"I'll be in Seminole County, Officer..."

Some of us, including the Master Bander Andrew, live in Orange County which is currently under a Stay at Home order. This means that residents are encouraged to stay in their homes as much as possible unless they have an essential need such as food, gas, medical, or required to go to work. Lake Lotus Park is in Seminole County just across the line and do not share those rules, yet. We decided to head to the banding site while we can.

Glad we did. Gave the few of us that will be attending some fresh air and we got to collect some more data. Practicing Social Distancing, of course. This Sunday showed that Gray Catbirds are getting restless as they represented the most captured species of the day.



Our first bird of the morning, however, was a juvenile Brown Thrasher born last year on property.



The 2nd new Gray Catbird of the day.



That was soon followed by a recaptured Hermit Thrush.



Gray Catbird number three. All three of the first Catbirds were new. We actually recaptured all of them as they headed, each after banding, through the brush and into Net 2. Silly Catbirds.



We recaptured a juvenile Carolina Wren to keep the totals going up.



Connie and Christine found a Coral Snake slithering through the grasses near our native planting gardens. Red next to yellow says 'stay back'!



Our fourth Gray Catbird was a recapture. They are also being seen at local bird feeders more frequently as they fuel up for trips north.



Right as we were finishing processing the Catbird we heard the pit-ti-tuck call of a bird we had to think about. Ah! A Summer Tanager returning home!! It was a First Spring male by plumage which is a mix of reds and yellow before it turns a brilliant red by the time it molts into its adult feathers.



Once it found a convenient spot high in the trees the Summer Tanager began singing its heart out.



It moved around to a few trees by the table, singing and preening, until it began chasing of a pair of Northern Cardinals back into the woods. It was a great addition to the day. Great-crested Flycatchers have also returned and are 'wheep!'-ing all over the property.



Connie found another local bounding around the lanes. A Leopard Frog.



A second juvenile Brown Thrasher was banded today. It was in Net 16 just like the first bird. Must be near the original nest area as they were hanging out there often.



Two male Northern Cardinals were brought in and Lisa got to process them. The first was a recapture.



The second was a new bird and got its band before release.



As we closed up for the morning a House Wren was found in Net 21 near the lake. They will be headed North soon.



While we wrapped up at the table, Christine noticed an American Alligator down in the basking spot. It seemed smaller than Pat, who hangs out here the most. Perhaps it is Dana?



We will monitor the orders for Seminole County through the week and check in with the rangers to see if the park remains open. If so, we will hope to be out next weekend as migration ramps up. If not, the blog will be updated accordingly.

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!
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Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, April 5th.
All nets will be opened by 6:40 A.M.

Getting Quiet, Hot

Would it be more babies this week or slim pickings? Unfortunately, the latter. Just not much moving around today as the humidity finally creeps in. We did capture a Brown Thrasher right before sunrise.



It was not in a mood but we needed to tighten that band a bit more.



A bit later we caught one of our adult Carolina Wren pairs together in Net 4 but we didn't take photos as we have plenty of them. However, Maria finally made it back out and took a lot of shots around the riverside. Such as this one showing that the next crop of Muscadine Grapes are beginning to set.



Still blooming strong for another year is the Partridge Pea near Net 2.



Even grasses can be pretty in their own right.



Maria and Susan headed down Andrew's trail that leads to the lake.



Anyone know what the name of this bug is?



An Ichneumon wasp wanders around in search of food. We believe genus Eutanyacra.



We began hearing the now familiar calls of the local Summer Tanagers. Andrew decided to try and get some shots.



However, they stay so far back across the river it is proving difficult. See that tiny red dot...?



Great-crested Flycatchers do come a little closer but not by much.



Meanwhile, a native Green Anole turns from green to brown. Or is it turning brown from green?



Time to go home. One more surprise as we captured a Mourning Dove in Net 18 just as Christine was about to close it up!



Mourning Doves are often too hard to catch as they are too big for the mesh size in the nets but we do get a few.



One more week before the end of Session 3.
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Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, May 29th.

All nets will be opened by 6:00 A.M.

An Interesting Flurry and Brand New Captures

A pretty quiet day. Migration has nearly run down. No Catbirds captured and they are typically the last to leave. So, we settle in for a couple weeks waiting for babies and seeing what else we can net. Should be locals for awhile.

In fact, the first bird was a Carolina Wren which actually managed to escape the bag as it was being brought back to the table. Shortly, thereafter we think it was the same escapee we caught before. An adult recapture. Andrew got the bird processed as William looked on.



Next, William got to release the bird back into the wild.



Grew quiet again for a while but we soon made a great capture. A pair of Great-crested Flycatchers! We would rarely caught some at Wekiva but these are the first for Lake lotus. Abe and Susan got to remove them from the net.



We have been waiting for this high-flying bird to drop lower as they are all over the park right now. Maybe we can get them to use on of the bird boxes this year.



Abe banded one bird and Maggie got the other. Maggie has accepted a job up North so this was her last day with us for now. She and Abe began their visits with our first ever Whip-poor-will and they get to leave with our first Great-crested Flycatchers. Nice bookends, yes?



We will miss you Maggie!

Flycatchers are amazing birds. Glad we got some good close looks this morning.



As Richard adjusted some nest boxes in the area he discovered some Flying Squirrels in box #4. A good chance for others to see these cute little natives. William got the first opportunity to head up the ladder to get a glimpse.



Here is what a resting bunch of these nocturnal creatures looks like in a bird box.



Other things were on the wing like dragonflies. Many were released after getting tangled up. However, it seems one could not escape before being attacked by a Yellow Jacket!



In another sign of predation, a caterpillar was found covered in wasp eggs down the net lane. The young will emerge and feast on the helpless caterpillar.



We weren't done with birds yet. We caught our 3rd Downy Woodpecker of the season. Another nice male.



Pairs are feeding young right now in several spots. Maggie wanted a shot of that dinosaur foot.



As we began to wind up the morning we started to hear a long-forgotten call. Andrew was sure it belonged to Summer Tanagers. After some careful watching, we finally spotted at least 3 chasing each other through the oaks. Bill got a distant flash of red in the branches.



Below, Alligator Gar cruise the river.



Other woodpeckers are raising young, too. Red-bellied Woodpeckers are finding nesting cavities down the net lanes.



We decided it was about time to go home as we watched the Tanagers when Christine yelled out, "Birds!". In net #4 there was our first expected group of Carolina Wren babies all within inches of each other.



They seem a little overdue, but these birds do seem older than ones we have captured in the past so it makes sense. Note the yellowish gape still present on this bird.



As we point out, Carolina Wrens acquire more spots as they age. House Wrens, on the other hand, loose their spots. This young bird was just starting to get those spots that will get larger as it grows.



So many photos, you might think we had a nice busy day. It was pretty quiet, actually, with 9 birds processed. Still an interesting morning. Next week is suppose to bring a couple of fronts and it should mark the end of Spring migration. Then we settle in for the increasing heat and wind down the season.

More installed native trees are in place. In August we will plant some Blackberries and prepare for the next session, possibly adding one more net to bring our total to 20.

Now we wait for missing rains.
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Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, May 8th.

All nets will be opened by 6:10 A.M.