The rain canceled our first week of October and probably held off migrants ahead of the front clearing us. But, as Andrew told the crew, "Brace yourself for the rush!" as the latest BirdCast foresaw a huge surge for this weekend. The dam broke this weekend! Our biggest one day total for the Fall at Lake Lotus. Other flyway spots have big numbers in October, but we are in a local, urban region and don't usually have huge numbers.
Our biggest count in the past was just under 50 birds. Today was crazy good with nice temperatures to boot. A nice mix of sepecies was tallied, too.
Our first bird of the morning was an Ovenbird. We ended up with 5 by the end of the day.
We usually only get a couple of House Wrens on any given day. Today they were flowing through like mad. We ended up with 12.
One of our visitors learns how to release a wriggly wren.
Jenny photographed a Common Yellowthroat with the growing number of bags in the background.
Then the Gray Catbirds began to flow in. Another of our visitors got to release one of the first. 27 Catbirds today with more bouncing out of the nets.
Susan gets ready to settle in for data recording with Andrew at the table.
We ended up with 11 Common Yellowthroats covering all ages and both sexes. This was our sole female.
Of our 4 Carolina Wrens, 3 were recaptures and a surprising unbanded one. Thought we had them all by now.
Our next visitor got to release one of the recaptured Carolina Wrens.
Always nice to catch one of our local Brown Thrashers.
Migrant White-eyed Vireos are making their way through. They all have a fat score of 3 which is the highest.
Nelida's husband and youngest stopped by and got to release some birds. This was one of our many Catbirds.
A male Black-throated Blue Warbler always brings gasps.
Nelida returned from a trip down the lanes with 4 more birds.
Her son releases one of our House Wrens.
A welcome surprise arrived a little early in this season. A male Indigo Bunting! They typically come through closer to November.
Our 3rd Acadian Flycatcher of the Session was next.
Another of our visitors got to release some birds, including this Ovenbird.
We could hear one of our volunteers yelling in pain at Net 2 so we thought a Cardinal was going to be brought down. Instead, it was a Tufted Titmouse. They bite almost as hard.
We were secretly wishing for a Swainson's Thrush and it manifested!
Susan got to release this gorgeous Swainson's Thrush.
As the morning was winding down, we captured a pair of American Redstarts. This is the female.
Right next to her was the male American Redstart. Both birds were loaded with fat. Fuel for their long journey.
As we were closing nets we got bird 69 which turned out to be a recaptured Ovenbird. Its recapture made it the first and last bird of this very busy, rewarding day.
Whew! This is the day we wait for all year and it was worth it. Next week is forecast for rain most of the days. Hope it clears in time for next Sunday.
Today's Totals
| Birds Processed |
New |
Recaptured |
Total |
| Common Yellowthroat |
10 |
1 |
11 |
| Carolina Wren |
1 |
3 |
4 |
| Gray Catbird |
27 |
0 |
27 |
| Swainson's Thrush |
1 |
0 |
1 |
| White-Eyed Vireo |
2 |
0 |
2 |
| American Redstart |
2 |
0 |
2 |
| House Wren |
11 |
1 |
12 |
| Black-throated Blue Warbler |
1 |
0 |
1 |
| Brown Thrasher |
1 |
0 |
1 |
| Ovenbird |
4 |
1 |
5 |
| Tufted Titmouse |
1 |
0 |
1 |
| Acadian Flycatcher |
1 |
0 |
1 |
| Indigo Bunting |
1 |
0 |
1 |
| Totals |
63 |
6 |
69 |
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Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, October 15th.
All nets will be opened by 7:00 A.M.
