In Northern climes, "Fall" happens before Winter as all of the deciduous trees shed their leaves and grow dormant. In Florida, the dominant oaks wait until late Winter to begin new growth and then push all of the dead leaves off of their branches en masse. A bit of wind, and the day sounds like rain as all of the dead leaves fly about and loads of leaves land in our nets. Most of the day is spent removing them.
The morning actually began with the first flying creature in Net 1. A Brown Bat. Some of the crew headed back to the table to get gloves but Andrew decided not to wait and, with the help of Jenny, extracted the bat as carefully as possible.
Gray Catbirds have been few and far between. Our first bird was a recaptured one.
In the adjoining net was a recaptured Carolina Wren.
Cherry Laurel are in full bloom as is the few Black Cherry trees along the river.
Out near the lake, Swamp Dock is exploding where we used to have Net 21. The seen birds here are very different from the birds found up the lanes but their numbers are still fewer than in the past years.
Our final bird of the morning was a female Northern Cardinal.
Cold fronts are swinging through, hopefully wringing out the last of the oak leaves, and then we can get some migrants as they start to head North.
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Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, March 3rd.
All nets will be opened by 6:20 A.M.
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