First bird of the morning was, of course, a Gray Catbird. Once banded, it wanted nothing more than to get back to foraging.
Just after dawn we had a flurry of activity and got back to the table with 7 bags with birds in tow.
The first surprise of the day was a male Indigo Bunting nearly transformed into its full blue feathers and on the way home to the North.
A recaptured adult Carolina Wren was next.
A male Northern Cardinal, also a recap, added more color to our palette.
A couple of new Gray Catbirds were in the mix, as well. Like last week, all of the Catbirds were brought in from different nets around the property.
A recaptured juvenile Carolina Wren soon followed. For some reason, a lot of the Carolina Wrens have been striking this pose of late. Weird.
Our next migrant was a Northern Waterthrush.
The main problem with Gray Catbirds is that they are so noisy when being extracted from a net that they often draw the attention of our local Barred Owls. One in particular flew in quickly once the noise started. We had to do Owl watch most of the day.
The female Northern Parula we banded last week was recaptured in a net two nets down from where we first captured her.
Sigh. Another Gray Catbird. At least there is a green chair in there to break up the scenery.
It has been about a year since we caught a Downy Woodpecker. This one is a female. That last bird was during Earth Day which we will not be able to have this year. Boo.
Our other Northern Cardinal was a sleepy looking female with a very prominent brood patch.
As the morning was beginning to wind down, we caught another splash of blue. A male Black-throated Blue Warbler. We first banded this bird as a juvenile almost a year and a half ago.
You didn't think we would let you go without having to see another Gray Catbird, did you? Enjoy. It won't be long until we don't see them again until October.
While closing up nets, we found a couple of Ladybird Beetles enjoying Spring.
In fact, there were three. All different colors. Hard to take a photo with gusting wind and a spindly plant.
Ranger Corey stopped by this morning and informed us that the City of Altamonte Springs has officially closed its larger parks, Lake Lotus included. We will find out this week if we are able to continue to band. Hope so. Today showed that we are definitely in the start of Spring Migration. Stay tuned.
Today's Totals
| Birds Processed | New | Recaptured | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gray Catbird | 8 | 1 | 9 |
| Northern Cardinal | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Carolina Wren | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Downy Woodpecker | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Indigo Bunting | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Northern Waterthrush | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Northern Parula | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Black-throated Blue Warbler | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals | 11 | 7 | 18 |
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, April 19th.
All nets will be opened by 6:30 A.M.
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