No Banding April 30th

Rains are forecast to move through through Saturday into Sunday. We will take a break this weekend. Saturday Purple Martin Banding was a quick and an efficiant task and Jenny will lead the day next week. Posting on today later. It was fast and furious with 28 Martins banded, chicks and adults.

Check the blog again next Saturday. If things go well, we may band on the 6th and more banding of Martins will happen on the 15th in Clermont.

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Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, May 7th?
All nets will be opened by 6:10 A.M. if we can have staff available.

Oh, Baby!

Well, that was an interesting day after our Purple Martin chick banding moring on Saturday. But, April is the height of Spring Migration so it was very nice to have a wide variety of species thoughout the morning. And the end of the day was a very surprising moment. Hang tight.

Gray Catbirds are getting more restless and we caught 7 of them today. Two recaptures and 5 new birds.



Common Yellowthroats are also on the move and are calling all over near the lake. Three adult males on the move were banded today.



We did catch Northern Waterthrushes and Carolina Wrens then but when Phyllis came back with a Black-throated Blue Warbler from Net 2 we had to stop and take notice. We do usually get at least one right around the end of April.



An Ovenbird was a nice migrant today. A little late.



Northern Parula are feeding their emerging chicks right now and this female was our first of the day. Chicks are heard calling all over this morning.



Brown Thrashers breed here and we finally caught one adult near the table.



Next up was an adult male Northern Parula.



As we considered closing up, Andrew found a pair of Blue-gray Gnatcatchers in the lower pocket of Net 24. One was an adult male showing his dark eyebrow.



Just above the adult was a smaller Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. It was a newly fledged baby chick following Dad!



We considered releasing it without a band, but as we were just banding Martin chicks the day before, we decided it was an opportunity to band a baby Blue-gray Gnatcatcher and see if we might catch it again in the future.

Note: Chicks are born with their legs as big as they will be. So, we can band them and the bands do not hinder them at all.



This Blue-gray Gnatcatcher is the smallest bird we have ever banded. Jenny had to hold the bird because Andrew's hands were too large to hold it properly, but we got it banded and released both together from where they were caught.

Love those little pin tail feathers!



Trying to close the nets, but we caught another Northern Parula male on the way out.



We will be trying to band more Purple Martin chicks next weekend in Clermont if the rain holds off and then hope we don't get rained out for Sunday. Stay tuned.

Today's Totals

Birds Processed	New	Recaptured	Total
Carolina Wren	0	1	1
Ovenbird	1	0	1
Brown Thrasher	1	0	1
Northern Parula	3	0	3
Common Yellowthroat	3	0	3
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher	2	0	2
Gray Catbird	5	2	7
Northern Waterthrush	1	1	2
Black-throated Blue Warbler	1	0	1
Totals	17	4	21

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Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, April 30.
All nets will be opened by 6:15 A.M.

Purple Martin Banding, Day 1

Time for our return to Clermont to band Purple Martins. Several of us met Angela at the 7th Street apartments near dawn.

Jenny managed to trap an adult and Angela brought down the nest for us to begin banding.



The trapped adult was a recapture banded two years ago. We also got two new adults here.



Next, Andrew began to band all the 7 ckicks that were old enough.



Susan recorded the band numbers and weight of the chicks.



Once we finished 7th Street, we headed to 5th.



Here, we checked the gourds, as well, and found an adult female in one.



Here, Jenny got to band this round of 9 chicks, some that were close to fledging.



We finished up rather quickly and got out by 8:30. We will return next Saturday to get the next round banded.

Today's Totals

Birds Processed	New	Recaptured	Total
Purple Martin	18	1	19
Totals	18	1	19

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Next (planned) Banding Day for Purple Martin: Saturday, April 29th.
All nets will be opened by 6:30 A.M.

Full House...of People

Had new and old visitors today. In fact, a lot of humans. Glad to have them all. Just wish we had more birds around. Seems like a bunch of birds have already moved North with the warm season and our locals are breeding. So, we headed out and got what we could.

First up was a rare-ish House Wren. Sometimes they stay late, but not often. Nice to have it starting off.



Next bird up was a migrating Gray Catbird.



One of our new visitors was Hanna who got to release the new Gray Catbird.



Lets go back a bit. As we were setting nets, Lynn said, "Hey, this wasn't here before!" Turns out there are 3 new Duck boxes set along the river between 18 to 21. Andrew noticed that the lock combo was different than how it was left last week. Someone had been in over the week. Maybe an Eagle Scout project? Will have to wait until we speak to a ranger next Sunday. Don't like how one is directly next to Net 24.

We shall see.



A bit later, Hanna's Dad, Jack, got to release another Gray Catbird.



We had several Northern Cardinals today. Two new and two recaptures.



