Day 2 A Little Quiet

We had a much quieter day today but the weather was nice. Hot, but nice. Still no Waterthrushes and we only captured local birds today. Carolina Wrens and Cardinals. Our first capture was a male Northern Cardinal we first banded a year and half ago and was going through some head molt.



That Cardinal was captured in our latest net installation. Net 22. It is situated between #16 and #10 and fills a gap we had and should be a good spot for buntings in a month or so.



One of our Carolina Wren captures was one of the babies we banded last week. Guess it hasn't figured out how to avoid the nets. Yet.



Of course, when things get a bit slow we take time to explore the flora and fauna. The Guinea Grass (Panicum maximum) is exploding all along the net lanes and is in full bloom. Should be an abundant supply of seed by the time the migration hits soon.



Despite the heavy grass growth, the Scarlet Morning Glory (Ipomoea hederifolia) continues to find some open spaces to sprinkle the green with bursts of red.



Among the other vegetation, one of the Leaf-legged bug species (Acanthocephala femorata) huddle on the branches of some small oaks and other plants.



Not a lot of activity down by the lake, either. Mainly Queen butterflies and smaller things like this Powdered Dancer damselfly (Argia moesta). This is the first time we have noticed them.



Overhead, a dragonfly rests on the tip of a branch. We will tentatively ID it as a Black Saddledbags (Tramea lacerata).



Hopefully the fronts will shift a bit so we can begin getting the migrants next week.
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Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, August 19th.
All nets will be opened by 6:30 A.M.