Braving a New Front

Our day was in doubt even up until late Saturday but we chanced the banding day in hopes of catching anything before the next wave might appear and wash us out. It was a pretty typical mid-November morning, even with the threat of rain. All of our first birds were recaptures, including an adult Carolina Wren.



We did not take a photo of the recaptured House Wren but we also caught a male Northern Cardinal in that same net and he was banded just earlier this year..



Things quickly grew quiet and we puttered about for a long while before another Northern Cardinal was brought in. The fun thing about our Cardinals here is that the females can be super reddish as this bird shows. However, the brown back proves that this is, indeed, an adult female.



Clouds were passing through in fast waves and even sent us a brief sprinkle but we stayed open for a little longer hoping for anything else in the nets. Andrew called the day early and as he came back up the lanes he flushed a Swamp Sparrow into Net 10 as we were closing up.



Capture numbers are in line with this time of year but we could sure use a bit more clear air. Next week looks to be on tap for a beautiful outing. Shouldn't be long before the Winter birds settle in and begin feeding and flying about more in the crisp Fall air.
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Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, November 30th.
All nets will be opened by 6:30 A.M.