Lets Go Muddin'!

A lot of water is still moving North and out of the area. Not as much as we would like yet as we cannot get to 4 net positions still. The river has receeded a lot but it left behind a nice layer on mud throughout the bottom end of the lanes. We will take a look at some of that mess, but first...!

Not long after we set all of the nets that we could, our first capture of the morning was discovered in the dark. A Flying Squirrel! Not the first time we have trapped them. Don't worry. All you have to do is hold the net open a bit and they climb right out and hop back into the trees.



So, back to the river. We posted this shot from last week just below the banding table. Note the pale tree trunk on the left.



Almost the same view a week later. The water has receeded at least 4 feet here and all of the vegetation that was underwater is dying off.



THis the river side of Net 19.See that big open pool of water? THere used to be a giant oak tree that stretched form the park side to our side. It is completely gone now. The force of water is amazing.



We were able to set nets down to Net 22. The lanes were pretty wet and muddy starting at Net 9 (two nets before 22) so, as the light was coming up, Andrew spent awhile cutting palm fronds for a bit of protection from the grime.



A closer look reveals muddy footprints that were made securing the fronds to the slop.



Now we could get to banding. Our first bird of the morning was a recaptured Carolina Wren first banded in September.



We had several visitors today and Janine got to release our Wren.



There are now a few sandy beaches along the river and the Limpkin pair were patroling them early in the day.



What is one thing that Limpkin eat? Apple Snails. Traveling the paths and showing how high the water was, a clutch of Apple Snail eggs are high up on tree. They lay eggs just above the water.



Next bird up was a female Common Yellowthroat.



Janine's daughter, Alyssa, got to release her.



Only heard a couple of Catbirds. Weird. They should be flooding in by now. But, at least we caught a Swainson's Thrush.



One of our other visitors, Margret, got to release the Swainson's Thrush.



A couple more observations by Lynn and Kate. The first was a strange looking instar caterpillar, thought to be that of the Hag Moth (Phobetron pithecium)..



Then, they found a pair of Zombie Ants. They are made into 'zombies' by being infected by a fungus called Cordyceps. Here is a link to an interesting article about it.



Time for a walk toward the lake to check the status of our unopened net positions. Passing Net 13, we look back to the river and see that all of the grasses along the banks have been flattened or washed away. Bye, bye, Bunting food.



This shot is just past Net 10 (seen in the background). More flattend vegetation and more mud.



Turning to the right, the fairly new section of the boardwalk shows missing boards. Probably a lot of the boardwalk is damaged throughout the park.



Nets 18 & 24 are on higher ground and we just had to remove some debris. We should be able to get out this far next Sunday.



Looking across the river at 24 you can make out the mud on the Cypress branches indicating the water got at least 4-5 feet higher than where the water is now. Wow.



Everything past here is still really flooded. Who knows when we will be able to check on our last net position. But, look! Our bridge is still here! Though currently pressed against some trees.



Back to the birds! We recaptured an Ovenbird first banded 5 years ago as an adult. Meaning this bird is at least 6 years old.



Nalida called for some assistance to get a bird out of Net 13. Turned out to be a Northern Waterthrush.



Our final bird of the day was a male Black-throated Blue Warbler.



This was suppose to be one of our busiest weekends. With this moonscape right now it is not surprising that we are so slow. Perhaps next Sunday.



Today's Totals

Birds Processed	New	Recaptured	Total
Ovenbird	0	1	1
Carolina Wren	0	1	1
Swainson's Thrush	1	0	1
Black-throated Blue Warbler	1	0	1
Common Yellowthroat	1	0	1
Northern Cardinal	1	0	1
Northern Waterthrush	1	0	1
Totals	5	2	7

______________________________________
NOTE: Due to the new CDC recommendations, if you are fully vaccinated you are not required to wear masks, esp. at outdoor events such as ours. Get your shots and come on out. Otherwise, bring a mask. All current members at Lake Lotus are fully Vac'ed.
______________________________________
Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, October 16th.
All nets will be opened by 6:55 A.M.

Ian's Aftermath

We can all agree on one thing. The weather today was gorgeous! However, the Lake Lotus property was not. We only were able to set half of our nets today due to the flooding of the Little Wekiva. Some of the poles were bent over, including Net 12 that suffered a break right at the rebar line. Had to reset that one.

We could not see the river as we walked in and began to set nets but knew there would be a terminous that we could not pass at some point. Where that was was unclear. Until we got to Net 1 and just beyond. Can't get past Net 8, which we set in spite of the water. Wet shoes were going to happen, anyway.

Here is the view from Net 12 just after dawn.



Looking down from Net 8 across our garden. Totally flooded down stream.



Just at the end of Net 8, a large pine has dropped. Fortunately, it fell into the woods.



Earlier storms dropped trees into the lanes. Lucky that this one leaned right. However, there is a tree leaning from the back of the lanes which we will have to watch for a while near Net 25.



