Where Did the Birds Go?

It was a fairly noisy dawn chorus but then everything went quiet, just like the demo day we did in the park two weeks ago. Didn't help that Andrew had a long time extracting yet another bat from Net 10 just before sunrise. The other delay was a rare display.
As Andrew distributes bags on the way down the trail, he flings the final bags toward the end of the lanes as he sets the ones around Net 22. I defy you to get one stuck on top of a pole from 30 feet away!



Meanwhile, as Connie was pulling chairs from beneath the table, she discovered a toad resting the middle of one of them. Which species? Haven't looked it up yet.



The morning grew quiet quickly and we waited another hour and a half to catch our first birds. Both were recaptured Carolina Wrens that were hatched and banded earlier in the year.



Eventually, we caught our first migrant of the day. An Ovenbird.



As usual when things are slow, we take notice of other things around the property. Connie also found another interesting piece of Nature today. A Bagworm Moth, (Oiketicus abbot)?, cocoon.



Andrew did find a mystery up in the pine woods. During a path not taken previously, he turned and saw this plant with berries. We are still researching this species. It is a skinny little tree full of fruits.



We did not see a lot of Air Potato Beetles today. It may be because they have wiped out most of the leaves throughout the area. Before the weather turns, they will create larva and burrow into the ground until next year.



Next to Net 5, we found a new flower blooming and actually setting seed pods. Another fun plant to ID when we can. Sure looks like a pea, but probably some invasive like so many plants around here.



As the morning was winding down, Avery and Augustine saw a couple of birds in Net 20. They were a pair of White-eyed Vireos right next to one another. This often happens when birds are chasing each other while competing for food.



Both birds were considered migrants as they both had good amounts of fat stores on them meaning that they have probably just arrived from the North.



Peak migration is due next week so we will be banding all weekend for the next two weeks. Join us for hopefully more birds in the next two weeks. Fronts are pulling out of the way.
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Next (planned) Banding Day: Saturday and Sunday, September 29th and 30th.
All nets will be opened by 6:45 A.M.