Oddly Quiet, But a Nice Variety

Something seemed off. Traffic was really busy at 6 AM. Not normalfor a Sunday anytime. Things were too quiet in the lanes for most of the morning. There was a front approaching, but that was not to get to us until the afternoon. Just felt...weird. However, we did have an OK day with some variety along the way.

Common Yellowthroats are still moving through, like this juvenile male.



Finally got a Black-throated Blue Warbler today. This is a juvenile male. You can tell by the white specks on its throat.



Eastern Phoebes were heard around this morning and we were fortunate to catch one of them as the winds picked up.



We were really surprised that we got a Wood Thrush. It was smack in the middle of the lanes at Net 1.



Another Common Yellowthroat of the 5 caught today. This is an adult male.



House Wrens are actually singing their Spring songs for some reason. We got 2 of them this day.



Western Palm Warblers have been seen all over the Central Florida lately. Now, we are starting to see them here at the banding area.



Rounding out the morning was a late-ish Swainson's Thrush. They usually come in before the other Thrushes. Will take it.



Going to be a bit chillier this weekend for the first weekend of November (!). Hope the Buntings swing back. Should be hearing Robins soon!

Note: Daylight Saving Time ends! Set your clocks BACK an hour to be sure you arrive on time.

Today's Totals

Birds Processed	New	Recaptured	Total
Swainson's Thrush	1	0	1
Wood Thrush	1	0	1
Gray Catbird	1	0	1
House Wren	2	0	2
Black-throated Blue Warbler	1	0	1
Common Yellowthroat	5	0	5
Eastern Phoebe	1	0	1
Western Palm Warbler	1	0	1
Totals	13	0	13

______________________________________
Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, November 2nd.
All nets will be opened by 6:20 A.M.

A Couple of Interesting Catches

A cool morning. Still wearing light jackets as we set up. We were hoping for a wave of Indigo Bunting, but that never really turnded up. We did get 2 feamles and they were calling up and down the river. Maybe next week.

Gray Catbirds were still present in good numbers, yeilding 7 of them.

We finally caught a late arrival of a Black-throated Blue Warbler. Usually get them a bit earlier.



A couple of House Wrens were caught today.



Finally, a new Swainson's Thrush arrived a bit later than usual.



Several Common Yellowthroats were caught. One adult and two juvenile males.



Northern Cardinals have been very vocal but evading nets. Until this ragged male was caught in Net 7.



A few other birds were processed. An Ovenbird and an Eastern Phoebe that was calling all morning and finally hit a net.

We were closing up for the day and got our best bird right at the end. An adult Red-bellied Woodpecker! We usually catch juvenile woodpeckers out of the nests in the Spring, so this was a nice surprise to get an adult here in the Fall.



Birds are going to move back and forth through the country as a high closes in. At least it should push Melissa back away from us. How many new birds show up in Orlando? We shall see.

Today's Totals

Birds Processed	New	Recaptured	Total
Swainson's Thrush	1	0	1
Ovenbird	1	0	1
Gray Catbird	6	1	7
House Wren	2	0	2
Northern Waterthrush	1	0	1
House Wren	2	0	2
Black-throated Blue Warbler	1	0	1
Northern Cardinal	0	1	1
Common Yellowthroat	3	0	3
Indigo Bunting	2	0	2
Eastern Phoebe	1	0	1
Red-bellid Woodpecker	1	0	1
Totals	19	1	20

______________________________________
Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, October 26th.
All nets will be opened by 7:15 A.M.

Florida Fall

We call it Florida Fall because most of the oak leaves that turned brown over the Winter are pushed out by new growth, leaving our nets full of 'leaf birds' to take out all morning. BUT! That means Spring is almost here.

Another sign of Spring is the arrival of Eastern Tent Caterpillars.



Andrew's wife provided some morning fuel to get us moving down the lanes.



Our first capture was a very squeeky recaptured Tufted Titmouse.



Next up, a beautiful little House Wren



Gray Catbirds are starting to get active again.



Yellow-rumped Warblers hang out by the lake and we got our first halfway through the morning.



