Session 12 Begins

Time to get ready for Session...12. I know our hand-made calendars say Session 11, but triple checking the years, this makes our 12th start. Time flies!

Regardless, we set out the week before to deploy all 10 new nets graciously purchased by Christine and Richard at the beginning of the Summer break.



The previous week, Andrew stopped by to check out the status of the site and found all of the Guinea Grass mowed down last Spring had grown by leaps and bounds.



Thankfully, the rangers found some time in their schedule to swing by and mow the property back to a clearer status.



Oddly, the only thing they did not mow over was a patch of Rhexia, noticed last week, that is blooming between Nets 22 and 10. There has only been one sighting of this flower in the years past that was one flower next to Net 17 just up the rise.



Richard and the crew spent most of the morning clearing Net 4 which is off the main trail and has been overgrown by vines between the Gallberry trees and the pines.



Net 13 has been in a woeful condition for years and Andrew replaced it with Christine's help.



Down at the new end of the lanes, Connie and Phyllis hand clipped the spots that the rangers mower can't reach. Looking forward to some Waterthrushes heading through there in the next week or so.



The opening day of the banding season resumed the following week and, as is typical, found local birds in the nets. Our most common birds for the beginning of August are Carolina Wren and Northern Cardinal. Oddly, Cardinals were rarely heard of seen today. Wrens? We had those, for sure. Our first bird of the day was the first of 4, this one a juvenile.



Our 2nd Carolina Wren was also a juvenile but it was so tangled that we extracted and released it. But it was soon followed by yet another at Net 2.



Connie discovered and Sphinx Moth in Net 22 and had to take care to remove it back into the wild.



Then our 4th Carolina Wren. Another juvenile.



Suddenly, we had a break in the action for an hour or so. Rains had been wide spread this past week and all of the runoff goes right through the property. A week ago the river was at a typical level but today it was creeping higher along the banks.



Good news, as noted on earlier stops over the Summer, is that the Air Potato Beetles are doing quite well all over the property. Most of the potato vines are either skeletal or still being feasted upon. Breeding pairs are all over the place.



Many butterflies are around and Christine got a shot of one of the White Peacocks hanging out by the river.



We ended the morning with the Bird-of-the-Day: a Prothonotary Warbler. Records show we only catch them in either Aug/Sept or April. Migration is on.



Other migrants were seen today, such as American Redstarts. We always forget that they are already on the move. Now we power through the heat and move toward the Fall.

Seems like we have shifted to our usual Florida Summer for once in a long while. Everyone seems to think it is hotter than ever, but if you look back...this is Florida in August. Bring your water and get home before the afternoon!
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Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, August 11th.
All nets will be opened by 6:20 A.M.

A Typical Late Fall Mix

An arriving cold front on Saturday left us with a little rain over the weekend but cleared in time to allow Sunday banding. The remaining clouds were clearing out as sunrise greeted us out at Net 21, the last net in our lanes down at the mouth of the river as it enters Lake Lotus.



Next to Net 10, a White Peacock (Anartia jatrophae) butterfly was sleeping before the sunlight warmed it for the day.



Next to Net 18, in the marsh zone, a Manatee Tree Snail (Drymaeus dormani) snuggled up inside a tree trunk.



Then the birds began to move. It started with a pretty good flow of early risers and our first bird was the first Hermit Thrush of the season. A week late according to our past years here. This was an adult bird and we caught a juvenile later in the morning.



As we like to remind folks every year, we have a simple mantra to remember Hermit Thrushes. "Tail, tail, tail!". It is easiest way to ID Hermits from Swainson's Thrushes by seeing that contrasting red coloring of the tail feathers.



Lynn was extracting the Hermit Thrush when a Gray Catbird flew into the net next to it which Andrew retrieved.



Gray Catbirds are now one of the most heard birds during the dawn chorus but they seem to stay across the river most of the day.



While walking back to the table we noticed our other volunteers at Net 14 where Alease was extracting a Swamp Sparrow.



Swamp Sparrows are back in force for the Winter. With this nice early rush we thought we might have a really busy day. However, it got pretty quiet really soon.



Which leaves time to explore the area for other things in Nature. One of the most seen spiders in the area are Spiny Orb Weavers (Gasteracantha). Typically, we have to work our way around the webs so it was interesting to see one hanging out on a blade of grass today.



A short time later Charles saw what he thought were a couple of leaves falling into Net 22. Instead, they were actually Ruby-crowned Kinglets.



Both Ruby-crowned Kinglets were new females for us. Last week we had a new male which sports the namesake Ruby head feathers.



While at the banding table we heard some rustling through the wooded areas around us. It turned out to be a few Raccoons roaming about. A mother and a couple of kids.



