Slower, Yet Interesting

Still a ton of birds up in the trees. Species counts were interesting and there were probably more American Goldfinches in the area than in years past. They are loving the Willow trees right now. We did find scat from possible bears and Bobcats along the trail.

Good early surprise was our first Ovenbird of the season as the first bird of the morning.



Soon afterwards, we caught a recaptured Carolina Wren.



Loads of caterpillars were witnessed today. On leaves, on tables, on chairs, floating down from threads. One of the early shots was one of the Tussock Moth caterpillars clinging nearby.



Over at the Mulberry trees we noticed a number of Eastern Tent Caterpillars spinning webs among the leaves. We wonder if they will eat the leaves of our new plants but they do not seem to be eating any of them.



Hopefully they are just setting up house and will leave our plants alone. We will keep monitoring.



The most exciting part of the morning was capturing a pair of Downy Woodpeckers at the same time. First shot is of the noisier of the two, the female.



The male was about two feet next to her in Net 9. Males are told from females by that bright red patch on the back of the head.



These birds were very digital-aware, meaning that they, like a number of warblers, seem to hear the digital signals of the cameras and tend to begin flapping when the shutter is depressed before firing off a picture. A lot of the shots end up like this.



Abe and Andrew had to constrain the bird's wings to get a side-by-side shot before release.



Way cool. What could be cooler? On the way out of the banding site we came upon a very interesting and unexpected view. A Red-eared Slider laying eggs way up on the side of the river bank. For reference, the river at this point is about 20-plus feet up a high bank from the river.



We will continue to monitor this spot also.

Rains are on the way. Big fronts are projected to be here all next week. How will the weather change things by next week? Stay tuned!
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Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, April 3rd.

All nets will be opened by 6:45 A.M.

Busy but No Big Surprises

Last week we had a ton of photos but fewer birds. This week we switch it up an you. More birds but fewer photos. We were busy! Seemed like a day at the old Wekiwa Springs trail where we picked up at least one bird every trip down the lanes.

We captured a lot of adult Catbirds heading home, a new Brown Thrasher, a Blue Jay recaptured after being banded a year and a half ago, a new Carolina Wren, a recaptured House Wren, some recaptured Titmice, and the biggest surprise was a recaptured Hermit Thrush. Thought they would have flown home a while ago!

We figured you all know what those birds look like so we weren't focused on focusing. Forgive us this week. Susan did photograph one of the interesting bits of fauna, however. With all of the oaks blooming and sprouting out, many Tussock moths were seen in the area.



Meanwhile, back at Maria's house, Carolina Wrens have made a home and deposited a few eggs.



Nearby, Mourning Dove chicks are trying to force out some feathers.



New Life all over the place. Definitely Spring.

Next week is the Earth Day event in the park proper. See below for more info!
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Next Banding Day: Sunday, April 25th.

We will open around 6:30 A.M. but the event does not begin officially until 10:00 A.M.

However, there is an early event scheduled for bird watching which begins at 7:30 A.M. See this link for more information.