Would the High Winds Vex Us?

Thoughts are with our friends to the North as Hurricane Sandy prepares to lash their coast but we headed out to see what happens farther South as the storm stirs up the winds our way. Will we get anything new? Anything unusual?

Well, nothing too unusual off the bat, but we did have some nice captures. Mainly, we began catching Hermit Thrushes. We did not start getting them until mid-November last year but we caught two today.



Not long afterward, we began catching Swainson's Thrushes. Thought they had drifted South by now.



As expected due to past experience, Indigo Bunting numbers are dropping off sharply despite all of the grasses still providing food. We only caught two buntings today. A female...



...and a Fall male.



A few House Wrens are still being captured. They should be here through the upcoming Spring.



We also recaptured a White-eyed Vireo. Always nice nice behold.



As the winds picked up, the birds stayed low. Not a lot of activity for a bit. Looking around the lanes we did find some butterflies like this beautiful Viceroy.



There has been a pretty little flower showing up from time to time by one of the nets. We keep meaning to research it so today we got a photo and can say it is a type of Rhexia.



The morning warmed and we were wondering if we were going to start catching Ruby-crowned Kinglets. They have been arriving and today was the day. We caught a female we first banded last January. Nice to see her return for the Winter.



We saved the Bird-of-the-Day for last. Rounding out our 3 Thrush day we were quite surprised and pleased to get a Gray-cheeked Thrush. It has been a while since we have captured one.



Not a bad day even with the gusting winds. Next week should see calmer weather and, hopefully, even more exciting discoveries.

NOTE: Daylight Savings Time begins at midnight Saturday. Fall back!
______________________________________
Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, November 4th.
All nets will be opened by 6:10 A.M.

Would the High Winds Vex Us?

Thoughts are with our friends to the North as Hurricane Sandy prepares to lash their coast but we headed out to see what happens farther South as the storm stirs up the winds our way. Will we get anything new? Anything unusual?

Well, nothing too unusual off the bat, but we did have some nice captures. Mainly, we began catching Hermit Thrushes. We did not start getting them until mid-November last year but we caught two today.



Not long afterward, we began catching Swainson's Thrushes. Thought they had drifted South by now.



As expected due to past experience, Indigo Bunting numbers are dropping off sharply despite all of the grasses still providing food. We only caught two buntings today. A female...



...and a Fall male.



A few House Wrens are still being captured. They should be here through the upcoming Spring.



We also recaptured a White-eyed Vireo. Always nice nice behold.



As the winds picked up, the birds stayed low. Not a lot of activity for a bit. Looking around the lanes we did find some butterflies like this beautiful Viceroy.



There has been a pretty little flower showing up from time to time by one of the nets. We keep meaning to research it so today we got a photo and can say it is a type of Rhexia.



The morning warmed and we were wondering if we were going to start catching Ruby-crowned Kinglets. They have been arriving and today was the day. We caught a female we first banded last January. Nice to see her return for the Winter.



We saved the Bird-of-the-Day for last. Rounding out our 3 Thrush day we were quite surprised and pleased to get a Gray-cheeked Thrush. It has been a while since we have captured one.



Not a bad day even with the gusting winds. Next week should see calmer weather and, hopefully, even more exciting discoveries.

NOTE: Daylight Savings Time begins at midnight Saturday. Fall back!
______________________________________
Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, November 4th.
All nets will be opened by 6:10 A.M.

Indigos Still in Numbers; House Wrens and Others Add to the Mix

Temperatures are beginning to drop but we still have a lot of dew in the morning. Still a lot of grass seed, too, as evidenced by the good number of Indigo Buntings remaining in the area. They were a good percentage of our captures today.



Running neck and neck for the most captured species of the day were House Wrens. Last week we had none for some reason but a ton of Common Yellowthroats. Today, only one Yellowthroat and a ton of House Wrens, including this young bird.



A surprising bird was also captured. An Eastern Phoebe. Not because it is rare, just way early in the morning.



It was nice to see a White-eyed Vireo again today. However, it was the same bird we banded just one week ago. Still pretty, still feisty.



Though we missed the big peak due to weather a few weeks ago, we will still be catching Catbirds until Spring. This was another young bird this week.



Another early capture was a female Black-throated Blue Warbler.



It has been awhile, but we finally caught another Brown Thrasher. A family has lived in the area where we caught it but this was a new, unbanded bird. Until now.



Another local, a recaptured Northern Cardinal, was gathered today. Checking the records we found that we first banded this bird as a fledged young bird a year and a half ago. Glad to see it doing so well.



We got a new species for the season today. Palm Warblers have been slow to arrive this year but they are now back all over the place. We would expect Western Palms at this spot so it was nice to have a more yellow Eastern type.



The Palm Warblers were caught down near the lake. We set Net 21 late last season in hopes of getting Myrtle Warblers in the Winter. Seeing Palms down there this early might be a good sign.



Most of the Indigo Buntings were females of various ages. We were beginning to wonder if we would ever get any of the younger males. Right on cue, we got one as we headed toward the end of our morning. Note the blue feathers throughout the neck and breast feathers.



