Session 7 Begins

We began Session 7 in a sauna. Always forget how much you can sweat before 6 AM! We got the nets in place and prepared for the day. The first week of August is always a little slow as migrants are just now making their way into the state and we typically only catch resident bird species.

Today was no different. The first birds captured were Carolina Wrens. One was a new bird which we banded but the other, a recapture, escaped before we could process it.



A later run found a female Northern Cardinal. She was undergoing major molting and regrowing in her breast feathers after fledging a brood earlier this year.



Our last two birds of the day were both female Downy Woodpeckers captured in the same net at different times. Both of them were also molting big time.



The calls of the second Downy drew in a Yellow-throated Vireo but we could not convince it to go into the net. Not much else was around during the day but we were surprised by a fly-by of two Swallow-tailed Kites before we headed home. We had not seen any Kites in the area in the past couple of weeks.

Fingers are crossed for some migrants next week. It is about time for Waterthrushes and Ovenbirds to make their way down to officially kick off the migration season here.
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Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, August 10th.
All nets will be opened by 6:20 A.M.