We began the day with a new Brown Thrasher before the group arrived.
Some of the visitors showed up as we banded a new Gray Catbird. It was a juvenile that was very excited and showed its age by the interior of its mouth, which is pink before becomeing black as it ages. A good look down the mouth!
Then, it started to look as the day might be confined to a Wren kind of day. We had 4 House Wrens in succesion.
Only interuped by a recaptuered Carolina Wren.
By now, the Audubon group was in full force and got to see the banding process up close and got some photo ops.
Here, a small portion of the group posed for a quick portrait.
A rare capture at the site, a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. These birds are normally very aware of the nets and are seldom caught.
Then, a bird many of us were discussing showed up in the nets. A Black-throated Blue Warbler. This male caused a lot of oohs and ahs. One of our prettiest migrants throughout the migrating season into late Spring.
Black-throated Blue Warblers arrive in early Fall and can be found in Florida until April, feasting on Beauty Berry fruits and snatching insects while they are here. We love seeing their brilliant colors as they flit through the upper and lower stories of our area.
We wound down the day and as we closed the the nets noticed a new visitor. A Peninsula cooter turtle snuck in just after Andrew took down Net 2 and began making a hole to lay eggs! This is just feet from the banding table. Many turtle nests were found dug up by Racoons during the day along the lanes this morning. Maybe this one will remain untouched. Stay tuned.
Nice to have some new visitors along and to see the excitment on their faces while photograping and releasing birds today. Still some new migrants to flow in before December. Where are our Yellow-rumps?
Today's Totals
| Birds Processed | New | Recaptured | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| House Wren | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| Black-throated Blue Warbler | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Carolina Wren | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Brown Thrasher | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Gray Catbird | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Blue-gray Gnatcatcher | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Totals | 7 | 2 | 9 |
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.
______________________________________
Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, November 22.
All nets will be opened by 6:30 A.M.
No comments:
Post a Comment