We had also about given up on Painted Buntings. On the way to close up the nets...



Still no male Painteds yet. Perhaps next week. Not going to complain. The females are quite pretty, too.



A nice variety for this morning. Reports are trickling in of sparrows on the horizon. However, we still have the threat of Hurricane Sandy brewing. Should put out to sea but you never know.
______________________________________
Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, October 28th.
All nets will be opened by 7:00 A.M.

As Predicted, Bunting Are Here in Force

Andrew took a walk through the net lanes on Saturday and was greeted by numerous Indigo Buntings along the river. Indications were that we would have a pretty good bunting catch today. The call was out for all who could attend to be there to enjoy the bounty.

Arriving before dawn, Greg, our newest volunteer, assisted setting nets in the dark. The first birds heard, even in the pre-dawn darkness, were Indigo Buntings calling. If you want a crash course on banding at Lake Lotus, arrive early during peak migration weeks in October.



As you can see, our first run was excellent with a lot of species waking up as the Sun rose. A lot of buntings right off the bat. Our two female Painted Bunting were part of this run but the photos didn't work out that well. We caught varying ages of Indigos but we focused on the blue today.



A nice surprise was an early morning Eastern Phoebe. Usually, they start flying later in the morning once the light is better and insects are on the move.



We only captured a couple of Gray Catbirds but one was special. You can't really see it in this shot, but this bird had a very visible gape telling us that this bird was fledged not too long ago and has made it down on its first migration. Confirmed southern records only have Catbirds breeding as far south as Georgia so maybe it was not too far from home.



The early tally was heavily in favor of buntings and we only caught one Common Yellowthroat in the early going. That would change as the morning wore on.



Carolina Wrens were represented, as usual, with some recaptures of our residents.



Charles had just passed Net 2 before Andrew checked it again. There, Andrew found a nice, feisty, White-eyed Vireo waiting in the net.



Common Yellowthroats barely edged our bunting captures by the end of the day. After getting mostly adult birds we managed to get an immature male.



The recaptured male Northern Cardinal avoided the nets for most of the day. We heard him all morning and he actually flew into the net as we began to take them down.



We ended our day with a few more Indigo Buntings and we probably could have sat around and gathered more all day long. However, our hours are limited so we enjoy each bird we can get in our window each Sunday. We took the opportunity of the brighter sunlight to capture the brilliance of the blues visible on even the Winter plumaged males.



We should have at least one more good weekend of buntings next Sunday. Fronts are forecast to push through again and give us drier, cooler temperatures and the possibility of our first Wintering Sparrows. Can't wait!
______________________________________
Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, October 21st.
All nets will be opened by 6:55 A.M.

Indigo Buntings Return

Still a lot of rain in the area over the past few days. The cold air just can't making it through the stalled front. Another day of wet feet. Though it did see the return of one of our favorite species. The radar looked promising for a busy day as large amounts of birds are now moving more freely as the clouds thin.



As proof, we had a couple good runs right off the bat with a nice mix of species.



Common Yellowthroats ruled the day again and we caught a variety of ages again.



A Gray Catbirds were around but not like the big numbers we usually see this time of year.



Another typical species is still showing up. Ovenbirds are one of our constants from the past couple of months.



Now arriving are the Eastern Phoebes. We caught one younger bird today.



Probably the Bird-of-the-Day was what at first glance appeared to be an Orange-crowned Warbler. Turns out it was a Tennessee Warbler.



This is the first Tennessee Warbler we have banded out here. An excellent capture.



Vying for BOTD are the returning Indigo Buntings referenced in our opening paragraph. They are now being heard and captured up and down the river. First ones we banded were young females.



Fortunately we also captured a male to give us a bit more color.



Our final Indigo was an adult female. If this year is anything like last year, we should be getting a lot of buntings in the next couple of weeks.



In the middle of our morning we caught a female Painted Bunting. Is this the mother to our earlier captured young birds? Perhaps. We do believe they are breeding on site. Now we just need Dad!



To round out our captures, we found a Black-throated Blue Warbler waiting for us in Net 16. A beautiful male.



Another couple of interesting observations were made today. As mentioned, we have still been having rains in the area. In fact, the river was a lot higher than anticipated and setting our last net in the willows was almost not possible. We splashed to it and only had it half-way open.

Next to the trail, a colony of Fire Ants were trying to escape the flood by forming an ant bridge that winded around a several-foot long path.



One close-up shows how thousands of ants gather together, sacrificing themselves for the greater purpose of evacuating the colony.



Some ants organized others while some carried out the larvae to safety. A remarkable sight, overall.



Not too far away, a clump of grasses held up a nest near the mouth of the river. Seems to be rather new as we have never seen it before. Not sure of the species that built it but we are still researching.



A nice day. Finally getting the expected numbers now that the front is slowly falling apart. Just need it to get out of here completely and return more birds. And drier air!
______________________________________
Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, October 14th.
All nets will be opened by 6:55 A.M.