Could Have Slept In

Hey, guess what? The forecast was wrong. Again. It was suppose to be partly cloudy with 4 mph winds. Instead, it was totally cloudy, misty sprinkles, and gusts to 15 or more. Not many birds moving at all. There were a few feeding flocks that came and went in short bursts but nothing feeding in the trees much. Nothing on the lake. Nothing...anywhere, really.

At least we captured a couple of birds. First up was a Swamp Sparrow in Net 19. This seemed odd. 19 is on the high side of the net lanes. Most of our Swampies are captured near the lake. Turns out that this recapture was first captured and banded in early November just 40 yards even farther on high ground. Hmmmm. It must be confused.



The water is down quite a bit since last week so we could get out to Net 21. The landscape is completely changed again. The last flood brought us a new beach and more land to walk on. This flood took away all of that and more. Once the area dries a bit more we will take photos to compare but we had little time today as we had to do some debris clearing and bridge replacing.

Last week we couldn't see the one palette that led to Net 21. It was gone with the water. The other palette before that are now 30 yards out int he marsh, never to be reclaimed. Once the sun was up, Andrew spotted the other palette. 50 yards toward the lake but wedged against a tree. At least we could rescue that.

Good thing we could set Net 21 because it provided the only other bird of our morning. A Western Palm Warbler. Many were coming across from the marsh but most flew out over the lake above the trees.



The wind was still gusting and our time was up. Next week is suppose to be clear. We will welcome the sunshine.
______________________________________
Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, December 14th.
All nets will be opened by 6:40 A.M.