Migrants are on the Way

Nearing peak migration today, and we started kind of busy and things died down for the rest of the day. Not the big bang we were expecting. With a smaller crew, that was OK.

Will be gathering photos from the volunteers and banders through the week so they will not be loaded until, probably Friday. Andrew is off to Maine for a much needed vacation until then.

Here is a total for today and it looks like next Sunday should get things hopping. Our Tropical storm looks to be turning East, so no worrys for that. We hope to get going Sunday for the main event of full-on migration. Stay tuned!.

Today's Totals

Birds Processed	New	Recaptured	Total
Northern Waterthrush	1	0	1
Ovenbird	1	1	2
Common Yellowthroat	4	0	4
Carolina Wren	0	1	1
Northern Parula	2	0	2
Veery	1	0	1
Ruby-throated Hummingbird	1	0	1
Totals	10	2	12

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Next (planned) Banding Day: Sudayday, October 5th.
All nets will be opened by 7:00 A.M.

Quiet, Not Quiet.

Humidity is picking up and the tropics are heating up. Most thinking is that most of the storms will stay way East of us here in Florida. Some rain chances go upby the weekend, but souldn't take away our next day out. Which, BTW, is Saturday for once since Andrew leaves for Maine Sunday.

The day began pretty quiet. Birds in the area were staying in the upper story. We all heard birds flying by early. This is the best weather we have had for a long time. Seems like most migrants were flying by insteading of landing for food. Common Yelowthroats are moving through more now. They usually come through earliler. We had several by the end of the day.



Carolina Wrens are getting active again. Northern Cardinals are loud, but not flying through much.



White-eyed Vireos are local here, but migrants of that species come through right now on their way to the Carribean. You can tell them apart by how much fat they have built up on their trip. All 4 Vireos had a fat score of 3 (the top score) and were all caught in the last hour of the day. We had 3 adults and one juvenile today.



Net 12 was busier than usual today and got us a female Black-and-White Warbler.



There was a real quiet stretch for a bit and then, as Andrew was going to call for closing nets, he hit net 21 and found 6 birds there with others trying to get caught. We ended up with a couple of Tufted Titmice, another White-eyed Vireo, A Carlonia Wren, and another Common Yellowthroat.



Going to band on a rare Saturday since Andrew has to be headed to Maine on Sunday. Migration is picking up and we don't want to miss some good birds. Saturday forecast looks like it will be a good day. Then we will band the next Sunday as usual.

Today's Totals

Birds Processed	New	Recaptured	Total
Black and White Warbler	1	0	1
Ovenbird	0	1	1
White-eyed Vireo	4	0	4
Carolina Wren	0	3	3
Tufted Titmouse	2	0	2
Common Yellowthroat	4	0	4
Totals	11	4	15

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Next (planned) Banding Day: Saturday, September 27th.
All nets will be opened by 7:00 A.M.

Migrants Picking Up and...SNAKE!

Not a bad September morning. A few good migrants and several visitors. Still waiting for the waters to receed at the end of the lanes, but it might take another week or two before can get out by the lake. We started the morning with an Ovenbird. One of the most seen/heard species this time of year. We caughtt two today. Also hearing Red-eyed Vireos and other migrants.



Common Yellowthroats should have been showing up the last week or so. We did not get any last week. Now, they are beginning to trickle in. This is a juvenile male. We also had an adult female later in the day.



One of our visitors got to release that bird.



Carolina Wrens were hitting the nets, some escaping, and we did get one recapture near the end of the lanes. Another visitor got to release that wriggling bird.



Then our snake. Don't worry. It was not a danger. Someone pulled a folding chair from beneath the table and when it was opened, it contained a rather large Ring-necked Snake. These non-vemonous snakes are common in Florida and are usally found as 1-2 foot individuals. This was closer to 3 feet. Everyone held it for a bit and then released it back into the woods.



We were kind of expecting this bird a week ago, but it is always fun to have our first Thrushes of the year like this Veery. They come through in September and usher in the other Thrushes though the next months.



Our final capture of the day was a Northern Cardinal. As it was brought to the table, some worried it was in some heavy molt. Nope. Just a juvenile male hatched here in the Spring and making its way to adulthood.



No rain on the radar for next Sunday. More migrants should arrive. Fall starts the day after. Yay!

Today's Totals

Birds Processed	New	Recaptured	Total
Northern Cardinal	1	0	1
Ovenbird	1	1	2
Verery	1	0	1
Carolina Wren	0	1	1
Common Yellowthroat	3	0	3
Totals	6	2	8

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Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, September 21st.
All nets will be opened by 7:00 A.M.

Session 18 Begins

Welome to the sauna!

Wide spread and hours-long rains last night brought us cooler weather but very wet and drippy conditions as we began our 18th banding session. Damp mornings lead to a quiet few hours before birds want to move around. It gave us some time to spruce up the needed net lane fixes and some trimming. Thanks to the rangers for mowing and removing certain blockages before we got back in business.

We only caught migrants today (not complaining) but the first 'capture' of the morning was a shock. And one of our nightmere thoughts.

Connie called in to report a Great Blue Heron was in the net at the end of the lanes. BTW, that was Net 24. The rains got the river so high, we could not get out to Nets 21 and 26. Might be weeks before we can get out there.

The heron was trapped by its bill. Connie did not want to get too close, opting for a photo before calling for help.



Andrew arrived soon afterward and as he an Connie advanced toward the bird, it began to get aggitated and freed itself and headed for the swamp uninjured. Whew. Can't think of dealing with that deadly bill close up. Great Blues are a formitable predator, eating everything they can catch. Fish, snakes, rats, and even baby alligators. Glad we didn't have to try getting it all the way out.

