Swamp Sparrow Day

Turned out to be a fairly quiet morning again.

Minutes before sunrise, we captured a Swamp Sparrow.



A bit later we recaptured the sparrow again and a recaptured White-eyed Vireo.

One of our new visitors, Falon, got to release the Swamp Sparrow.



The White-eyed Vireo.



At the end of the day we caught another Swamp Sparrow. This was a recapture that we first banded two months ago.



We are not banding next Sunday. Staff shortage.

Today's Totals

Birds Processed	New	Recaptured	Total
Swamp Sparrow	1	2	3
White-eyed Vireo	0	1	1
Totals	1	3	4

______________________________________
Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, January 25th.
All nets will be opened by 7:00 A.M.

Pretty Quiet, but a Couple of Birds of Note

A very quiet morning. Nothing but locals calling for a while. Did all the migrants fly right past us? Feels like it.

As we waited for sunrise, several people wondered about the next bird to arrive. On schedule, it did.

Our first Hermit Thrush of the season was captured a bit later. "Tail, tail, tail." The rufus tail feather confirm this bird.



Only a couple of Gray Catbirds were calling and we only ended up with two.



Two House Wrens, also. Some are still singing.



Two Common Yellowthroats, an adult male and an adult female.



We haven't caught Swamp Sparrows since we first set up Net 26 since last December. We caught two today in Net 14, much farther up the river than usual.



Weather and migration has been weird this year. Who knows what we catch next week as cold fronts shift in and out for a while.

Today's Totals

Birds Processed	New	Recaptured	Total
Hermit Thrush	1	0	1
Swamp Sparrow	2	0	2
House Wren	2	0	2
Common Yellowthroat	2	0	2
Gray Catbird	2	0	2
Totals	9	0	9

______________________________________
Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, November 9th.
All nets will be opened by 6:20 A.M.

Picked up Before Christmas.

A little busier today. Hope it stays that way since this is going to be the first December we can band all Sundays since the holidays happen in the middle of the week.

Our first bird was a recaptured Northern Cardinal. In the poor light it was difficult to read the band numbers. We all need new glasses...



We caught a couple of Hermit Thrushes today.



Eastern Phoebes were very active this morning. We ended up with three of them.



A fiesty male Common Yellowthroat was next. He kept nipping at fingers and trying to get the camera lenses.



It has been a while since we have had a White-eyed Vireo. This one is a juvenile. You can tell because the iris is not white yet.



House Wrens are moving around a little more right now.



We caught Carolina Wrens, too.



Two Yellow-rumped Warblers were chasing one another near the lake and both were caught. One was a bird we banded just last week.



Andrew decided to set a new net closer to the lake along the river. It was not long before we caught a Swamp Sparrow. A bit later we also had one of the 3 Phoebes.



Now that the new net will be up the same time as the others at dawn, hopefully we can get even more birds out by the lake.

Today's Totals

Birds Processed	New	Recaptured	Total
Carolina Wren	1	1	2
House Wren	1	0	1
Eastern Phoebe	3	0	3
Northern Cardinal	0	1	1
Hermit Thrush	2	0	2
Yellow-rump (Myrtle) Warbler	1	1	2
White-eyed Vireo	1	0	1
Swamp Sparrow	1	0	1
Common Yellow-throat	1	0	1
Totals	11	3	14

______________________________________
Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, December 15th.
All nets will be opened by 7:00 A.M.

Heading Into Migration

Nice to be back out after so many rainy Sundays. Dawn chorus was very loud but not too many birds were flying. Everything seems to be looking like breeding is on.

Connie called that she had a bird in Net 14 and thought it might be a Swamp Sparrow. Indeed it was! Usually they are lurking down by the lake's edge but this one ventured up the river.



Jenny always thinks that her bird photos make them look like Muppets. Because she makes them stare into the camera that way.



Our new volunteer, Alex, got to release our first bird of the day.



Soon afterwards we had a House Wren.



Northern Cardinals very loud right now as they set up house. We captured a male and later a female with a begining brood patch. Babies are on the way.



Gray Catbirds are heading out next month but we did hear them and got two today.



Blue-gray Gnatcatchers are also getting louder and busier. We usually don't catch them until they get distracted by chasing one another around. Today we got a nice adult male.



You can easily tell the adult males by that bold eyebrow. He was a great looking guy.



Caterpillars are dropping out of the trees. Food for all the migrating birds, but sometimes they fall on us banders. Like this Eastern Tent Caterpillar.



Time to head out and see if our luck holds out so that we can band again next Sunday. Should be a nice day and we look forward to arriving migrants.

Today's Totals

Birds Processed	New	Recaptured	Total
Northern Cardinal	1	1	2
Swamp Sparrow	1	0	1
House Wren	1	0	1
Ovenbird	1	0	1
Gray-catbird	2	0	2
Blue-grey Gantcatcher	1	0	1
Totals	7	1	8

______________________________________
Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, March 24th.
All nets will be opened by 7:10 A.M.