We captured a couple of new Northern Cardinals today. Bite you? Yes.



Gray Catbirds have been calling for the past month so we were surprised that we had not caught any yet. But, right on time, we got them in the nets during the beginning of the month.



Once the light came up, we could see the full extense of the flooding. This view is looking over the river from just below the table and into the parks tram lane. The water in the river is typically 8 feet below the banks here.



Some of our Cherry trees were broken over into the river.



The overlook from the park side is under water. Looks like much of the park is, too. Probably why we haven't heard from the rangers yet. Bet they cannot get in there at all right now.



We soon got our first House Wren of the season.



Common Yellowthroats are fewer now than in past years, but we got at least one today.



Next, we caught a new juvenile Brown Thrasher. They are calling all along the river.



We caught two new Tufted Titmice today. Both were caught in the same net but an hour apart. Usually we get a bunch all at once.



Though the flooding was very evident, we did not have too much debis down around the area. It looked like this from Lake Lotus into downtown Orlando. Just a bunch of small stuff. Fine by us.



However, looking across the rising waters, we could barely see the bench on the mulch path beneath the owl nest tree.



We captuered two Carolina Wrens today. A juvenile and an adult first banded 4 years ago.



Speaking of recaptures, one of our birds was an Ovenbird, first banded as an adult in 2016. That makes this bird at least 7 years old.



Connie planted Wild Coffee next to Net 25 a year ago. They are now fruiting, which should be good for our arriving Catbirds.



Caught earlier in the day, but Bird of the Day, we had another Worm-eating Warbler. Our third of the season, seems like they are growing more common than in the past.



Every one wants a photo of this nice bird in the hand.



Hoping that the waters have dropped in the past week. We want to get nets up at least to Net 13. Betting Net 21 is a total loss at this point, but we shall see. Get ready for some mud!

Today's Totals

Birds Processed	New	Recaptured	Total
Ovenbird	1	1	2
Carolina Wren	0	2	2
Grey Catbird	3	0	3
Worm-eating Warbler	1	0	1
Common Yellowthroat	1	0	1
Brown Thrasher	1	0	1
Tufted Titmouse	2	0	2
Northern Cardinal	2	0	2
House Wren	1	0	1
Totals	12	3	15

______________________________________
NOTE: Due to the new CDC recommendations, if you are fully vaccinated you are not required to wear masks, esp. at outdoor events such as ours. Get your shots and come on out. Otherwise, bring a mask. All current members at Lake Lotus are fully Vac'ed.
______________________________________
Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, October 9th.
All nets will be opened by 6:50 A.M.

More Rains, More Migrants

Another week of heavy rains kept us from the lake area again. We did have some fun birds along the way, though.

The river waters are way up. Standing water starts, as always, at Net 13 and works its way down toward the lake. This view is from Net 24 looking back toward Net 18.



Pivoting to the left, the water in the Cypress marsh is creeping up from the other direction.



Nets set, we carried on. Our first bird of the day was a juvenile Carolina Wren. Four Wrens were captured thoughout the day.



Most Northern Waterthrushes are found in August so it was nice to have one today.



Ovenbirds are all over the place this time of year. We captured 3 new ones this morning.



Common Yellowthroats have been rather sparce this season. This is only the 7th of the Session. Usually we have tons of them by now.



We did catch our 2nd Worm-eating Warbler for this Session. Always a nice find.



One would think our Cypress tree marsh would be a perfect spot for Prothonotary Warblers to breed, but they do show up during migration, instead. Guess we will take this time with them.



A migrating White-eyed Vireo was processed today. Used to be a lot more of them this time of year. Still, peak time is about to be upon us. See if we get more.



Our calendar bird from last year was a Veery but we had not captured one this month until now. Started to worry they would be be around this year. Next up are the other thrushes into October.



Fall is here. In Florida, that means...not much. Should be a bit warm still and hopefully a bit more cooling breeze here and there. New bird species should be moving in soon.

Lets enjoy this weekend. Hurricane Ian is projected to hit us mid-week. Might mean we don't get back to Net 21 anytime soon...or many of the nets. Everyone stay safe during the end of September!

Today's Totals

Birds Processed	New	Recaptured	Total
Ovenbird	3	0	3
Carolina Wren	4	0	4
Prothonotary Warbler	1	0	1
Worm-eating Warbler	1	0	1
Common Yellowthroat	1	0	1
Northern Waterthrush	1	0	1
Veery	1	0	1
White-eyed Vireo	1	0	1
Northern Cardinal	1	0	1
Totals	14	0	14

______________________________________
NOTE: Due to the new CDC recommendations, if you are fully vaccinated you are not required to wear masks, esp. at outdoor events such as ours. Get your shots and come on out. Otherwise, bring a mask. All current members at Lake Lotus are fully Vac'ed.
______________________________________
Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, September 25th.
All nets will be opened by 6:45 A.M.