Imagine walking into the banding site at 5:30 AM in total darkness. Headlamp is on as you drag all of the banding gear across sandy trails toward the table a couple of hundred feet away. Halfway there, your light catches 4 specks of reflection down in the river. Two move to the right. The other two disappear. You continue to the table noticing the thousands of other tiny reflections from the eyes of spiders hunting among the grasses. Familiar and nearly soothing.
Then, as you are unloading the gear and preparing to set nets, a Giant seems to be snoring just around the bend. Deep...loud...snores. A bear? Something more sinister? Hopefully, daylight will let us know. As a bander in the woods before dawn you continue on and hope for the best. Other volunteers will be here soon, right? Head down, nets up.
Humidity was very noticeable for the first time this year which had us beading with sweat by the time we opened nets before dawn.
Our first bird was a recaptured adult Brown Thrasher.
Gray Catbirds are still around but thinning out.
Ovenbirds can be heard singing loudly from time to time throughout the property. They will leave soon but we captured two today.
Our big surprise catch was a Swainson's Thrush. Records show this is the first ever captured in Spring here. They typically move through in the Fall and are replaced by Hermit Thrushes through the Spring.
Common Yellowthroats are lurking around the lakeside but this adult male took a wrong turn.
Another Gray Catbird makes the list.
Once we released the Catbird the snoring began again! This time in the daylight. We rushed toward the noise and found the source. A male American Alligator! He was bellowing right along the shore below the banding table.
After a few calls, a female suddenly surfaced nearby, tail raised.
The male slowing began to approach her after a couple of minutes.
He eventually made his way closer and gently nudged her snout.
Then, he began to rub along her head and soon submerged beneath her. Every so often, he would release bubbles below her. She soon joined him under the water and we could not see any other activity.
We left them there and resumed checking the nets.
Momma Barred Owl was perched in one of her favorite spots just behind Net 20.
Just below her, a Limpkin was picking breakfast from the river bed.
Red-shouldered Hawks have built their nest some distance behind Net 9. We started seeing fuzzy heads there last week.
By the way, Phyllis was very kind and made masks for us in this interesting time of COVID-19. Hopefully, it will be a souvenir and not a permanent part of our life.
Northern Parulas are out feeding their chicks now and we caught a pair today. This younger male was just beginning to show some rusty feathers that form on their breasts. A better example of this would follow later in the day.
Our only other capture at Net 21 today was a Carolina Wren. It was flying through so fast that it hit the net and swung it around a nearby branch!
It was safely extracted and brought back for recording and getting a nice portrait taken before release.
One last Gray Catbird was brought in shortly thereafter.
Up by Net 8, the Easter Bunny stopped by. A little late.
Across from Net 15, Connie discovered a Zebra Longing caterpillar on a Passion Vine she planted earlier in the year.
Here is our other male Northern Parula. He is an older bird and clearly shows the banding of rust and blue. We first banded this bird as an adult 3 years ago. He is still doing very well.
We stopped back down by the river to check on the love-struck Alligators.
They were now mating on the far side now.
Afterward, they cuddled together.
The second Common Yellowthroat caught was a nice study in plumage. At first blush it appears to be a female. This is actually a juvenile male. Notice the very bright yellow throat feathers and if you look closely you can start to notice small spots of black that will become its mask as an adult.
The final bird of the day was a Northern Waterthrush. Oddly it was caught in Net 7 which is smack in the middle of the lanes in a wooded area. Typically, we only catch Waterthrushes by the river and lake.
In fact, most of our birds were captured in this area this morning. Most species are using this spot to migrate North this year.
We began packing up and spotted Stubby, our amorous male American Alligator now taking a rest up on the river bank. We have featured Stubby before, nicknamed for the missing foot, but then we had no idea it this gator was male or female. Problem solved.
A very interesting day. Usually we curse the wind for blowing the nets around but we welcomed them today for driving out the humidity. Long range forecasts show a pleasant Sunday for next week. One month to go in the Session.
Today's Totals
| Birds Processed |
New |
Recaptured |
Total |
| Gray Catbird |
2 |
1 |
3 |
| Ovenbird |
2 |
0 |
2 |
| Common Yellowthroat |
2 |
0 |
2 |
| Northern Parula |
1 |
1 |
2 |
| Carolina Wren |
0 |
1 |
1 |
| Brown Thrasher |
0 |
1 |
1 |
| Northern Cardinal |
1 |
0 |
1 |
| Swainson's Thrush |
1 |
0 |
1 |
| Northern Waterthrush |
1 |
0 |
1 |
| Totals |
10 |
4 |
14 |
NOTE: To ensure the safety of our volunteers and the general public, new visitors are discouraged from attending banding at this time. The few of us who remain will update the blog as long as we can and hope to see new faces in the future. Thank you for your understanding during this unprecedented time.
Stay clean and safe!
______________________________________
Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, May 3rd.
All nets will be opened by 6:30 A.M.
