Northern Cardinals have been vocal but elusive for the past few weeks but now the nesting season is upon us and they have begun to chase rivals away and forage in larger numbers. Our first bird of the morning was a female, though not showing signs of a brood patch, yet.
Next up, a Hermit Thrush, soon to be headed back North to breed.
A male Northern Cardinal joined the tally shortly afterward.
Like the Cardinals, our local Carolina Wrens have been following suit and not moving around until now. Actively nest building, they are moving about again and hitting the nets.
Guess what we caught next. Yep, another female Northern Cardinal.
When we usually catch Tufted Titmice we tend to get several at a time since they travel in family groups. Today we recaptured one by itself.
Another local breeder, Northern Parula, have been very vocal of late and they must have hatching babies (we think we are hearing some out of the nest) because they are flying lower than usual, like this adult female.
Number 4. A male Northern Cardinal.
Behind Net 7, we noticed a newly blooming Fetterbush. We didn't notice it growing there until now. Later in the day it hosted a Tussock Moth caterpillar crawling along the blossoms.
Gray Catbirds are thinning out as we head into April, but we did catch one more this morning.
Our 2nd recaptured Carolina Wren was brought in as the day began to draw to a close.
An indicator of breeding warblers was the larger number of raptors in the area today. We saw a Swallow-tailed Kite gathering moss for a nest and while sitting at the banding table we notched Cooper's Hawks, a Short-tailed Hawk, a Red-shouldered Hawk and a Red-tailed Hawk in 30 minutes! Everyone is looking for breakfast.
Brown Thrashers are our last local bird to be captured. They have been singing for weeks and like the other regular birds are now seeking out food and hitting nets.
The times, they are a changing. Florida State Parks have been shut down Monday. Who knows how long until it makes its way to city parks. We are a small group and Lake Lotus is not highly populated with guests so we are hoping to continue on for the foreseeable future.
NOTE: To ensure the safety of our volunteers and the general public, new visitors are discouraged from attending banding at this time. The few of us who remain will update the blog as long as we can and hope to see new faces in the future. Thank you for your understanding during this unprecedented time.
Stay clean and safe!
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Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, March 29th.
All nets will be opened by 6:50 A.M.
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