Earth Day, Part 1

Earth Day is upon us and we headed into the park near dawn to set nets on the park side to do a demo run. Overnight radar was showing the most migrants are traveling up from Mexico into Texas and the Mid-West so we were not expecting too much action today. Conditions were also extremely windy all day, gusting into the 30 mph range often. Surprised we caught anything at all.



Our first capture was a female Northern Cardinal, probably foraging for newly emerging chicks but it was well before the guests arrived for the event.



Jenny brought back a bird after things got underway, officially, and let folks know we were banding a bird at the table. The crowd assembled and we revealed a male Downy Woodpecker. These birds are also tending to young newly hatched.



One of our young visitors got to release the Downy Woodpecker to resume its searching for food.



Later on in the day, we caught a recaptured Carolina Wren.



Our final bird of the day was a Northern Parula who had been foraging around ED Net 4 all morning. It was only a matter of time until we caught him as he brought food to a calling chick overhead.



Tomorrow we return to the usual banding sight to see what may arrive. Spring Migration is getting close so we hope to find more travelers.
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Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, April 28th in our usual spot.
All nets will be opened by 6:25 A.M.