Waiting for the Rush

Last week on September and we are eagerly awaiting October. That is when the migration rush kicks in. Today was an instering mix.

We still have juvenile Common Yellowthroats coming through. This one liked us so much he found 3 different nets throughout the day.



The female Common Yellowthroats always seem to get messy feathers.



This time of year also brings migrating White-eyed Vireos like this juvenile. Young birds has gray eyes until thier second year.



Running a little late, but we finally caught a Veery. They are usually here the very start of September.



Next up was an adult White-eyed Vireo which had a little attitude.



It was also loaded with fat for its journey.



They have been very vocal all month, but Red-Eyed Vireos tend to stay in the upper story of the trees. This one was captured in the middle of the lanes where we didn't expect it.



As we were closing for the morning, Susan found a recaptured male Northern Cardinal. If you want to know what a Cardinal bite feels like, I am pretty sure she can tell you.



Our last bird of the day was a recaptured Carolina Wren.



If they are on time, Gray Catbirds should be all over next week!

Today's Totals

Birds Processed	New	Recaptured	Total
Common Yellowthroat	3	2	5
Carolina Wren	0	2	2
Northern Cardinal	0	1	1
Veery	1	0	1
White-Eyed Vireo	2	0	2
Red-Eyed Vireo	1	0	1
Totals	7	5	12

______________________________________
Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, October 1st.
All nets will be opened by 6:45 A.M.

More Like It, but Still a Bit Slow

No bear damage this week, but the humidity was pretty oppresive. However, we can see Fall right around the corner which slightly cooler temperatures.

Common Yellowthroats were out again this week. We ended up with 6 of them throughout the morning.



We recaptured one of our female Northern Cardinals in between.



All of the Common Yellowthroats today were juvenile males.



We also recaptured a Carolina Wren.



A couple weeks later than expected, we finally caught our first Veery.



We ended the day just like last week with an Acadian Flycatcher. It was captured in the same net as the one last week. There must be plenty of their preferred food right around Net 15.



Looking forward to hopefully higher captures next week.

Today's Totals

Birds Processed	New	Recaptured	Total
Common Yellowthroat	6	0	6
Carolina Wren	0	1	1
Northern Cardinal	0	1	1
Veery	1	0	1
Acadian Flycatcher	1	0	1
Totals	8	2	10

______________________________________
Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, September 24th.
All nets will be opened by 6:45 A.M.

Bear-ly Anything

Black Bears have been here way before any of us humans. Heck, there is a Bear Lake not more than a couple miles of the banding site. But when they get in the way it is kind of annoying. This morning, bear activity was present every where.

The first thing we found (besides the gate being pulled inward) was our table. This thing was donated by Andrew's wife since the beginning of this journey and has withstood hurricanes and a fallen tree earlier in the year. This week, it succummed to a bear apparently standing on it. We still used it as much as we could throughout the day.



Things got worse as we began to set poles. Net 1 was done from last week and had to be reset, but we also found 7 other poles bent down along the lanes. It was a morning of maintenance.



We began cleaning up the table area when Jenny noticed something rather odd. The bear had actually bitten one of the bug spray cans we had in our bucket. Why bite that?



And to verify our thoughts, scat was all along the lanes. Stay out, bear!



Kind of a good thing we had things to fix up. Birds were very scarce today. And 2 weeks without a Cardinal? Odd. But we did finally capture our 2nd Louisiana Waterthrush of the Session. Usually, they are gone by August. We'll take it.



Later on, we found a small turtle near Net 5. Turtles often lay eggs along the lanes but the raccoons usually dig them up. This one survived. Lynn refound it and got a great photo of this baby Soft Shelled Turtle.



Earlier, as we were cleaning up after the bear nonsence, we heard a couple of Acadian Flycatchers near the table. Just before we ended the morning, we caught one! The last one we had was just about a year ago. This is their time.



Only two birds is really strange this time of year. Hopefully, we will get a nice bunch next week.

Today's Totals

Birds Processed	New	Recaptured	Total
Louisiana Waterthrush	1	0	1
Acadian Flycatcher	1	0	1
Totals	2	0	2

______________________________________
Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, September 17th.
All nets will be opened by 6:45 A.M.

Session 16 Begins!

Just in time to start banding, a cool front sagged into Florida bringing us drier air and a beautiful day. The extra rain did raise the river enough to keep us from Net 21, though.

Andrew walked the lanes the week before and found the grasses up to waist high and a tree down blocking Net 7. The rangers were not sure if they could get out there due to Hurricane Idaylia getting close and they had to have sand bag filling duties.



The storm ended up staying to the West along the Tampa and panhande side and the rangers had time to clear the lanes before we began. Thanks to our friends for all of their efforts!



Our other, non-human friends, the Air Potato Beetles, have begun to wake and take care of the invasive vines.



The Air Potato vines are being skeletonized more and more throughout the area.



Can't not mention the first round of getting down the lanes. The early walk is usually spent clearing webs of Tropical Orb Weavers as we get things set up.



We were all glad to be back on the property. Some more than others!



We actually had to wait a awhile before the birds decided to get out of bed. After about an hour we got our first birds: 2 unbanded Carolina Wrens.



Like the bird with Nalida, we captured 6 Common Yellowthroats in a tight group moving past. 5 juvenile males and one female.



Then, the Ovenbirds arrived. We had 3 today. Right on time.



A next surprise was our next bird that usually come through in August, which we have given up due to heat. A Louisiana Waterthrush graced us and got a band today.



Then we captured a female Black-and-White Warbler.



Our last bird of the day was barely resting in Net 18. A male American Redstart. It was full of fat and tired, just arriving from the North.



Andrew was checking nets not long from closing up and found a large wasp in Net 5 with some prey. Turned out to be a Cicada Killer (Sphecius speciosus) with a cicada in its grasp. Most of us gathered to watch it finally free itself and the bug and drag it back to its burrow. Once there, it will lay eggs on the insect and let the offspring feed on it before leaving the nest.



It was a nice day and great return for Session 16. Lets see what the year brings us before Fall officially begins! Looking forward to cooler weather weather not too far away.

Today's Totals

Birds Processed	New	Recaptured	Total
Carolina Wren	2	0	2
Louisiana Waterthrush	1	0	1
Common Yellowthroat	5	1	6
Black-and-white Warbler	1	0	1
Ovenbird	3	0	3
American Redstart	1	0	1
Totals	13	1	14

______________________________________
Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, September 10th.
All nets will be opened by 6:40 A.M.