Time for a recaptured Carolina Wren. Very vocal and very ready to head back to morning feedings.



Northern Waterthrushes are still moving through.



Avery brough his brother Andy back and he got to do some recording and got to release that Northern Waterthrush.



It was quiet for quite a while before we got another Gray Catbird just before we began to close nets.



There was a Northern Parula that stuck itself through the nets and we released her after extraction since she was a bit stressed and we did not want to cause her anymore of that by taking her back to the table for processing. Birds are the priority over the actual data.

Case in point, we had a very tangled Carolina Wren when closing nets. It was banded last year as a juvenile and sporting a brood patch. Continuing the species here. It was very strong and heathly so we brought it back to verify data.

Next Saturday, we start banding Purple Martin chicks. And then we return to Sunday bandings.

Today's Totals

Birds Processed	New	Recaptured	Total
Carolina Wren	0	2	2
House Wren	1	0	1
Northern Parula	1	0	1
Gray Catbird	2	1	3
Northern Waterthrush	1	0	1
Northern Cardinal	2	2	4
Totals	7	5	12

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Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, April 23.
All nets will be opened by 6:30 A.M.

April Showers...They are Coming

Rain was coming. However, it is April migration and we had to head out with some hopes of getting some birds before the weather degraded. We did close up a little early as the radars showed storms pushing in from the West.

Gray Catbirds are very restless today and we ended up with 6 of them.



Carolina Wrens are getting restless, too. Breeding is gearing up and they are begin to emerge from the edge of the trees.



A new Ovenbird was heading home and we greeted it with some new jewlery.



Northern Waterthrushes are right on time heading back themselves. We got 2 today.



Northern Cardinals are now the most vocal at dawn and we think we will get a bunch of them, but they seem to be more busy building nests and laying eggs. Like this female with a very evident brood patch.



Last weekend, Lynn found some Otters. Did not say she had an adult with a couple of babies! Here is one of them from last week.



Be sure to check the blog before heading out next Sunday as it might be a raining day and we might have to ditch.

Today's Totals

Birds Processed	New	Recaptured	Total
Carolina Wren	0	2	2
Ovenbird	1	0	1
Gray Catbird	4	2	6
Northern Waterthrush	2	0	2
Northern Cardinal	0	1	1
Totals	7	5	12

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Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, April 16th.
All nets will be opened by 6:30 A.M.

April Begins. Waiting for Migrants.

Back to work after a quick vacation. Then you get to the gate and find it pulled it as far as it could be with the chain. Something was trying to get out in the past couple of weeks. It means something in the back of the brain...

No sign of a problem at the table so we set to work. Then, appoaching Net 7... Yep. A bear has been here. Downed logs were torn asunder and the pole was bent to the ground.



Then at Net 12. Net 9 was shoved a bit, too. We could move that back into place for now but the others would have to be replaced after sunrise.



Our first bird of the day was a Gray Catbird just after light.



Next up was a Northern Waterthrush on its way back to breeding grounds during migration. Right on time, according to our records.



Another Gray Catbird hit the nets and Phyllis's husband got to get his "I Released a Banded Bird" sticker before he headed home.



A nice surpise was a new Worm-eating Warbler on its way home.



Our mascot of the day was an Opossum that wandered up on the fallen oak from the last hurricane. It stayed there until we all managed to leave the area for a while.



We then captured a male Northern Parula with a brood patch. Babies are soon to follow.



Another Northern Waterthrush hit the nets and Andrew had another land at his feet shortly afterwards. They are on the move.



A recaptured female Northern Cardinal is showing signs of breeding also.



Heading toward the lake, Golden Aster are blooming like crazy.



Lake Flowers are blooming along the river and into the lake.



As Andrew got to the edge of the lake, a large alligator flushed as the waters are warming. Might be the last time we head out there for safety. Still, it is always nice to view the Window-on-the-Lake through the Willows for the last time until the next hurricane or the Winter cold.



A nice surprise was this Ovenbird. They arrive here early in the Fall and are now on their way back North.



Net 25 has been quiet for a while, so it was nice to get a recaptured Tufted Titmouse there today.



Migration is about to turn, hopefully, and we look forward to getting some fun birds on thier way back. Weather will help or hinder this month.

Speaking of which, we are keeping an eye on next weekend. Might be raining. Check back before heading out next Sunday. We need the rain and it would not hurt our feelings if it did rain us out.

Today's Totals

Birds Processed	New	Recaptured	Total
Northern Parula	1	0	1
Ovenbird	1	0	1
Worm-eating Wabler	1	0	1
Gray Catbird	2	0	2
Northern Waterthrush	2	0	2
Tufted Titmouse	0	1	1
Northern Cardinal	0	1	1
Totals	7	2	9

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Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, April 9th.
All nets will be opened by 6:50 A.M.