Soon, we began to get some migrants as the day dried a bit. The most captured species were Ovenbirds. We caught 3 new birds and one recapture.



Our one other migrant was a Northern Waterthrush.



More Fall-like weather is moving in and we hope to get a lot more migrants next week. Thankfully, we have no hurricanes on the horizon during the peak season. Lets get more fun birds from here on out!

Today's Totals

Birds Processed	New	Recaptured	Total
Northern Waterthrush	1	0	1
Ovenbird	3	1	4
Totals	4	1	5

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Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, September 14th.
All nets will be opened by 6:50 A.M.

Session 17 Ends

Andrew here. Yep. We are not banding for the month of May. I have 30 days to get all of our stuff out of our house of over 30 years into our new place. Don't feel like I can give up most of Sundays when I should be hauling stuff with the family. So, we will start Session 18 on August 31st. But, we did have some fun birds on our final Sunday.

It was starting slow but then we had a nice surprise. A Great-crested Flycatcher! Better yet, it was a recapture from last year.



Next up were a couple of Carolina Wrens.



Then, a migrant. A female Common Yellowthroat.



Northern Parula are not calling as much these days but they are here mostly feeding their chicks. A pretty male.



Then another female Common Yellowthroat.



As the day wound down we got a very vocal female Downy Woodpecker.



Finally, a female Northern Cardinal.



Thanks to everyone who volunteered and to those who joined us to release some birds and gain some knowledge of banding. See you all on August 31st! Enjoy the toasty, toasty Summer.

Today's Totals

Birds Processed	New	Recaptured	Total
Northern Cardinal	1	0	1
Carolina Wren	0	2	2
Downy Woodpecker	1	0	1
Common Yellowthroat	2	0	2
Great-crested Flycatcher	0	1	1
Northern Parula	1	0	1
Totals	5	3	8

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Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, September 7th.
All nets will be opened by 6:50 A.M.

Slow Day

A pretty quiet day today. Looks like most migrants are headed up through Texas. We only had 3 species all morning.

First up, a Carolina Wren.



Next up a female Northern Cardinal.



Finally, a Gray Catbird.



Our latest visitor got to release the Gray Catbird.



Hope things pick up next week before we head in May and the local chicks we should be seeing.

Today's Totals

Birds Processed	New	Recaptured	Total
Northern Cardinal	1	0	1
Carolina Wren	0	2	2
Gray Catbird	2	1	3
Totals	3	3	6

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Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, April 27th.
All nets will be opened by 6:50 A.M.

Catbirds, and Catbirds

The dawn chorus was pretty strong, but it looks like most migrants are moving through Texas right now. Probably will be our last cool weather for now until next October. Get ready for the heat!

Not going to show photos of every Gray Catbird we caught today. You know what they look like. We captured 13 today. A nice number for the Spring rush home.



Only caught a couple of Northern Cardinals today. Perhaps they are too busy on nests.



Just past Net 21, a large Southern Swamp Lily (Crinum americanum) is in full bloom.



Out next to the lake, Golden Asters are spread all around.



Finally, we captured a pair of Carolina Wrens.



One of our longtime visitors and voluteers, Alex, is off to Virgina for school. Thanks for all your help and we hope to see you again in the future!



We look forward to getting some more migrants before the end of May and next week looks pretty good to start seeing them. In fact, Andrew did see a Prothonotary Warber in the marsh as we were beginning to close up so, fingers crossed.

Today's Totals

Birds Processed	New	Recaptured	Total
Northern Cardinal	1	1	2
Carolina Wren	0	2	2
Gray Catbird	7	6	13
Totals	8	9	17

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Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, April 20th.
All nets will be opened by 7:00 A.M.

Catbirds are Restless and We Wait for Other Migrants

It was a warm but exciting day as we head into Sping Migration. Birds are getting busy, either preparing to leave or preparing for chicks.

Gray Catbirds beginning to feast on local berries as seen by this captured bird covered in stains from fruits. We caught 8 today.



Northern Cardinals are preparing nests and getting active as well. This female is ready to get back to her activities after getting new band.



Jenny likes to take shots in what she calls thier 'Muppet face'. This time from an adult male.



Our second most captures were Carolina Wrens.



Carolina Wrens are showing signs of chicks about to arrive. This one has an egg just to be layed as seen in the belly ready to be dropped.



Tussock Moth caterpillars are active, as well. They are feeding and dropping on nets and tables.



Next, we had a recaptured Brown Thrasher first banded as a juvenile last year.



House Wrens have been very shy this year, but we did get one new one this morning.



As we began to wrap up, Andrew was clearing leaves from Net 21. When he turned around he found a Green Heron trapped in the net behind him. The heron was heard all morning in the marsh and flying back and forth and eventually ended up hitting the net.



This is only the 2nd Green Heron to be captured over the years. We cannot band waders nor waterfowl, so we released it back into the marsh nearby.



Jenny likes to smell the birds we get and says it smells like fish. That is what it eats. Makes sense.



As we closed nets we had one last bird. A female Northern Parula. They usualy have a lot of chicks at the end of April. The adults will be flying more and more in search of food for their hungry chick for the next few weeks.



Looking forward to next Sunday and hoping to see Spring Migrants making the way back North.

Today's Totals

Birds Processed	New	Recaptured	Total
Northern Cardinal	3	1	4
House Wren	1	0	1
Gray Catbird	7	1	8
Carolina Wren	1	3	4
Brown Thrasher	0	1	1
Green Heron	1	0	1
Northern Parula	1	0	1
Totals	12	8	20

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Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, April 13th.
All nets will be opened by 7:00 A.M.