Our first bird of the day was an adult male Common Yellowthroat. Not too old as he is still sporting some younger feathers but still considered an adult at this point.
Next up was an adult male Northern Parula that was interrupted in its feeding schedule for a few minutes.
Things grew a bit quiet so we took time to explore the flora and fauna. Connie found a Black and White Garden Spider (Argiope aurantia) out in the sunlight.
Andrew was checking nets and discovered a strange ring of flags behind Net 22. Wha...?
The rest of the crew had noticed a blooming Rhexia that we saw last Fall. It was mowed over by the rangers and we were trying to relocate where the patch was and now there is one bloom emerging again. We hope it rains around for a while in our native habitat plantings.
Christine found a River Otter, Lontra canadensis, out by Net 21 and Lisa got a photo of it a little later in the morning. There are a lot of fish in the river bend and the Otters are filling their bellies here. We have always seen signs of otter scat down in this area for years.
We always check the Red-shouldered Hawk nest during our travels and today we spotted three chicks in the nest. By the time this photo was taken, the smallest was hunkering down in the nest but the other two are about to begin branching, when they start venturing out to begin trying their flight abilities. Adults were flying in with food from time to time and, fortunately, this species feeds mostly on lizards, snakes, and frogs instead of birds so they are not a real threat to birds in nets.
Meanwhile, back below the banding table, a 1st year Red-shouldered Hawk was hunting just across the river where we watched the Alligator love last Sunday.
As the day was winding down, we caught a couple more Common Yellowthroat. Both were juvenile males.Little black specks are showing in their feathers and they have very bright yellow throats indicating their age and sex.
Our final Common Yellowthroat juvenile.
The last bird of the day was a female Black-throated Blue Warbler. We have banded many of this species and the color and eye line definitely ID it as that species. Typically, the easiest ID is a white patch in the wings sometimes referred to as a 'pocket handkerchief'. However, this bird does not show this at all. Checking the books, this makes this a juvenile female which do not get that white patch until they are an adult. The youngest of this species we have ever captured.
A slow but beautiful morning and we wind down toward the last few weeks of the Session and watching the weather for next week.
Today's Totals
| Birds Processed | New | Recaptured | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Common Yellowthroat | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Northern Parula | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Black-throated Blue Warbler | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Totals | 5 | 0 | 5 |
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.
NOTE Number 2: Current forecast is showing rain for Sunday all day so please check back before deciding to head out next Sunday.
Stay clean and safe!
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Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, May 10th.
All nets will be opened by 6:30 A.M.
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