Sunday, September 25, 2016

Migrant Numbers Climbing

Still having to deal with wet shoes. Sigh. Bird numbers are on the increase though, so we can deal with it. Common Yellowthroats were the most numerous captures today, starting with a female at dawn.

Common Yellowthroat

Another migrant flew in. A very fluffy Ovenbird.

Ovenbird

Brown Thrashers have been teasing us for months. The adults have been flying and landing on branches just over the nets and they breed here. Finally, we caught one of the new kids.

Brown Thrasher

An adult male Common Yellowthroat hit the nets after a few females.

Common Yellowthroat

Our new visitor, Connie, got the job of releasing most of our birds today and was thrilled to let our Common Yellowthroat and others back into the woods.

Common Yellowthroat

Northern Waterthrush are still moving through and this bird was beautiful from top to tail.

Northern Waterthrush

Carolina Wrens are calling all morning but not moving too much. This bird was very clingy but eventually joined our data.

Carolina Wren

This female Northern Cardinal is actually a hatch-year bird. You can't see the black specks all over the bill in this shot but she was definitely born here earlier in the year.

Northern Cardinal

White-eyed Vireos began calling soon after sunrise. This bird was full of fat and a definite migrant.

White-eyed Vireo

We knew it was just a matter of time. Our first of the season Gray Catbird hit the net today. Now we get ready for the onslaught in the next couple of weeks.

Gray Catbird

We were surprised that our day was full of new birds with new recaptures. Eventually, we recaptured a male Northern Cardinal as the morning wore on.

Northern Cardinal

Just like last week, the young male Common Yellowthroats seemed to be sleeping in today. Our final birds we young males. This one was very young.

Common Yellowthroat

The final Common Yellowthroat juvenile had more of the 5 o' clock shadow.

Common Yellowthroat

NOTE: We will be running all weekend for the next two weeks for peak of season. We are close to getting more varied species including Indigo Buntings, Eastern Phoebes, Thrushes, and other migrants for the rest of the month.
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Next (planned) Banding Day: Saturday, October 1st.
All nets will be opened by 6:50 A.M.

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