Back to the Drought

Well, the fog is gone, again, but so are most of the birds. Many species were seen around the property in the marsh and high in the trees. Still, they did not drop lower into the net zones.

We did get a recaptured Carolina Wren just after dawn. Another of our juveniles banded in this past Summer.



See those beautiful cottony clouds? Just below that is and arching oak that many birds use to travel just above nets 9 and 13 to forage. The entire Titmouse family is up there along with over warblers and kinglets. They chose not to play lower today.



So, when there are few birds in the nets, we explore to see where they are. Again, they were closer to the lake. A Blue-headed Vireo has been hanging out near the end of the lane for weeks and todayy it was busy feeding against the light where the old Net 21 used to be.



A male Downy Woodpecker soon chased the Vireo out of the way to explore the trees around the area.



Our other captured bird was a recaptured female Northern Cardinal, also banded last August.



Richard decided it was time to extract rebar from the old poles that had them stuck inside while we had time. Teamwork came together with Kate, Susan, and Richard holding the pole as Andrew pounded another piece of rebar into the long end to get the stuck one out. Sparks flew, folks held tight, and Susan protected her hearing throughout. Much success!



Andrew took a long way through the woods and flushed the Barred Owl pair trying to hide out.



The Limpkin pair were chasing each other all morning and at one point they flew straight at Andrew near the lake. You cannot mistake their calls, which often begin before dawn.



Nets are always half-full in our minds, but migrants are noticably missing this year. We hope to get more birds next week as some folks might be visiting for the Lake Apopka Festival. However, rains might derail any banding at all this week as a cold front charges through during the weekend. Rain is forecast most of Sunday as of this writing. Stay tuned if we are banding or not late in the week.

Note: No banding January 20th and 27th due to the forecast of rain and high winds.
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Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, February 3rd.
All nets will be opened by 6:45 A.M.

Finally, No Fog

Finally, a morning devoid of fog. Winds have shifted and brought back clear skies as new front pushes down from the North. For now, that means a bit more wind and less humidity.

This season has seen very few thrushes. no Swanson's at all for the first time ever. Just when we were worrying about them, we recaptured two Hermit Thrush during the morning.



Most of our juvenile Carolina Wrens that get recaptured nearly every week are now back in the woods, so it was nice to get a new youngster this day.



Gray Catbirds were very active today, almost restless. They made up the bulk of our birds today. All juveniles.



We ended the day with a male Northern Cardinal.



Still searching for Winter birds. Most seem lacking all over the state. A few Myrtle Warblers would make the weekend more fun. Where are the Cedar Waxwings?
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Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, January 13th.
All nets will be opened by 6:50 A.M.