Noise, noise, noise, noise!

Interesting day. Radar and previous days of scouting suggested that maybe we would might not catch many birds today. On Saturday there were only 2 warblers seen around the area by Andrew. By 5 AM, the radar suggested that most migrating birds had passed by us before the morning. We still had some birds to watch.

Last week most of our birds were recaptures. Today we got some of those but some nice new birds. Included in the new batch were a few Gray Catbirds.



We are still gathering up new Northern Cardinals like this female and another male. Where are they coming from? We were sure we had banded them all. Especially the adults. See that spot on Andrew's finger? That is from the last female Cardinal a couple weeks ago. They bite. HARD!



One nice surprise was a male Black and White Warbler in the center of the net lanes.



Christine arrived after dawn and we set our newest net, Number 19, near the river where we plan to plant Blackberries to do the next experiment. Andrew is seen attaching string to the stakes in hopes of catching something for the morning.



An hour later, we recaptured our White-throated Sparrow that we have had around for a number of months now. Interesting point of this shot is that it shows that the bird has already regrown its tail feathers which were shed during the last recapture. The band proves that it is the same bird.



Down near the pier, Abe and Maggie managed to talk a Myrtle (Yellow-rumped) Warbler into a net for banding. We are hoping that we increase the captures of this species once the Wax Myrtles grow toward maturity.



This just in: Milton Heiberg was at the Orlando Wetlands Festival a couple weeks ago and sent in some shots by request. The biggest thrill of that morning was the captured juvenile Yellow-bellied Sapsucker that morning.



There was a huge crowd gathered at just the right time to see and hear info from Andrew as we banded this excellent bird during the morning.



Lake Lotus was the loudest we have ever heard during our time there. Birds were ever-present and ever-calling all morning. However, they were mostly up in the treetops. It still made for a magical morning of bird watching, if not better bird catching.

Things should get interesting for the next few weeks.
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Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, March 20th

All nets will be opened by 7:00 A.M.

A Little Busier Than Typical

Not bad for a mid-January at Lotus. 14 birds captured though things seemed rather quiet all around. Heck, the Barred Owls didn't even start calling until nearly 9 AM.

First bird of the day was a second-year Hermit Thrush. You can just make out the fading buffy wing tips on this aging bird.



We caught a number of birds in nets that are not often hit, which was nice. Especially when we caught a couple of Carolina Wrens up at Net 2. Both were younger birds hatched in 2010.



Next up, a sibling that is just molting into more adult plumage. The white spots typical of an older bird are just appearing. Other wrens were heard nearby so it seems they decided to hang out in the upland for once.



Another member of the local flock it fashioned with a new band.



We recaptured our White-throated Sparrow from a couple weeks ago. This bird shed its tail feathers as we removed it from the net which does happen from time to time. They will re-grow soon. Nice to see it is still hanging around but we are still hoping for more sparrow species before the season is out.



Ruby-crowned Kinglets were the largest count of the day, accounting for half of the birds captured today. Most were females as usual.



Abe applies the band to one of our latest RCKIs (shorthand for Ruby-crowned Kinglet).



The best RCKI of the morning was a bright adult male. Females still dominate in capture rates but the males are still seen in numbers throughout the mornings.



Watching the temperatures as another cold front approaches. We may or may not band if it gets too cold.

NOTE: No banding this week. Cold front just won't stop!
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Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, January 30th.

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

Short But Sweet

A weak front was forecast to drive through this morning but all of the 'professional' weather folks swore it would bring no rain to us. Wrong. We got rained out before 9 AM! However, we did record a couple of very interesting birds before rushing to get the nets down in the rain. I will go backwards in order of importance...

Last up was a recaptured Carolina Wren. We band plenty so what makes this bird so interesting? This was the 6th time this bird was captured. Still around and still thriving.



The first bird was caught in Net 8. This net held a lot of hope for us as it sits right next to the woods but it is rarely productive. This morning it held a Whip-poor-will.



We just banded a WHIP a couple weeks ago, our second, and figured it was that bird. So, we brought it back to the table with that thought and began the processing. Same bird from then? No!



This is actually the first WHIP we banded over a year ago!!! Caught just 20 yards from where we first got it. Nice data. We even finally managed to get a shot of the gaping maw of this beautiful Nightjar.



After bagging the WHIP, Maggie held another bird in a bag. A surprise. Turns out that Andrew had a dream about this species just a few hours earlier. Coincidence? For the first time ever at Lake Lotus and only the 2nd in the basin that we can recall we caught a White-throated Sparrow! Paul got a shot showing how we were still in need of light just before dawn.



Paul had heard White-throated Sparrows in the area in the past but they are hard to see in the brush. Glad that we all got good looks today.



Now, you can all get a good look right here! Hoping for many more sparrows this year. Swamp Sparrows are down by the lake and Chipping Sparrows are all over the place right now.



Check the date! We will be banding Saturday instead of Sunday ahead of predicted bad weather associated with a new cold front charging this way that might take us all into below freezing temperatures by next Tuesday.
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Next Banding Day: Saturday, December 11th.

All nets will be opened by 6:35 A.M.