Banding After Another Round of Rain

A very damp year of banding this Session. May be the new normal. We captured a few Carolina Wrens today. This one seemed a bit sleepy first thing in the morning.



Becky had the pleasure of handling the Northern Cardinal today.



We did catch a new Gray Catbird. They are not as evident as in past years and we sometimes think of them as identical but they all have their own personality.



The Little Wekiva River is inching up after another round of Winter rains and is once again encroaching on the observation area for the rangers.



The river is typically much lower during the Winter months. Sometimes we can even hop to the other side but not this year.



Net 21 was pretty soggy but at least we still have our small bridge on the way out. We have lost several after a big deluge.



Signs of Bobcat remain as we still see scat near Net 22, their chosen bathroom stop.



By Net 12, Bertram's Airplane was found clinging to an oak branch.



Common Nightshade is beginning to bloom up and down the net lanes in preparation for Spring.



As we were wrapping up the morning a bird flew in past us and we took a few seconds to get a shot. A Red-shouldered Hawk was prowling along the river. We got out before the next round of rains and prepared for next week.



Saturday, February 6th, is the 4th Annual Lake Apopa Wildlife and Birdapalooza at Magnolia Park. We will be banding there again. Send some birds our way!
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Next (planned) Banding Day at Lake Lotus: Sunday, February 14th.
All nets will be opened by 6:40 A.M.

2016 Sparrow Drive

Has it been a year already since the Sparrow Drive at Weekie Wachee? Well, really more like three! The weather the past couple of years was too risky for us spending 5 hours on the road to just be rained out. The weather was much nicer this year so the volunteers from the banding site were rounded up are arrived at dawn to help set nets.

Once all who were going to attend showed up by 9 AM the marching through the grasses began. The cold front that came through the other day left the area a bit squishy and wet feet were had by all in short order.



Andrew got a new point and shoot for Christmas and brought it along to test in the field.



A number of other banders were out for the drive, including Jim McGinity who helped extract captured birds with us.



The first couple of runs produced nothing but in this section we captured some Savannah Sparrows and other birds.



The crew finished the first circuit and headed back to the trucks to watch as some of the birds were banded.



Marianne Korosy is in charge of the Sparrow Drive and bands all the birds we capture.



A few of us held birds so visitors could get photos. Here, Tony holds a LeConte’s Sparrow that was just banded.



A close up of the LeConte’s Sparrow.



Andrew got the Grasshopper Sparrow to display to answer any questions from the group.



Let the next round begin!



Since our banding crew has a lot of experience extracting bird we station ourselves at intervals at the nets to get to birds as quickly as possible.



Jim gets another bird as Lynn moves down to the next position.



Killian has his hands full of birds in bags and heads back to the trucks with our recent catches.



We got more Savannah Sparrows on this final sweep...



...and another House Wren for the morning.



Before we loaded out, Marianne called us over to look at the Swamp Sparrow we just had banded. No of us had ever seen anything like it. This bird had a single white feather on its wing. Pretty cool.



Back near the cars, a Gopher Tortoise was trying to decide if it should come out for a snack.



We have been doing these drives for years and never think to get a group shot. Thanks to Jim for thinking about it just before the truck took all the Wekiva Basin banding volunteers back out of the preserve.



A lot of birds, a lot of fun. Until next year...

Chilly But Productive

(NOTE: This is a catch-up past since the computer crashed just before getting to this post. Forgive the brevity in text details as I have a number of posts to update. Just wanted to share the photos from the day. Thanks! Andrew)

You will notice by the gloves in the photos that it was a bit chilly today. Lows in the upper 30s but was forecast to be a nice day so we can suffer a little cold for a few mornings of the year. First bird in the nets was a Gray Catbird.



Next, a lovely Hermit Thrush.



A healthy and hearty Carolina Wren joined us pretty early on, as well.



Time for a female Northern Cardinal to get some jewelry.



We decided to head down to the lake for the weekly check out in the reeds. A Bald Eagle was making much better time overhead.



Not too many bird out on the water today. Just a pair of Mallards.



An Anhinga soaks up the rays as the morning tries to warm a bit.



We hear them calling all over but we are not catching many House Wrens. They are sticking to the grasses and not flying about.



We added another Hermit Thrush to the tally before preparing to wrap up the session. It has a nice white tail feather sticking out instead of the typical reddish versions.



Next Saturday, a few of us are heading to the gulf coast to once again assist a friend round up some sparrows. Then we will still be back here the following day. Tired, I bet, but we will be here.

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Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, January 31st.
All nets will be opened by 6:45 A.M.

Out with the Old, In with the New

Santa forced a change at the banding site. Our trusty Olympus Ultra Zoom had been declining so we asked for a replacement. Wish granted. Now we will be using a Nikon CoolPix which has some nice features in a slim package.



The door compartments began failing years ago and have been held shut by tape.



Worse, the media card has been cracking off piece by piece and it can hardly be taken out of the camera anymore and they don't sell this brand any longer.



It still takes nice pictures and this shot of a Ruby-throated Hummingbird 13 years ago right after it was being used. But most of the crew didn't learn to use it.



Seems like the Nikon will take a little getting use to, though.



Our first bird right after sunrise was an Ovenbird.



Maybe this camera just can't focus in very low light as this blurry Gray Catbird demonstrates. Practice, practice...no choice.



Ah, that's a little better. A Hermit Thrush was lurking by Net 18 before flying in.



MUCH better now that the light is out! It was still an overcast day as a strong cold front pushed through most of the day. A recaptured Northern Cardinal brightened the morning.



As we headed to the end of the net lanes we could hear the bird Susan and Christine were extracting way before we got there. Turned out to be the first-ever captured Yellow-bellied Sapsucker at Lake Lotus. Becki was thrilled to band it.



This is a female Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. Males have red on the throat. It is also a good view of their super-sharp talons.



They also have very interesting tail feather which help support them at they cling to trees.



Our final bird of the day was a recaptured House Wren we banded last month.



SO, a bit of a learning curve with the camera to deal with but a new species erases any disappointment from earlier in the day. We will continue to give the camera a workout with all of our new birds this New Year.

NOTE: We will not be banding next Sunday, January 17th, due to a forecast of morning storms.
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Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, January 24th.
All nets will be opened by 6:50 A.M.