Indigo Buntings Rule the Day

So, we head out in hopes of Buntings and we were not totally disappointed. Indigo Buntings made up the highest number of birds today but we didn't see or catch any Painted Buntings. The Indigos were in all ranges, like this female.



Only one adult male was caught and he sported a punk haircut.



Several HY individuals rounded out the range.



The second-highest total was of House Wrens. Some we even caught twice on the same day! They are moving in all over right now.



One of our recaptures was one of our local Northern Cardinals.



One of our other migrants showed up where we expected. Net 18. Made for catching Northern Waterthrush!



Another recap, a Carolina Wren. We caught several local recaps and one twice.



Still not seeing any male American Redstarts out here but we have a lot of females.



Conversely, it seems we catch male Black-throated Blue Warblers and not females. Other sightings nearby are exactly the opposite.



Charles spotted a Downy Woodpecker near Net 5 but it flew on past. Image our surprise when we did catch it a bit later. A lovely female.



Always present, but rarely caught, another member of the Tufted Titmouse family was added to the daily count.



A very pleasant surprise was in Net 3 just below the banding table. Our first of the season Eastern Phoebe. It was nice to hear their calls along the river today.



Even better, our first ever capture of a Magnolia Warbler. This female was hanging out near the Holly and Fennel in Net 15.



Such a lovely little warbler.



As we began closing up for the morning, Andrew recognized a shape out of the corner of his eye. Down in the river, at the mouth of the stream leading from Bosse Lake, an alligator was sunning in the water. It later continued up stream. This was the closest to the table that we have seen one. No wading for us!



Finally, since they did dominate the day, another view of one of our Indigo Buntings.



Another big patch of rain is due this week and a new front should start our days heading into the 50s in the morning. Fall is really here. Can't wait for next week!
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Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, October 23rd.

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

Bald Eagle Banded at ARC

We got a request to band a Bald Eagle at the Avian Reconditioning Center as they were planning on releasing it back into the wild. Richard and Christine headed out today and went about the process.



The Eagle was an injured individual and thought to be a migrant from the Mt. Dora area just to the North. It is thought that the bird was injured in a tussle with another eagle as its talons were all scraped up.



Now that the injuries seem to be healed, the bird was banded and was planned to be released back in the Mt. Dora area very soon.

UPDATE: The Bald Eagle was released successfully!

A View of the Flood

Andrew here. I went out today to see how much the river had risen after our 3-day rain event. Orlando recorded about 7 inches of rain in that time. A large amount of the water run-off goes into the Little Wekiva river and through Lake Lotus. My quick estimate is that the river is up about 4-5 feet since we were last out.

Bosse Lake is just across the highway from the Lotus area and when it overflows it sends water into the Little Wekiva at this point. Normally, this stream is often just a tiny trickle. Today it is full.



At the base of the Barred Owl nest tree, the river is nearly flowing onto the mulch path that runs along the river within the park.



I headed down the lane and was greeted by the sight of where the river had breached the bank and right up to Net 13. Historically, this is where the river always spills over and then runs toward the back side of the lake.



Beyond there, I could not reach Net 10 or 18. Net 10's poles are about a foot deep under water.



I could make my way through the vegetation to reach Nets 16-17. They were still high and dry but just barely. When the lake gets full it backs up into a swampy area where we get most of our Waterthrushes. This shot is from the end of Net 17. I have never seen the 'swamp' this far up.



A tight shot down across from Net 18 shows that the water is nearly to the base of the pier entrance. Usually, the water is several feet below the bank at this point.



Wished we could have been banding today. There are a lot of birds all along the river today including House Wrens and Common Yellowthroats. Here, a male Common Yellowthroat popped up near the banks.



This is the peak season for Buntings and I saw several flocks of Indigo Buntings and a couple of male Painted Buntings. They were all feeding on the Guinea Grass seeds so I couldn't get a clear shot but they are there.



Loads of other birds are there, too, and hopefully they will stick around and have more join them by Sunday. Weather is forecast to be excellent.
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Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, October 16th.

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

First Wave of Migrants Already Gone

Bummer. We were hoping to continue our streak of large captures but this morning turned out to be quiet. Seems most birds have moved on from the first wave and are currently hugging the east coast of Florida and streaming down to the Keys and off to the South. The calls of the Yellowthroats have subsided but we did still manage to net a couple.



For the past 2 weeks we have watched as a Brown Thrasher was sitting in Net 13 in the same spot. Each time it escaped before we could grab it. Today, we got it! In fact, we captured two different juveniles throughout the morning.



Adding a little more color today was another female American Redstart.



She was very bright and a nice capture for the morning.



Overall, very slow. However, Indigo Buntings are being heard closer to the nets and we hope to start our wave of them next week. That is if the rains don't wash us out. Check back by late Saturday to see if we can still band next Sunday. Could be a front washing over us and the winds may be high enough to force us to sleep in.

UPDATE: It is official. We are sleeping in. Heavy rains and high winds are forecast through Monday. Hate to miss one of the peak weeks, but...
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Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, October 16th.

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

The Push is On!

