Fortunately, migrants don't take much of the weather in account when it comes time to move. The first bird we captured was a species we expected at this time in the season. Our first migrant Common Yellowthroat.
Behind the table at Net 2 we found a pair of Carolina Wrens.
This was probably a mating pair as we first caught them last year close to one another then.
Augustine and Avery have been coming out for quite awhile now. Today they brought Avery's brother, Andy, and he got to release a few of our birds.
Soon afterwards, another male Common Yellowthroat was captured in Net 9.
We hit a bit of a lull in the bird activity so we began to explore the area for a while. Hopefully, we can have some dry weather before next week but it will take some time for the water to drop in this area.
We have lost another palette bridge heading to Net 21 as the last storms breached the banks in several areas.
Now we come to what we should really call "Lynn's Bug Corner". Her new macro lens is capturing amazing shots along the net lanes. First up, a close-up of a moth in the hand.
Next, a large caterpillar creeping along a branch.
Time for a real close-up!
An interesting wasp was found stepping over water droplets.
Spider time. So if you are adverse to those kinds of images just quickly scroll down. This time of year the spiders come out in droves and everyone appreciates that Andrew walks the lanes first to clear most of the webs before they walk into them. Orchard Spiders (Leucauge venusta)are very common in Central Florida but we really don't see a lot of them at Lake Lotus.
Andrew was scouting the area yesterday and found a small yellow spider between Nets 16 and 17. We looked earlier for it but it took a while to return. Lynn got the shot of this interesting spider that we are still trying to positively ID.
Argiope (AR-GEE_OH-PEE) spiders are emerging all over the place this week and Lynn was more than happy to get detailed shots.
Damselflies are increasing their numbers as Summer plods on and were flying all along the trails throughout the morning.
Ants were busy early in the day, too. With all the rainfall we are seeing many large mounds popping up all along the paths.
Many variety of fungus are still showing up with all of the moisture. Most of them are consuming fallen logs but more are springing out of tree trunks.
The other species we were expecting this week arrived on time. Phyllis got our first Ovenbird of the season at Net 5.
Typically, male Common Yellowthroats arrive first in migration but there was a female found yesterday and one captured this morning.
We had our adult males early in the day but we did get a juvenile male Common Yellowthroat by the end of the day.
Our parting shot is of a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. A pair were chasing bugs and each other near Net 21 as the Cicadas began their loud whine signaling the end of our morning.
Time for more migrants next week. Time will tell what will arrive but can we dry it up just a bit?
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Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, September 13th.
All nets will be opened by 6:30 A.M.
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