Last Sunday of 2022

A bit of fog was trying to settle in as we headed out to our last Sunday of the year.

We began the day with a recaptured Carolina Wren and ended up with 4 overall. One was new.



We then recaptured a Northern Cardinal pair.



Next up, a couple of recaptured Hermit Thrushes.



Reserving Bird-of-the-Day for our 7th Belted Kingfisher ever banded, even though it was the third official bird in nets today.



This beautiful female was grumpy in the net but was very relaxed by the time we banded her.



Didn't even hear a Gray Catbird until later in the day so it was nice to get at least one today.



Our first Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle Warbler) was last week as they are slowly arriving this Winter. Nice to have a second this week. Both were juvenile males.



Taking the next two weeks off for the holidays. Both major days hit Sunday, so enjoy and we will be back the 2nd week of January. Thanks for all of the support through last year! Back to festival time in 2023.

Today's Totals

Birds Processed	New	Recaptured	Total
Northern Cardinal	0	3	3
Carlina Wren	1	3	4
Belted Kingfisher	1	0	1
Gray Catbird	1	0	1
Hermit Thrush	0	2	2
Myrtle Warbler	1	0	1
Totals	4	8	12

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Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, January 8th.
All nets will be opened by 6:50 A.M.

Variety is Fun

Birds were mixed all day, but we had a lot of different species today. The access to the lake as a bit more dry, but sand bars seem to be building in front of the pier.

Fog was forecast. It didn't really form. Later on, the wind did ramp up as we ended the day. Our first brids were a pair of Northern Cardinals, including this adult male and a younger female.



After a recaptured Hermit Thrush, we finally caught one of our first Myrtle Warblers (Yellow-rumped Warbler) of the season. This was a first year male.



We also caught our first Ruby-crowned Kinglet of the season.



This Ruby-crowned Kinglet is a first-year male, shown by the couple of ruby feathers on the crown.



Eastern Phoebes started calling later in the day and we were lucky to get one before the day was over.



There are a couple of House Wrens that frequent the area between Net 11 and Net 19 which also includes Nets 5 and 6. Finally, one hit.



Ending the day, we brought in a Western Palm Warbler.



Next Saturday several of us will do a Christmas Bird count to the North and then return for our last banding day of the year. Gonna be cold after a front drops in Thursday into Friday. 40 in Florida? Brrr...

Today's Totals

Birds Processed	New	Recaptured	Total
Northern Cardinal	0	2	2
Western Palm Warbler	1	0	1
House Wren	1	0	1
Eastern Phoebe	1	0	1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	1	0	1
Gray Catbird	1	0	1
Hermit Thrush	0	1	1
Myrtle Warbler	1	0	1
Totals	6	3	9

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Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, December 18th.
All nets will be opened by 6:45 A.M.

A Decent Start to December

How are we already into December? Now we listen and look for the last migrants of the season to arrive. We ar already hearing some Goldfinches and Waxwing, but we are still looking for Yellow-rumped Warblers. The first two are in and hoping we can get some Yellow-rumps.

Fog was predicted. Not much of anything. Our first bird was a Carolina Wren. We had 2 recaptures today.



The North Shore Festival was going to be a thing but circumstances had us cancel that event. Everyone was told about the canceling...except for the tour leader. Angela arrived and got to at least release one of the Wrens.



A Western Palm Warbler hit Net 20 just after dawn to give us some hopes for more migrants. However, they would be the only ones today that we processed. We did see a Black-and-White Warbler and our Yellow-bellied Sapsucker arrived later in the day near the marsh. Which is now full of white sand right now.



Two Northern Cardinals were brought in today. One new female and one recatptured male.



One thing that happens after some bad storms and hurricanes. The landscape is scraped clear heading toward the lake. Andrew made it down to a newly changed river bend and walked over soft ground and got to see the Window on the Lake for the first time since last Spring.



Our second Wren gets a close up before release.



Several House Wrens were teasing us through the day. A couple of us saw them flying just along the lanes and under certain nets. We finally got one recap.



Our second Western Palm Warbler was found as we closed nets at Net 21 and lead us to the end of our day.



Looking forward to cooler weather next weekend and maybe we can get a few interesting new birds.

Today's Totals

Birds Processed	New	Recaptured	Total
Northern Cardinal	1	2	3
Western Palm Warbler	2	0	2
House Wren	0	1	1
Carolina Wren	0	2	2
Totals	3	5	8

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Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, December 11th.
All nets will be opened by 6:40 A.M.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Still surprised by all of the cloudy days and we headed into building fog this morning.

First bird up was a new female Northern Cardinal.