The first cold front of the season was bearing down on us so we decided to add Saturday to our banding schedule this week. Good call! The weather was a bit more crisp and it was a joy to not sweat all day long. This could have been the first big push we were waiting for and our very first haul was growing every minute. Here is the first row of bags and more were streaming in not far behind.



One of the first birds we captured was a new Ovenbird. It was just after dawn so the photo isn't that great but good enough.



Common Yellowthroats were calling from one end of the river all the way down to the lake. They made up our largest count for any species but we did end up with 12 species which is nice to see.



We caught some Gray Catbirds which have arrived right on schedule but did not take photos. There will be plenty of them all the way through April. Also on schedule were the House Wrens.



Among the local birds we caught were a couple of Blue Jays. Andrew was wearing his Jay Watch shirt on this unscheduled day instead of the standard uniform of choice.



This one insisted on this pose for a while before being released.



Somewhere along the way we discovered a snake hanging out by the table. O.K., it was just a rubber version brought by Richard and Christine. No actual snakes were seen today.



Though not often captured here, Blue-gray Gnatcatchers often swarm the trees so it is nice to capture one along the way.



In the net right next to the Gnatcatcher was an American Redstart. Only seeing females right now.



Susan found this caterpillar along the net lanes. any clues? We are still searching for an ID. Pretty, though.



Adding to the species list, we caught a White-eyed Vireo. We have a local group that never seems to get the true white eye, even as adults, so we have to take a bit more care on aging them by examining their mouth lining which changes as they age.



Always a favorite, Black-throated Blue Warblers are among the most beautiful migrants we get to band.



Throw in some recaptures and a few more local birds and we had a pretty good day. Indigo Buntings and Blue Grosbeaks were seen near the lake and we hope to catch them soon. We shall see tomorrow if this was the big wave or if more are on the way.
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Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, October 2nd.

All nets will be opened by 6:50 A.M.

A Soggy End to September

For the past couple of nights, Central Florida has been in a pattern of Sea Breeze storm system that have begun late in the afternoon and last well into the night. We weren't expecting the clear skies by morning to leave us with such a saturated banding site before sunrise. Must have really rained here because our feet were soaked from beginning to end. Though the stars and rising moon shined brightly, every tree still dripped from the deluge.

This meant that birds may stay put until the day warmed up. A few did venture out, but we actually did not capture our first bird until nearly 2 hours after we began. A few birds were bathing and preening but not much was flying about. Many Common Yellowthroat were seen and heard as were the locals. The owls and hawks made fly-bys to find their spots for the morning but our first capture was a new female Northern Cardinal.



Kind of a surprise to see unbanded birds still around. They must have had some good broods the past year or so. We even caught another second year female later. A Northern Waterthrush was spotted just around dawn down by Net 18. Two hours later, we had it at the banding table. Through the fogging camera lens (oh, it was humid) it says, "Let me go!" which we did immediately after this shot.



As mentioned, Common Yellowthroats were heard early in the day and they continued calling all morning. Eventually, we captured a female that was feeding closer to the banding table in a net that is historically the best spot for this species. We hope to get more next week and should be seeing buntings very soon, too.



A couple of birds were seen escaping capture including a Brown Thrasher (which often escape due to their size). Soon after that loss, however, we caught one of our favorite birds, a Black-throated Blue Warbler. This adult male was a very bright spot during the soggy day.



There were some feeding flocks that teased us for a while. Mainly Tutfed Titmice, White-eyed Vireos, Yellow-throated Warblers, and Carolina Wrens. Next week, October will finally arrive. The first couple weeks of October are typically the peak of migration season for land birds here. Last year was our biggest totals for single days at Lotus. Fingers are crossed to surpass that now that we have even more nets.
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Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, October 2nd (maybe another day if the radar looks like the push is on!).

Update: We will band Saturday to try an get any new migrants riding this cold front. Both days will start at the same time.

All nets will be opened by 6:50 A.M.

Veery and Yellowthroats Return on Time

The morning started well enough and then fell flat right at 9 AM. No real good explanation. There was a circling Cooper's Hawk near the end of the lanes but birds just went silent all along the river. Weird.

However, right on schedule, we caught our first Veery of the season right after dawn.



Also arriving in numbers were the Common Yellowthroats. We caught many this morning and others were seen and heard along the river.



Among the birds that we captured, we also netted a Green Darner dragonfly. Dragonflies and beetles are often caught up in the nets this time of year and we do our best to release them unharmed.



Down in the Morning Glory area near Net 14, the insects were showing up in large numbers. Some of the prettier finds were Tiger Swallowtail...



...Long-tailed Skippers on the Spanish Needles...



...another skipper...



...and a Scarlet-bodied Hawk Moth which we first found last year and is seen this time of year feeding on certain plants along the lanes.



We are still capturing Northern Waterthrushes at the end of the lanes like this one.



Got another Northern Cardinal and a new juvenile Carolina Wren to round out the day.



Our final photo is of a fern we found just beyond the net lanes. If anyone knows the species, please let us know!



Next up on the schedule should be buntings. Last year we were sighting and capturing Painted Buntings during the week of the 25th. Plenty of food waiting for them!!
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Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, September 25th.

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