Waiting For the Next Wave

Things are settling in for the season and still a little quiet.

Our first bird right after dawn was our 2nd Swamp Sparrow in two weeks. Odd thing is that is was in Net 8 which is right next to the woods. Why is a Swamp Sparrow coming out of the woods? Should be out by the the water. Strange.



Next up, a Hermit Thrush recapture banded exactly one year ago in the same spot it was first caught. We are very interested in this kind of data showing birds show site fidelity over the years.



Juvenile Carolina Wrens are out and about. Like this recaptured bird.



A recaptured female Northern Cardinal arrived soon afterwards.



House Wrens have been laying low and we only got one today.



Hermit Thrushes should have been here a few weeks ago. Our second was a recapture from 3 years ago, also in a net where it was first captured.



Then, a male Northern Cardinal recapture hit the nets.



Finally, another juvenile Carolina Wren, first banded this Spring, was processed.



We hope this front clears in time for next weekend and brings more migrants our way. It should be a nice day, weather-wise, regardless.

Today's Totals

Birds Processed	New	Recaptured	Total
House Wren	1	0	1
Hermit Thrush	0	2	2
Northern Cardinal	0	2	2
Carolina Wren	0	2	2
Swamp Sparrow	1	0	1
Totals	2	6	8

______________________________________
Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, November 19th.
All nets will be opened by 6:20 A.M.

A Quiet (but interesting) Start to November

We hit a slow spot after the great run through October. Now we wait for the next wave. There was still fun to be had.

Our first bird was a juvenile Gray Catbird. It posed nicely to dislay the inside of its bill. We use this to quickly age Catbirds. When they are young the lining is white-ish/pink and by the time they are adults it becomes completely black.



A lone female Indigo Bunting was up next.



While half of us were spread out through the property it seems like there was a bit of excitement back by the table. There was a pair of Bald Eagles having a disagreement and one of them hit Net 3! Jenny tried to keep it in but it soon extracted itself and flew off, leaving us a little net repair. Loads of Eagles are arriving to nest and fighting for territory is fierce.

Then things grew quiet for a while so we busied ourselves with some vine trimming and bird watching. Eventually, we caught a Swamp Sparrow. For the last couple of years this species and stayed right at the lake's edge. This bird came up the river to join us.



Our new visitor, David, got to release the Swamp Sparrow.



George has been here several times and finally mustered the courage to release his first bird. It was a Common Yellowthroat. (Psssst! He liked it!)



As we were closing up, we could hear Lynn yelling at Net 7. It soon became apparent it was because a bird was biting her as she was attempting to extract it. The angry bird? A recaptured Tufted Titmouse. They like to bite.



But Tufted Titmice are very cute when they want to be.



Hopefully, next Sunday will pick up more. We are still waiting for several species to arrive.

Today's Totals

Birds Processed	New	Recaptured	Total
Common Yellowthroat	1	0	1
Gray Catbird	1	0	1
Tufted Titmouse	0	1	1
Indigo Bunting	1	0	1
Swamp Sparrow	1	1	2
Totals	5	2	7

______________________________________
Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, November 12th.
All nets will be opened by 6:15 A.M.

House Wren Party

A busy day at the banding site today. Many volunteers and visiters with a steady stream of birds all morning.

Not going to detail everything from today as most of our birds were House Wrens. But we did start the day with a Gray Catbird.



Our newest volunteer, Rachael, got to release the Gray Catbird and others throughout the morning and plans to be a steady volunteer working towrds toward starting her own banding project in the future at the Orlando Airport.



Then the House Wrens began and did not let up across our time here this morning. We ended up with 12 today. This is the most House Wren activity we have seen in years. Typically we have a couple a day into Spring, but they are everywhere so far this season. We won't give you a ton of them in photos. They all look alike.



Next up, Common Yellowthroats started hitting nets. The adult males and females are arriving and we had 5 today.



We then caught a new Swainson's Thrush.



Grasses are in full bloom and we are beging to see, and catch, Indigo Buntings. Just two females today. Many were seen feeding along the lanes and we hope to get a lot more in the coming weeks.



We did manage to recapture a Carolina Wren along the way.



Just before the end of the day we got our Bird-of-the-day. The first Swamp Sparrow we have had in a long time. Previous years have reshaped the landscape and kept the sparrows out by the lake. Now they might be moving closer with new grasses springing up.



Still have some time to bring in new migrants next Sunday. Waiting on hearing Kinglets and Robins soon and then we wait for Yellow-rumps. Stay tuned!

Today's Totals

Birds Processed	New	Recaptured	Total
Common Yellowthroat	5	0	5
Carolina Wren	0	1	1
Gray Catbird	4	0	4
Swainson's Thrush	1	0	1
Indigo Bunting	2	0	2
House Wren	10	2	12
Swamp Sparrow	1	0	1
Totals	23	3	26

______________________________________
Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, October 29th.
All nets will be opened by 7:00 A.M.