Migrants Increasing and a New Surprise

Radar was buzzing in the pre-dawn hours giving us hope for more birds today. They did not disappoint! Plus, we captured a bird we have never caught before but that will show up later in the post. Looks like our friends from the other side mowed the net lanes making our shoes not quite as wet but the recent rains still made for a soggy morning.

To start off the morning, we recaptured a female Northern Cardinal.



Arriving on schedule, we captured two Ovenbirds this morning. Actually, we spotted an Ovenbird a week ago but it avoided the net by 2 feet.



Down at Net 18 we found a Northern Waterthrush wrapped in the net. At the same time Andrew noticed another bird at the other end of the net that was a bit of a surprise. Again, we will get to that bird near the end.



Walking the net lanes, we discovered a bright spot on a tree halfway down. This fungus was very spongy to the touch and had a bright glow even in the shade.



This fallen bit of oak hosted a clump of Resurrection Fern. This fern also covers many trees in the region and gets its name due to the fact that in drier times it appears dead but seems to come back to life once the rain falls.



Another young Carolina Wren joined us soon afterwards. We have seen our other banded Carolina Wrens hanging back in the woods so it was nice to get another new bird banded and to see that the families are still thriving.



It had been a while since we were getting birds near the table but today we caught a couple in Net 11 including this lovely White-eyed Vireo.



It must be a migrant since it was loaded with fat.



Maria snapped a shot of Ivana and Susan as they walked the lanes and talked about the issues of the day.



As the day warmed the butterflies and other insects emerged to feed. One favorite spot is next to Net 14 where a large growth of Spanish Needles and Scarlet Morning Glories are in full bloom and the Swallowtails are feeding.



Nearby, a beautiful Damselfly rests on a leaf. They often join us at the banding table, too.



O.K., the big reveal of our Bird of the Day. As mentioned earlier, as Andrew was extracting the Waterthrush from the net he noticed another bird at the other end and hoped it would not escape before he could make it over to it. However, it was heavy enough to be kept from getting out. Our new bird was a Green Heron!



Don't think we have to check the records to assume we have never caught one of these birds before. We did catch a Great Egret at a demo in Orlando Wetlands Park a few years ago but wading birds are usually too large and too far away to net.

Net 18 is situated next to a swampy area near the end of the area where the Little Wekiva River reaches Lake Lotus where Waterthrushes, sparrows, Common Yellowthroats and even the Green Herons feed. We placed it here earlier hoping to get the Waterthrushes (which is working out nicely!) and hope to get more new species as the year continues.



Green Herons are fairly secretive and skittish. We often see them through the branches from time to time and today we also noticed two in that area. Usually we only have one.



A head-on veiw makes our new bird look a lot more like a chicken.



We always note how bird feet resemble dinosaurs and the heron often grabbed Andrew's fingers as we got our quick shots.



Unfortunately, our permit does not allow us to band wading birds (or endangered species and waterfowl) so all we could do was admire this gorgeous bird a bit before releasing it back near the spot that we found it.



Overall, a great early September morning of banding! If the schedule holds based on the past few years, we should see Veerys returning this week. Weather looks to be perfect for migration for the foreseeable future!
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Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, September 18th.

All nets will be opened by 6:40 A.M.

Better Late Than Never

Oh, how we waited.

Hopes were high as the radar showed migrating birds were splitting around Tropical Storm Lee to the East and West. By the early hours, however, the storm had closed the door on the East and pushed everything West, as shown in this screen grab.



So, what to do? Patrol and let Maria take photos. Like this beautiful shot of an opening leaf along the trail.



Humidity was still high as seen in this shot of a Skipper on a grass blade.



One of the sights that captured Maria's attention the most was a fly on some other grasses. Still more curious about what those little red bugs are...



Nearby, a Lubber Grasshopper tries to hide in the Red Cedar we planted earlier in the year.



Not giving up, the rest of the team walked the lanes and Andrew hacked through the growing grass and weeds.



Growing along the riverside, Wild Balsam Apple, considered an invasive weed, opens its pods to reveal seeds ready to continue the next generation.



Oh, yeah. We are out trying to catch birds. Sadly, as the radar reference indicated, we had next to none. Even the local birds were quiet for much of the day. Then, as we were closing up for the morning and reached the very last net to gather, Richard called out if any of us would like to remove a bird from the remaining net. Well, sure! Our one bird of the day was a Red-eyed Vireo.



