"The Fog Creeps in on Little Cat Feet"

Pre-dawn began nice enough with the moon sitting just beneath Venus in the morning sky. Then the fog moved in. It was difficult to see beyond the light of the headlamps as we set nets. The veil persisted for much of the morning, clearing fully just as we packed up at 10.

Still, we managed at least 12 birds though almost all were recaptures with Northern Cardinals leading the list. The second bird of the day was a recap of our 2nd Whip-poor-will which showed up in the same net it was first captured in though only a few inches from its first capture. Interesting.

We got some more good close-ups of our returning bird.



Then, Grace got to release our friend.



Another interesting result for the day was that almost all of the birds captured today were in the same general area between nets 7, 1, 12, and 14 (which are clustered roughly 50 yards apart) and this is a region that we normally do not catch a lot of birds. Perhaps the fog contained them in this zone? We do know that a few Cardinals have taken up spaces here lately and we caught most of them there.



Here is a female caught in net 14.



Abe is still given the bulk of the banding right now and we did get a brand new Hermit Thrush near the Cardinals.



We got a nice range of species today, including a Gray Catbird.



Then a House Wren up near the pines.



In the busy ring of nets we got one of our local Brown Thrashers.



While the gang was checking the nets near the pier, Grace and Maggie managed to out flank and flush a Mourning Dove into a net. We catch very few of them but they are present on most days. They are large enough to escape the nets most times.



Our main excitement of the morning was adding a new net to our expanding reach in the Lotus area. Maggie donated a new net for Christmas and it arrived for us to place farther down the lanes. We decided to place it in a spot that often finds visiting Waterthrushes in season and many other species fly through the Cypress and Maple trees in this zone. We hope to capture more species here as our native trees mature in other areas.

Here, Maggie and Grace unfurl our new net (#18) as we all pitched in to get it ready for a full placement for next week. Note the fog, still clinging to the trees near the lake.



Maggie managed a shot of Grace seen through a Spider's web. Slight fog always reveals all of them hanging around by coating them in small water droplets.



Finally, we all enjoyed views of a pair of Gulf Fritillaries hanging on through the dew-soaked morning. Their silver spots were easily seen in the headlamps before dawn and they were still warming up before we left for the day.



This species loves Passion Vine that grows quite well along the river so we get to enjoy them most of the year.

Another set of fronts are moving down. We shall see how they affect birds movements toward the North.
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Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, February 6th.

All nets will be opened by 6:40 A.M.

A Little Busier Than Typical

Not bad for a mid-January at Lotus. 14 birds captured though things seemed rather quiet all around. Heck, the Barred Owls didn't even start calling until nearly 9 AM.

First bird of the day was a second-year Hermit Thrush. You can just make out the fading buffy wing tips on this aging bird.



We caught a number of birds in nets that are not often hit, which was nice. Especially when we caught a couple of Carolina Wrens up at Net 2. Both were younger birds hatched in 2010.



Next up, a sibling that is just molting into more adult plumage. The white spots typical of an older bird are just appearing. Other wrens were heard nearby so it seems they decided to hang out in the upland for once.



Another member of the local flock it fashioned with a new band.



We recaptured our White-throated Sparrow from a couple weeks ago. This bird shed its tail feathers as we removed it from the net which does happen from time to time. They will re-grow soon. Nice to see it is still hanging around but we are still hoping for more sparrow species before the season is out.



Ruby-crowned Kinglets were the largest count of the day, accounting for half of the birds captured today. Most were females as usual.



Abe applies the band to one of our latest RCKIs (shorthand for Ruby-crowned Kinglet).



The best RCKI of the morning was a bright adult male. Females still dominate in capture rates but the males are still seen in numbers throughout the mornings.



Watching the temperatures as another cold front approaches. We may or may not band if it gets too cold.

NOTE: No banding this week. Cold front just won't stop!
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Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, January 30th.

All nets will be opened by 6:45 A.M.

Kinglets and Waiting

Nothing too exciting. Robins were overhead all morning but not much else was moving with the higher winds. We did enjoy a new Hermit Thrush caught early in the day.



Abe got the main banding duties today and got to use the main books for aging.



The most exciting moment was capturing 4 Ruby-crowned Kinglets at the same time near the lake. Grace got to release one of them after it was banded.



We also got a new male Cardinal for the day. Twig at the ready!



We also got a recaptured Brown Thrasher. Nice to have the data,



Weather should be clearing well for the next week's banding effort.
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Next Banding Day: Sunday, January 16th.

All nets will be opened by 6:50 A.M.

Business as Usual

Weather is finally getting back to normal. For now. We did have concerns as a small bit of a front was clearing and sprinkles were falling as we were setting nets. Those clouds broke (only to rain down on us a little later) but we soldiered through and managed to catch a few birds during the morning.

Right at dawn, we recaptured a House Wren that has been hanging around for a while and Andrew had to band it in the near dark.



Abe got the majority of the banding duties today and the other early captures were a couple of Northern Cardinals. The male was first and, after processing, William got to handle this feisty bird for a few seconds. As mentioned in earlier posts, it is best to have a stick handy to keep the Cardinals from taking a bite of any handler.



Bill, Williams Dad, got to officially release the bird back into the forest.



Nearby, a young female Cardinal was captured and Richard help process the bird along the way.



As we prepared to make the next round of net checks we heard Richard calling by Net 4. Something exciting in the nets? Almost. Seems we had a possum that stopped by to visit us.



After hearing them all over the place, we finally caught a new Gray Catbird this morning. The upper inter bill being light indicated that this was a younger bird.



A lot of Ruby-crowned Kinglets were heard and seen all day and we were lucky enough to capture one of the migrating males today. Many were chasing other birds and flaring their brilliant crests.



Robins and Goldfinches were heard and seen flying overhead all morning and we are still waiting for the Cedar Waxwings to stop by for the season. Momma bear is still be reported across the river but there is no sign of her visiting here like last year.

Weather will flux in the next few days and we are still waiting for sparrows like those seen down near the lake.
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Next Banding Day: Sunday, January 9th.

All nets will be opened by 6:45 A.M.