A Lot More Indigo Buntings

The morning began with a flurry and half of the birds processed today were Indigo Buntings. They were calling from one end of the net lanes to the other. Oddly, we captured zero local birds today. All of them were migrants. The one we regret not containing was a Belted Kingfisher that flew into Net 3 but escaped as we approached it. Next time...

The first run was very nice as we collected many birds right at sunrise. Love to see that many bags right off the bat.



So, we settled in for a lot of birds for the morning. We finally began getting more Catbirds which have been scarce this season.



Also on the increase are the House Wrens. They are also singing from time to time.



All ages of Common Yellowthroat were captured. Here, an adult male joined us near the Elderberry bushes.



We did get a few females and even a juvenile male. Notice the black feathers coming in around the chin.



However, as mentioned at the start, Indigos ruled the day again. Always love to see those Fall males showing of their remaining blues.



The females were very snippy today but were in larger flocks higher up in the trees.



Another male shows off his patches of blue.



Finally, we also captured our first Painted Bunting of the season. We have been seeing them around but they were too busy eating to fly around the lanes. Even the females are gorgeous.



Birds are still on the move. Probably more waterfowl than land birds but the Kinglets are around and we should start capturing them anytime now.
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Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, October 30th.

All nets will be opened by 7:05 A.M.