Our new visitor, Austin, got to release some birds today.



As we checked on the nets, Kimberly spotted a Short-tailed Hawk and Red-shouldered Hawk flying up above.



Looks like our Carolina Wren has been rolling around on the grass this morning. More exciting is this was an unbanded wren. Thought we had all of them accounted for...



One of our former volunteers, Phyllis, dropped by and helped to steer an Eastern Phoebe into a net.



Her reward? To release the Phoebe before heading home.



Our last Yellow-rumped Warbler shows that they are beginning to transition into their Spring colors.



2 weeks from Spring! Hope we start getting some interesting migrants along the way.

!!!NOTE!!! This weekend is Daylight Savings Time. Spring forward!

Today's Totals

Birds Processed	New	Recaptured	Total
House Wren	1	0	1
Gray Catbird	1	0	1
Tufted Titmouse	0	1	1
Carolina Wren	1	0	1
Eastern Pheobe	1	0	1
Yellow-rumped (Myrtle Warbler)	3	0	3
Totals	7	1	8

______________________________________
Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, March 2nd.
All nets will be opened by 7:40 A.M.

Orlando Wetlands Festival, 2025

2 years later and we are back at the Orlando Wetlands Festival. Weather was foecast to be very overcast with low winds. NOT! The early morning was fine, and yeilded some nice captures, but just around 9:30 the winds cranked up and we had mixed clouds all day. However, we did have a nice mix of species today and a welcomed a return visitor and some other nice surprises.

As usual, the most captured species out here are Yellow-rumped Warblers (Myrtle subspecies). Here, Jenny (back in action after having her baby) is holding one for all to see after banding it.



Time to start letting the visitors release our birds.



A female Northern Cardinal hit the nets shortly after the warblers.



Next up was a Gray Catbird.



Another visitor got to release the Gray Catbird.



Another migrant was added to the list. An Ovenbird.



Then one more. A Western Palm Warbler.



The Western Palm Warbler was banded and released.



Then the first surprise of the day, although we were kind of expecting it. Our Yellow-breasted Chat hit the nets in the same area it has before. We have now captured this bird 4 times in 7 years during the festivals. Loves it out here!



The Yellow-breasted Chat was released back into the wetland. Will we get it again in 2 years? Time will tell.



Then the wind picked up and things got quiet. We finally managed to capture an Eastern Phoebe.



Even some volunteers got to release a bird or 2.



Every now and then we get a chance to walk around the Orlando Wetlands property. A little break from staring at blowing nets.



We captured a new House Wren later in the day.



Our next surprise hit at the end of the nets. It was a Painted Bunting. We could also determine its sex as a male because its blue feathers were beginning to come in. Males and females are nearly identical when hatched. The females stay green while the males turn into a rainbow of color.



A happy guest releases the Painted Bunting.



Another visitor releases a Yellow-rumped Warbler.



Our final surprise of the day was an adult female Yellow-bellied Sapsucker! This makes only the 2nd one captured at the Wetlands.



Nelida's son releaed the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. Both boys are really starting to stretch out!



You think anyone was interested in this beautiful bird?



Another Gray Catbird gets banded and released.



Our last bird of the festival was another Ovenbird.



As we were leaving for the day we took a group picture at the wetlands photo prop. From left to right, top to bottom: Andrew, Lynn, Susan, Kate, Connie, and Jenny. Kate helped paint the prop years ago. Another successful event.



After relaxing from the festival, we will be back at Lake Lotus next Sunday. Migration is about to start picking up.

Today's Totals

Birds Processed	New	Recaptured	Total
House Wren	1	0	1
Gray Catbird	3	0	3
Painted Bunting	1	0	1
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker	1	0	1
House Wren	1	0	1
Ovenbird	2	0	2
Eastern Pheobe	1	0	1
Western Palm Warbler	1	0	1
Yellow-rumped (Myrtle Warbler)	7	1	8
Yellow-breasted Chat	0	1	1
Totals	18	2	20

______________________________________
Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, March 2nd.
All nets will be opened by 6:45 A.M.