We gathered the remaining net and headed to the table to band our catch. A nice adult as told by the bright red eye. Younger birds have a brownish eye.



Another point of interest was the very high level of fat on our new arrival. Loaded to the brim!



Another week of waiting for the wave of migrants!
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Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, September 11th.

All nets will be opened by 6:40 A.M.

More Migrants Arriving

We spotted a lot more migrants around the net lanes today. Unfortunately, they were just stopping long enough to grab a quick bite before heading directly to the South and not coming down into the nets. Oh, well. It was a pretty good day to bird watch.

Our one migrant of the morning was our 3rd Northern Waterthrush of this Session. Bill had photo duties today and did a great job getting some shots of our birds.



Our other birds today were a couple of Blue Jays. The first was a younger bird captured near the pier. The first hint of it being a young bird was noticed as soon as we got it out of the bag. Notice the grey wash on the top of the head.



Other clues to determine young Jays are that the juveniles have a lighter lining on the roof of their mouth as shown here. As the birds mature, the upper lining turns black.



Lastly, we also noticed that this bird was still acquiring new upper wing coverts.



Our other Blue Jay was an adult we first banded 2 years ago. Blue Jays are common here but we have only captured a half-dozen in the past 4 years. This adult seemed to have either some mite infestation or was heavily molting its head feathers.



Here is a close-up of the feathers coming back in on the top of its crown.



As previously mentioned, we spied a lot of migrants during the morning. Bill and Andrew enjoyed really nice views of a male Northern Parula feeding oh-so-close to Net 5 for a while. Another feeding flock moved in soon in which we found our first Ovenbird of the season and a number of Red-Eyed Vireos, one of which landed close overhead.



Other migrants seen today were Prairie Warbler, American Redstart, Blue-grey Gnatcatcher, Yellow-throated Warbler, and a remaining Ruby-throated Hummingbird.

Looking forward to the migrant count to keep growing and hope to actually band some of them. One month from big numbers.
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Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, September 4th.

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

One is the Lonliest...

Shhh. Quiet. We don't want to wake the birdies. Or maybe they just aren't here! Very low activity today left us with only 1 bird captured during our visit today.

Around 9 AM we caught our sole bird: a female American Redstart.



At least we managed a migrant. There are bird calls in the woods and there are some warblers high up in the trees but not much at ground level.



The Scarlet Morning Glory is blooming nicely right now. Up in the trees above this area we watched as about a dozen Northern Parula and a striking male Prairie Warbler gleened insects from the branches.



A wide variety of grasses are producing seeds right now. Just in time for the new visitors. We need to start getting IDs on all of these species!



Looking like a burst of fireworks, the Sensitive Briar plants are spreading throughout the area and exploding with bright pink flowers.



Oh, well. One is better than zero. We know the migrants are on the way. Perhap the departure of Hurricane Irene will usher in a better haul next week.
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Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, August 28st.

All nets will be opened by 6:30 A.M.

Quiet, Yet Exciting

Had a couple of surprises today. The first was the fact that the weather was fairly tolerable today as opposed to last week's sauna we slogged through. The other was a bird we captured, only one of two(!), but we will save that one until the end.

Right around dawn, a Northern Waterthrush flew into Net 10. This one was much more whitish than last week's yellow version we usually see in this area.



While Maria was on net patrol she heard some splashing at the river bend. She feared it was a gator but the suspect popped up for a couple of seconds revealing it to be one of our playful otters.



Heading back up the trail she spotted a male Pileated Woodpecker working through the dead tree snags.



Far below the woodpeckers, plants like the Golden Oxeye easily grab one's attention. They bloom year-round.



Meanwhile, Susan found other things to take photos of near the flowers. Skippers of many varieties visit throughout the year.



Oh, yes. I almost forgot. We caught another bird, didn't we? Maria came back toward the table with a bird she described as a cute little yellow thing with a yellow mouth. Hmmm... Warbler? Nope. A flycatcher!



We have captured Wood Pewees and the occasional Acadian Flycatcher but this bird seemed different. Definitely the flycatcher bill and the olive back like most Empids.



There is that yellow mouth that Maria was noticing. Flycatchers have slightly different colorations on and in their bills.



