloween but in the morning. Looking for some treats.
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Next Banding Day: Sunday, October 31th.

All nets will be opened by 7:00 A.M.

Indigo Buntings Rule

A very interesting day. We installed many native trees today up and down the net lanes in hopes of turning our little patch of nature back into a Florida friendly spot instead of the once infested with invasives plot it was just a couple of years ago. Species introduced today included Walter's Viburnum, Red Cedar, Wax Myrtle, another Red Mulberry, Simpson's Stopper, Yaupon Holly, and Wild Coffee.

We have placed species together in front of different net sites and hope to monitor how each species might bring in different birds to different areas. We shall see.

This day began like the past couple of weeks with a Brown Thrasher being caught right around dawn. Seems that they head out as one of the first species of the morning to get going.



Also continuing the trend of late, this was yet another younger bird as witnessed by the duller yellow eye. Once these birds become adults their eyes are brilliant yellow.



As usual, a majority of our captures happen very early in the morning. Here, Maria gets one of our Indigo Buntings (more on them later) into a bag with help from William, one of our occasional young volunteers.



Missing from last week were the Gray Catbirds. Not that they were missing from the area but we did not catch any last week which was odd. This time of year they are numerous in the bushes and at the table. This young bird was a welcome sight.



A little later we caught another and Abe got chance to band this one.



Carolina Wrens are most sparse this time of year. All of the hatchlings are well on their way like this recapture which was born earlier in the year and is just now achieving its adult feathers. 2 Weeks ago it still retained younger plumage.



It is always nice to hear the Phoebes back in the area. Even better when you hear them and then they hit the net soon afterwards!



We find no fat deposits on this bird. Probably just settling in from a very long flight to join us for the Winter.



Common Yellowthroats are still around but not in the large numbers as a few weeks ago. The males always bring out the oohs and ahs.



Tufted Titmice are not uncommon at all around the river. We even see the previously banded birds still feeding along with the families every now and then. However, it seems to be a difficult task catching them in the first place. Today we got one of the unbanded family members.



One of our favorite birds to handle and watch as we go about our weekly routine.



We often come back to the observation of clues to evolution when handling birds. We can not resist making the comparison to dinosaurs when staring at some species' feet. Very dino-like.



You should see young birds in the nest. One might swear they are looking at a young dinosaur begging for food. Like this image Andrew took in his yard 6 years ago of a Cardinal chick next to his kitchen window.



As for the Indigo Buntings, they made up 85% of our captures today! We saw William helping load one into a bag earlier and once back at the table he and the others band one of our first of the day.



More odd was the fact that all of the Indigos we caught today were females. Not a male in the bunch.



Even more unexpected was this very young hatch year bird. Note the yellow gape at the base of the bill.



No matter how young, many birds like to take a nip at the banders before being released back into the wild.



With so many buntings to process we get a chance to let some volunteers release some of the more calm birds. William got a chance to release a few buntings this morning.



Other views of note were Maria's usual finding of a dragonfly in one of the nets. They take a lot of gentle care to remove and set free.



Maria also discovered some berries along the trail. We use to see these out at Wekiva State Park but never tracked down the species. With our trusty help from Randy and Mary we learned that they belong to Smilax pumila. Great to have an ID after all these years.



Time to go home. Apparently Andrew needs to keep a close watch on his chair. Seems young William wants to take over. Keep up the interest, William! One day this could be all yours. Someone needs to carry the flag.



We look forward to a visit from members of the OASis (Orange Audubon) next Sunday. Hopefully we can show them some interesting birds as we give them a tour of our always improving site.
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Next Banding Day: Sunday, October 24th.

All nets will be opened by 7:00 A.M.