A Day of Recaps

Birds were unusually quiet today but, surprisingly, we caught nearly 3 times the birds we have for the past two weeks. Even more interestingly, 2/3s of the birds captured today were originally banded anywhere from 9 to 12 months ago.

House Wrens led the biggest totals with a couple new birds and a few recaps. Some were from a few weeks ago.



We have been watching the calendar for the return of Hermit Thrushes and they did not disappoint. We captured 2 Hermits today, both recaptures.



And, as always, we recite our mantra on thrushes this time of year, "Tail, tail, tail!" Other brown thrushes have brown tails and Hermits have a more reddish coloration. Both thrushes were captured mere feet from where we first caught them last Winter.



We also got one of the locals again. A Carolina Wren banded earlier in the season. Oddly, locals have been absent for a while. Where are the Cardinals?



Most birds stay high up again but we did get some Ruby-crowned Kinglets, including a female early on.



Better still, we recaptured a male from a year ago. Love to see those bright red feathers!



Throw in a new Gray Catbird and we end up with a nice mid-November day of banding. Off to eat some other type of bird before the next scheduled day.

Happy Thanksgiving!
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Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, November 27th.

All nets will be opened by 6:30 A.M.