Flycatcher IDs are tough in the field and even in the hand. The easiest way to ID them is by their different vocal calls. However, most don't call often once they arrive in Florida. If they do, we are not used to the sound so it is of little use. Instead we have to take measurements or the tail and winds and consult our birding guides.



One descriptive ID note kept being found in different books. "No other flycatcher has a yellow throat". However, we know that some juvenile Acadians DO have a yellowish wash for a while. We will also send out the photos to Bruce Anderson who is much more skilled with flycatchers so we can get a more official call on this bird.



So, for now, we are sticking by our ID of a...Yellow-bellied Flycatcher! It would be a first for most of us. I hope we are correct.

Update: Call is official.



Many warbler reports are pouring in from around the state so fingers are crossed that we can manage to capture a few next time.
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Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, August 21st.

All nets will be opened by 6:30 A.M.

Session 4 Begins!

You never know how a day is going to go but none of us expected to be soaking wet from sweat before 6 AM. It rained fairly hard the night before and the morning heat made everything nice and humid. Before long we were all dripping. Much like the Tangerines...



Tree removal folks swung through last week and it appears they did little damage. They did run over one of the Cord Grass plantings and squashed the fruiting Wax Myrtle but it could have been worse. Weirdest part was finding a stump that used to be on the other side of the river blocking our access to Net 18.



We cut a new access point and waited for the birds to show up in the damp conditions. The bat we caught at dawn didn't count. Soon afterwards, we did get two babies. A Carolina Wren and this female Northern Cardinal.



All of the water is making everything spring back to life up and down the river. The Summer flowers are in bloom, including the spreading Passion vines. They used to be only near the front gate but are now popping up in several spots along the net lanes.



Not much seemed to want to fly about today. Can't really say we blame them. However, just as we were about to call it quits, we did get our first migrant of this new session. A Northern Waterthrush was captured in Net 18. Waterthrushes are why Net 18 is there in the first place as it sits next to a swampy area that floods during the rainy season. A favorite spot for this species.



We are also hoping for Louisiana Waterthrushes. The Northern variety are usually more yellow and have specs all the way up the chin as shown here.



We had had enough. The day was called a little early in fear that someone might drop from the oppressive conditions. Even the bees were looking for some shade.



Hoping for a bit more comfortable environment next Sunday. Not really counting on it...
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Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, August 14th.

All nets will be opened by 6:25 A.M.

Final Spruce Up

Richard, Christine, Tanka, and Andrew headed out today to put the finishing touches on the nets lanes before next week for the opening of Session 4. No bears. Frank managed to get the mower in and did a great job clearing the net lanes for us. Then we got to business in the heat and humidity.

Richard and Christine head to the end to begin the next watering rounds. We now have nearly 60 native plants which are all doing well so far.



Summer flowers are blooming. Near Net 8 there are a bunch of St. Andrew's Cross (left) and St. John's Wort.



The never-ending process of weed control continued. Frank brought over some spray and we hit the unwanted plants hard.



Meanwhile, Andrew hacked away at any plants that would interfere with the nets by clearing things out from between the net poles.



A good find by Net 10. One of the Wax Myrtles is loaded with berries already! Maybe we can get some Myrtle Warblers this year.



The only dangerous part of the day was when Andrew nearly stepped on a Coral Snake on the way out. Cute but deadly.

A lot of birds around. More than 2 weeks ago. A good sign. Reports are already filtering of migrating warblers entering the state. Hope we can get off to a great start next week. Time to oil up the pliers!!
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Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, August 7th.

All nets will be opened by 6:20 A.M.

A Checkup of the Lanes

We stopped by the site today to see how things were going. Since the rain has returned the plants have taken advantage. River is very high. Two days ago, Richard and Christine watched Tanka tree a Momma and two cubs of the Black Bear variety! No bears today.

Looks like we will need a bigger mower. The lanes are grown up all the way to the end.



Richard planted a few more Elderberry around Net 11 and we all pulled some Ceasar Weed and Air Potato. While assessing the thought of what might happen if the county actually comes in to clear some fallen trees from the river we also cleared some areas of dead and broken palm fronds (most likely from the bears looking for food).



As Richard cleared some grass from the edge of the river he discovered what appeared to be a burrow. Perhaps a den for some furry mammal?



Three more weeks until the new session begins!
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Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, August 7th.

All nets will be opened by 6:20 A.M.