We recaptured a couple of wrens, House and Carolina, before capturing another Northern Cardinal. Twigs at the ready when ever they are in hand. Lynn finally braved the extraction and was rewarded by not getting pinched.



We are still finding Lubber Grasshoppers (Romalea guttata) among the vegetation and this one appears to have reached its final transformation. Note the short flight wings which are incapable of any real flight. Lubbers hop and climb.



Our final bird of the morning was an Ovenbird. Nice to end the day with a warbler.



Another strong front will push through this week and we shall see what shows up for next Sunday. An added plus to this morning was the return of a couple dozen American Robins passing overhead through the day. Waxwings and Goldfinches can't be far behind.
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Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, November 17th.
All nets will be opened by 6:20 A.M.

Session 4 Ends

Well, that wraps up our latest session, the 4th consecutive at Lake Lotus. Now we take a two month break to escape the heat and let the new broods have free reign over their new home and prepare for Session 5 beginning in August. Session 4 marked some surprises and some good data, all of which will be assembled in our Annual Report which will be made accessible through this site as soon as we compile all the information. A post will be made here once that is available.

First, lets delve into our final day at the nets. We had our share of Northern Cardinals, of course, including several juveniles (new and recaptures) and another adult male and female. The female is shown here.



This time of year always allows us to find some interesting insects as we move about the morning. Our first discovery was made by Susan. It is a Curve-toothed Geometer Moth. Very pretty thing.



Red-eyed Vireos are not uncommon in the area but we don't catch a whole lot of them. Always nice to see that bright red eye and those greens and yellows.



Out near the lake we find more fauna to admire. Green Anoles are being displaced by Cuban Anoles so it is nice to find them in good numbers at the park.



Next to the Anole, an Eastern Pondhawk rests on some grasses.



Then another large dragonfly began zooming up and down the river. Taking photos of dragonflies in flight is always a challenge. Andrew managed one fairly clear shot. Still, the trickier part is getting a good ID when you don't really study them. Luckily, we have friends like Randy and Mary who help confirm or outright find the IDs for us. They tell us that this is a Prince Baskettail.



Dragonflies often get caught in our nets which are sometimes a puzzle to extract but it allows us some close looks at them as we do. This very large dragonfly, a Georgia Rivercruiser, was retrieved from Net 10 and brought back to the table for a photo before release.



It was back at the table when the sunshine drew our attention to a flash of color between the trees. The web of a Spiny Orb Weaver made web-bows in the breeze.



A closer inspection shows the smiley-face pattern on their backs. These are very common in Florida.



Back out near the lake we found this plant flowering. Still trying to get an ID on it. New to us.



Andrew's sons joined him today and the youngest noticed some butterflies he admired. On the walk back to the table we were able to get a shot of one of the many White Peacock Butterflies flying around the riverside.



Nearby, a female Fiery Skipper rests among the Richardia.



Oh, yeah. Birds! Our Bird-of-the-Day was brought back by Christine yelling, "Camera!" as she approached. We cannot band hummingbirds (that requires a special permit) but we do occasionally capture them, get some photos, and then release them.



As is often the case, hummingbirds will rest in your hand for a bit before launching back into the air. This female stayed for about 10 seconds.



So, Session 4 is in the books. We even managed to reach a total of 301 captured birds over our stretch of Sunday's and special demonstrations. We will check the totals for the past Sessions and compare this year to previous ones and post that in the report, as well.

You can also check back in the next few weeks. We are hoping to make some other changes to the blog to include more information that will make it easier for visitors to locate us and more detailed contact info. There are some other demonstration opportunities in the wings next Fall which we will detail later.
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Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, August 5th.
All nets will be opened by 6:15 A.M.

More of the Same

Another morning with a good start and then quickly retreating into quiet. Interestingly, we recaptured 2 of the three Hermit Thrushes we banded last week. Can't recall this happening before.

Here, the crew starts processing the first captures of the day.



Many of us are big fans of the Brown Thrasher. We caught 2 today.



Also snagged another House Wren.



Susan got a nice shot of a White Peacock butterfly this morning. They are very common around the end of the net lanes.



However, the most interesting bird today was this Ruby-crowned Kinglet that we recaptures from last year.



We ID'd this bird as a female last year based on plumage but here it shows and distinctive orange crest! Further reading shows that some females do, indeed, sport a few orange feathers from time to time. It will go on the list as a female for now.

Very curious. None of us has ever found a Kinglet with orange feathers before.

Storm Ida clears through this week and should usher in a new cold front. What shall we find next Sunday?
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Next Banding Day: Sunday, November 15th.

We will open nets by 6:20 A.M.