New Life Bird for the Site

Finally, a cold front made its way into Florida and we hoped for new birds and cooler temperatures to begin our day. The only concern was that winds were forecast to increase pretty quickly after sunrise. The winds were not too bad, but favorable winds were still carrying birds South overhead. The only constant through the day were multiple Eastern Phoebes calling from one end of the property to the other all day. None favorited us with a visit in a net, however...

Our first bird of the day was another local. A recaptured juvenile Carolina Wren.



Then we had a female Northern Cardinal. Again, just local birds early in the day even while we were hearing migrants.



Some of our volunteers were confused about the next bird as they placed it in the bag but it was a female Painted Bunting. Indigos were still taunting us.



A recaptured male Northern Cardinal was brought back to the table not too long afterward.



A recaptured Carolina Wren hit the nets and added to our growing totals. Juveniles have not learned yet this year.



The day grew a bit quiet as we searched the nets until we got a new Ovenbird in Net 12.



Common Yellowthroats could be heard calling all up and down the lanes. Eventually, we caught a juvenile male who decided to get super tangled up.



Then, the Bird of the Day. Maybe vying for the season. Andrew decided to walk the edge of the river through the grasses since the temperatures were low, reducing gator encounter chances, in hopes of seeing if buntings were hiding out. Instead, he flushed a bird not usually seen at this site. A Grasshopper Sparrow!



Grasshopper Sparrows are usually found in grassy areas near Lake Apopka and Lake Jessup and other rural areas this time of year. We were wondering if we would get any new sparrows around this year. Seems there counts are down. We have had a good number of sparrows over the past 10 years years but it is hard to find sparrows here.



Everyone marveled at the colors of our new capture. Grasshopper Sparrows are beautiful birds and blend into the landscape so easily. Only when you have them in hand do you usually see the yellow markings on their shoulders and the oranges on their lores.



A recaptured juvenile female Northern Cardinal filled in the next few minutes of our day.



Winds were finally picking up and we decided to close up for the morning. Down in Net 9 was a juvenile Gray Catbird. He was extra feisty.



We almost missed the House Wren resting in the bottom of 22 as we were closing up, but it was a nice end to our breezy day.



Forecast for next week shows increasing temperatures and possible rain into the weekend. Keep apprised to this site if we have to ditch next Sunday. Should not be a problem, but you never know in Florida.

NOTE: Time to FALL BACK! Oh, the joy of savings time...
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Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, November 4th.
All nets will be opened by 6:10 A.M.