Peak Happening Late

Peak Migration is happening a couple weeks late. Climate Change? I am no expert. Catbirds used to hit in force on Octoboer 1st. Now we are back to the 12th. A few were coming through in small numbers, but today was as if they were everywhere. They joined other migrants and locals as you will see below.

We had a nice cool blast to start the morning. Low 60s. We started the day with our first Indigo Bunting of the season. A young female. We also caught another adult female later.



Gray Catbirds ruled the count today with 9 birds. They typically hit on the 1st. We have been hearing a couple hear and there, but this is the first big rush through the area. One new volunteer showed up to release one of them.



House Wrens are showing up in bigger numbers, too.



It has been quite a while since we captured a Belted Kingfisher. This lady found Net 18 early on. Warning: they bite. HARD.



One of our 2 recaps was a female Northern Cardinal.



The second recap was a Common Yellowthroat and another new one.



We thought all of the Northern Waterthrushes were gone. Still got one and heard several during the day.



It is always nice to get a Gray-cheeked Thrush. This is the brief time in the season to find them here as they migrate through quickly



Ovenbirds are always a cute addition to the day.



Finally, we caught a recap Carolina Wren. They have been calling like crazy, but not moving through the lanes much.



Looks like the fronts are shifting. The bigger flow of birds might head down Texas instead of the East coast. We shall see what happens next Sunday.

Today's Totals

Birds Processed	New	Recaptured	Total
Gray-Cheeked Thrush	1	0	1
Ovenbird	2	0	2
Gray Catbird	9	0	9
Carolina Wren	0	1	1
Northern Waterthrush	1	0	1
House Wren	2	0	2
Belted Kingfisher	1	0	1
Northern Cardinal	0	1	1
Common Yellowthroat	2	0	2
Indigo Bunting	2	0	2
Totals	21	2	23

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Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, October 19th.
All nets will be opened by 7:15 A.M.

Peak is Here. We Think...

Peak has been during the 1st week of October forever. However, last year, it slipped back a couple of weeks later. We had an OK catch last Sunday and today was a greater uptick. Are we hitting the peak this year or is there more to follow. Forecasts (Birdcast, etc.) really seem to show that the big push might be early next week. We had planned to band all weekend, but the forecast was for rain all Saturday. Wrong. Should have come out in spite of the 'professionals' call.

We headed out Sunday, instead, and had some wet grass waiting for us. It had rained sometime overnight, but the day was looking clear for the most part. Our first bird was an Ovenbird.



Andrew handled the recording and let Jenny handle the Hot Seat as birds began to hit nets and the crew settled in for a couple of hours processing birds as they streamed to the table in pairs. Next up was a female Painted Bunting.



Common Yellowthroats should have been arriving in the last couple of weeks but they have been scarce. This week they are back with seven captured this morning, including this adult male.



The next Ovenbird popped up quickly.



The following Common Yellowthroat was a (blinking) juvenile male.



Carolina Wrens live here year-round and occasionally we still capture an unbanded adult.



It took several years until we ever caught a Gray-cheeked Thrush. We usually get at least one in October now. Today we had three! No other thrush species was captured, unless you want to say Catbirds are close enough. Gray-cheeked Thrush are very rare for us, overall.



We finally started to get some Northern Cardinals eventhough they have been streaking across the lanes for weeks.



Gray Catbirds are loading up the scrub and surrounding areas and it is even more evident by beginning to band them as they fly about in search of breakfast.



Just as Jenny was about to finish the Catbird, 4 more birds arrived. It is a good morning when a bander cannot get away from the table.



Connie brought in a bird from Net 18. In fact, it is surprising we never caught it in the past couple of weeks since she was seen feeding right there over and over. It was a Black-and-White Warbler that has been creeping all over the Cyress trees.



The second Gray-cheeked Thrush was just a bit prettier than the last. Just an opinion. Perhaps since we had never caught two on the same day before...



Another Ovenbird. The 3rd of four banded today.



The final Gray-cheeked Thrush. Yep. They keep getting more attractive.



House Wrens are streaming in. This was the first of the morning.



Only two Gray Catbirds today, but they are getting here in larger numbers. Will probably get a lot more next week.



Still seems early, but we got another female Indigo Bunting. The weather might work out right that we have a good year for them for once in a few years. The last few years have had us flooded due to hurricanes during their travels. This year is much drier.