Next up, a juvenile Hermit Thrush that we banded a bit earlier in the Fall.



We had 3 Carolina Wren recaptures. Where are the other migrants?



Ah, one more. A Hermit Thrush we first banded as an adult 4 years ago, making this bird at least 5 years old. Site fidelity is one of our main research points here.



Hearing Ruby-crowned Kinglets for the past couple of weeks and hoped we could get one today. We did, right at the end of the morning. A female.



Still drying out and the banks are shifting. Hearing Waxwings now and wait for Yellow-rumps to arrive anytime. Maybe we can reach 21 again next weekend, but it almost seems that the river wants to divert into the marsh first. Stay tuned.

Today's Totals

Birds Processed	New	Recaptured	Total
Northern Cardinal	1	0	1
Ruby-crowned Kinlet	1	0	1
Hermit Thrush	0	2	2
Carolina Wren	0	3	3
Totals	2	5	7

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Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, December 4th.
All nets will be opened by 6:30 A.M.

No Banding November 20th

Rain is on the horizon.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving.

Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, November 27th.
All nets will be opened by 6:20 A.M.

Nicole Flooded Half the Site

Hurricane Nicole rolled through last week and we were interested in how the flooding would occure and how it would hinder our efforts today. Most of the storm was to the East and it was not as bad as Ian. However, all of the rain that hits our area flows down into the Wekiwa Basin from Orlando and our way. It turns out that half of the banding nets were washed out by high waters, again. More on that later in the post.

Gray Catbirds are calling and finally hitting the nets again.



We had a little flurry of Hermit Thrushes right after.



Another view of the second Hermit Thrush.



House Wrens were skittering about. We caught 3 today.



As mentioned in the title, Hurricane Nicole moved through and flooded half of the lanes. This view is from Net 17 but we could not get nets up from 13 through 21.



Time for Lynn's Micro Corner! The Cassias are bringing in the Sulfer butterflies and we found a caterpillar there today.



Closer inspections finds a Leaf Hopper on the same plant.



The stuggle of Life finds a larger fly caught by a spider which can feast upon it.



A young Cuban treefrog rests among the branches. They are invasive but we are kind, to a point.



A juvenille female Northern Cardinal was next in the bag.



A group of students from UCF with the Conservation Leadership and Climate Initiatives (CLI) joined us today and got to witness banding and were able to release a couple of birds.



Everyone gathers around the banding table for a demonstration.



After banding the Western Palm Warbler, Jenny holds it up for others to get photographs.



A lucky CLI member gets to release the Western Palm Warbler.



The final bird of the day was another Hermit Thrush. Always notice the rufus tail feathers to distinguish from a Swainson's Thrush.



Another guest got to release the Hermit Thrush.



Looking forward to next week, though we are keeping an eye on the weather as a front is moving through. Maybe rain will chase us away? Check this spot before heading out.

Today's Totals

Birds Processed	New	Recaptured	Total
Gray Catbird	2	0	2
Northern Cardinal	1	0	1
Western Palm Wabler	1	0	1
Hermit Thrush	3	0	3
House Wren	2	1	3
Totals	9	1	10

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Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, November 20th.
All nets will be opened by 6:20 A.M.

That Was Close

A little more humid today. Lets see what birds we can find after last weeks nice haul.

When Andrew arrived at the table this morning he was met with a lot of tree debris all around. Once that was cleared out of the way he looked to the left. A tree had fallen since we were gone and hit part of the supply table and blocked the path to Net 2. But where did this tree come from?



So, he headed out to set the other nets and...OH...that tree. Guess the rangers will have another chore after they take care of the parks proper.



Hermit Thrushes hit in a small flurry as we started to check the lanes.



Followed by an Ovenbird. We neglected to get a good shot of the House Wrens brought in after that.



We hear Brown Thrashers every week (they breed here) and this is the first new one we have captured in quite a while.



Western Palm Warblers were in force again.



We see a lot of Carolina Wrens but rarely get a chance to stare down that scary throat.



Next up, a female Northern Cardinal.



The day wrapped with a lovely female Black-and-White Warbler.



We currently are expecting Hurricane Nicole. The area does NOT need more water and we will see if more trees fall and how high the river will get this round. Stay safe.

Today's Totals

Birds Processed	New	Recaptured	Total
Ovenbird	1	0	1
Carolina Wren	0	1	1
Western Palm Wabler	4	0	4
Brown Thrasher	1	0	1
Hermit Thrush	2	0	2
Black and White Warbler	1	0	1
House Wren	2	0	2
Totals	11	1	12

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Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, November 13th.
All nets will be opened by 6:15 A.M.