A Slow August Closes

The last day of August proved to be very slow. Three volunteers and two visitors scanned the lanes for four hours but we only captured 3 birds today. There were some migrants in the area but they stayed high in the treetops. We noted a higher number of Northern Parula around and had a pair of Great-crested Flycatchers show up near the lake before they head South. Migrants included a large number of Red-eyed Vireo, Prairie Warbler, Waterthrush (calling), and our first Yellow-throated Warbler of the season.

We will get our star of the month out of the way first before the birds. They are still doing a great job at devouring the Air Potato leaves but we will only share one shot just to round out the month. Truly a nice addition to the area, these excellent little Air Potato Beetles.



Our first bird was a recaptured Carolina Wren that we first banded over a year ago.



Like Northern Cardinals, of which we caught none for once, we thought we had banded all of the Carolina Wrens on the property. Another adult proved us wrong.



Behind Net 14, Richard noticed a Cypress Gall. We will have to do more research on its origins.



Next to Net 21, we are pretty sure this is a Virginian Tiger Moth caterpillar. They also eat Air Potato leaves but there are none of them present in this location.



Our final bird was captured in Net 21. An American Redstart. At least we got one migrant out of the morning.



September is upon us and we look forward to many more migrants in the next two weeks. Time for Common Yellowthroats and the early thrushes such as Veery.
______________________________________
Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, September 7th.
All nets will be opened by 6:40 A.M.