Another male Northern Cardinal got some jewelry.



Maybe the most regal looking House Wren in our history?



Another female Painted Bunting showed up along the way. Both Bunting species were being heard all morning.



If it wasn't for the three Gray-cheeked Thrushes, this female American Redstart might have been the Bird-of-the-Day.



She is still very pretty and several more American Redstarts were heard in the trees late in our stay.



Final bird of the morning. One more House Wren.



A great morning and we know of at least three other birds that escaped as we attempted to get to them. So we know we could have had 30 or more birds for the morning. We are sure some other birds escape unseen on any banding day. Best rate in many years and the forecasts show a bigger flow of migrants are headed our way. Fingers crossed for an exciting day next week.

Today's Totals

Birds Processed	New	Recaptured	Total
Ovenbird	4	0	4
Gray-cheeked Thrush	3	0	3
Carolina Wren	1	0	1
House Wren	3	0	3
Common Yellowthroat	7	0	7
Northern Cardinal	1	1	2
Gray Catbird	2	0	2
Painted Bunting	2	0	2
Indigo Bunting	1	0	1
Black-and-White Warbler	1	0	1
American Restart	1	0	1
Totals	26	1	27

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.

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Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, October 18th.
All nets will be opened by 7:00 A.M.

Dodging Another Storm and Getting Good Results

Tropical Storm Nestor threatened to delay our Sunday but picked up speed and cleared out Saturday afternoon. That left the river level higher. A couple more inches of rain would have flooded the bottom half of the banding lanes.



Our first bird of the day was a Gray Catbird. Many more were heard but only one was banded today.



We had our first Swanson's Thrush two weeks ago and it was good to see another after a complete shutout of this species last year.



Right on schedule, female Indigo Buntings dropped in early in the day. While most of the peak birds are two weeks late, Indigos always seem to arrive mid-October.



The next bird was another Indigo Bunting, confirming the data.



That was soon followed by the next Swainson's Thrush.



Did we mention Indigo Buntings?



Connie soon brought up a new bird and quickly headed back down the lane in search of new birds, thinking she had another Swainson's Thrush. Fortunately, it was a more rare bird. A Gray-cheeked Thrush! We seem to get at least one every other year during the migration rush. This is the darkest specimen we can recall.



Our newest interested volunteer, Angela, got to release a couple of birds including our Gray-cheeked Thrush.



Back at the table, the kids opened a chair and found a tiny frog hiding inside. iNaturalist suggests that it is a Rain From. Investigation is ongoing for final ID.



Last week, a large tree dropped across the area of Net 4. That lead us to move that net a few yards away to become Net 25 where we caught a Titmouse last week. Net 4 has not been very productive over the past few years so it was time to try a new location. Net 4 was the net that we caught our very first 2 birds at Lake Lotus, a pair of Cardinals. Sad to see it go, but science moves on. It was also being taken over by vegetation and was difficult to get to after Hurricane Matthew dragged down a large oak across the path to it.



We heard many Common Yellowthroats along the river today, but our sole capture was a juvenile male.



Eastern Phoebe have been calling since last week so it was nice to capture one today. These agile flycatchers avoid nets most of the time and even have been seen sitting directly on top of a net from time to time.



Net 3 snared two Carolina Wrens. Both recaptures.



Carolina Wren Number 2.



Ranger Jason stopped by to check on things and asked about mowing efforts. We informed him that it was a bit overblown at times and said we would set flags and such to mark off where and where not to mow.

The planting ladies took that to heart and headed out mark their territory. Big time!



Our native gardening is now grabbing large portions of the lanes for future native improvements. Now we just to tend the soil and encourage a place for pollinators instead of invasive grasses.



We then received another juvenile male Northern Cardinal.



A nice couple of surprises rounded out the day. First up was a female Black and White Warbler.



Finally, we got a female American Redstart. Andrew heard it calling but thought it was up in the trees. Looking closely, it was actually in Net 13.



Our newly brave youngster begged to release the American Redstart after a while shying away from it in the past. Maybe since his older brother stayed home today. Regardless, another friend of birds is born.



Finishing the post late for an update: Tropical Storm Olga has now formed and will cut out some new birds for the weekend and we will watch the weather leading up to Sunday. For now, will plan on business as usual this weekend. Stay tuned...
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Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday the 27th.
All nets will be opened by 7:05 A.M.