Session 9 Begins

Session 9 has begun! Migration is just beginning and our operation runs from the first week of August. Typically we don't see too many migrants and catch only local birds and this start was exactly that. Probably the best news is that we are seeing a lot more Air Potato Beetles emerging throughout the property.



As expected, we only captured juvenile birds today and all were Carolina Wrens. There are also a lot of Cardinal families around but they stayed tucked away this morning.



While Richard was extracting our first Wren, a curious juvenile Barred Owl flew over and landed across from the net after being drawn to the sound of the alarm calls of the other young bird.



Lynn is is away for today so instead of her section that we have featured in the past we will have "Becki's Nature Finds"! First up, a male Blue-ringed Dancer was resting on a stalk. They are our most numerous damselflies on the property.



Nearby, a female Blue-ringed Dancer landed. No surprise.



An Eastern Tiger Swallowtail fed on the waning blooms of a Button Bush.



Nearly hidden, a Bush Katydid prowls along the Air Potato.



They must be nesting somewhere (or already did) because the Green Herons are always in the same area week after week.



Another critter that loves the Button Bush flowers is a Horace's Duskywing.



There have been a few around for a few weeks but it is always a joy to find a Yellow-throted Warbler as they hop through the foliage.



Out on the boardwalk, the Scarlet Mallow is in full display.



Down below Net 14 a school of Armoured Catfish are digging caves into the clay in the river bed.



Right on time, this Louisiana Waterthrush was feeding around Net 18. See the net? No? It is about 10 feet beyond the bird. We hoped it would be our first migrant catch of the Session but it decided to stay on the edge of the water and never flew back toward the net. Oh, well...



We are off next week but will return to our normal schedule on the 14th. More migrants should be heading down by then, too.
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Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, August 14th.
All nets will be opened by 6:25 A.M.

Pre-Session Clean-up

Time to gather the crew for clean-up before starting Session 9 which now begins a week earlier, next Sunday. Ranger Frank mowed the main lanes last week so we had a bit of a head start. Still, the Air Potato vines are rampant this year with little beetle activity evident as we arrived.



An extra special thanks to Chris for bringing in a great trimmer to help us clear the leftovers. It actually helped us eliminate the extra day of clearing that we had planned. We got all the way down to the lake at Net 21 and touched up the encroaching invasives along the lanes.



Andrew was armed with the pruners to clear any branches between all of the sight-lines between the poles and tidy up any new leaning trees in the area.



Richard began by pulling some potato vines from Nets 4 and 11.



Maria was in full-on vine pulling at Net 7.



Susan and Richard continued to work farther down by Net 14. We pulled a lot of other weeds throughout the property.



Becky arrived a bit later and touched up some spots along the lanes.



As the day warmed up, we found a few Air Potato Beetles that were not evident last week. Chris and Andrew found a nice population between Nets 22 and 16 so they are here. Just not as much as in past years. Several of us are on the waiting list to receive more beetles to distribute at the banding site and other areas in the Central Florida surroundings.



We will continue work on the vines as needed but the beetles should support us a bit while we begin our 9th year at Lake Lotus. Bring on the early migrants!
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Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, July 31st.
All nets will be opened by 7:00 A.M.

Checking the Site

I went to the banding site to see how much work we will need to do before beginning the next Session. Looks like we are gonna need a bigger mower. Net 9 is just about engulfed.



Most of the other net poles are being overtaken by Air Potato.



There is minimal signs that the Air Potato Beetles have been around this year. There are only a couple of leaves that were chewed on and it looks like that was quite some time ago.



In fact, I saw NO beetles today but a lot of healthy Air Potato vines.



Down by Net 22, the Guinea Grass is just as healthy.



The only good sign was multiple families of birds. Juveniles of many species were seen all over, including Cardinals, Parula, Titmice, Carolina Wrens, and Downy Woodpeckers.



I only saw one early migrant, a Yellow-throated Warbler, but other early arrivers are being reported around the area.



So, a couple grueling weekends await us before we can get going in the sauna that is August.
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Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, August 14th.
All nets will be opened by 6:25 A.M.