Our first bird was a juvenile Gray Catbird. It posed nicely to dislay the inside of its bill. We use this to quickly age Catbirds. When they are young the lining is white-ish/pink and by the time they are adults it becomes completely black.
A lone female Indigo Bunting was up next.
While half of us were spread out through the property it seems like there was a bit of excitement back by the table. There was a pair of Bald Eagles having a disagreement and one of them hit Net 3! Jenny tried to keep it in but it soon extracted itself and flew off, leaving us a little net repair. Loads of Eagles are arriving to nest and fighting for territory is fierce.
Then things grew quiet for a while so we busied ourselves with some vine trimming and bird watching. Eventually, we caught a Swamp Sparrow. For the last couple of years this species and stayed right at the lake's edge. This bird came up the river to join us.
Our new visitor, David, got to release the Swamp Sparrow.
George has been here several times and finally mustered the courage to release his first bird. It was a Common Yellowthroat. (Psssst! He liked it!)
As we were closing up, we could hear Lynn yelling at Net 7. It soon became apparent it was because a bird was biting her as she was attempting to extract it. The angry bird? A recaptured Tufted Titmouse. They like to bite.
But Tufted Titmice are very cute when they want to be.
Hopefully, next Sunday will pick up more. We are still waiting for several species to arrive.
Today's Totals
| Birds Processed | New | Recaptured | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Common Yellowthroat | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Gray Catbird | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Tufted Titmouse | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Indigo Bunting | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Swamp Sparrow | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Totals | 5 | 2 | 7 |
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Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, November 12th.
All nets will be opened by 6:15 A.M.
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