As Predicted, Bunting Are Here in Force

Andrew took a walk through the net lanes on Saturday and was greeted by numerous Indigo Buntings along the river. Indications were that we would have a pretty good bunting catch today. The call was out for all who could attend to be there to enjoy the bounty.

Arriving before dawn, Greg, our newest volunteer, assisted setting nets in the dark. The first birds heard, even in the pre-dawn darkness, were Indigo Buntings calling. If you want a crash course on banding at Lake Lotus, arrive early during peak migration weeks in October.



As you can see, our first run was excellent with a lot of species waking up as the Sun rose. A lot of buntings right off the bat. Our two female Painted Bunting were part of this run but the photos didn't work out that well. We caught varying ages of Indigos but we focused on the blue today.



A nice surprise was an early morning Eastern Phoebe. Usually, they start flying later in the morning once the light is better and insects are on the move.



We only captured a couple of Gray Catbirds but one was special. You can't really see it in this shot, but this bird had a very visible gape telling us that this bird was fledged not too long ago and has made it down on its first migration. Confirmed southern records only have Catbirds breeding as far south as Georgia so maybe it was not too far from home.



The early tally was heavily in favor of buntings and we only caught one Common Yellowthroat in the early going. That would change as the morning wore on.



Carolina Wrens were represented, as usual, with some recaptures of our residents.



Charles had just passed Net 2 before Andrew checked it again. There, Andrew found a nice, feisty, White-eyed Vireo waiting in the net.



Common Yellowthroats barely edged our bunting captures by the end of the day. After getting mostly adult birds we managed to get an immature male.



The recaptured male Northern Cardinal avoided the nets for most of the day. We heard him all morning and he actually flew into the net as we began to take them down.



We ended our day with a few more Indigo Buntings and we probably could have sat around and gathered more all day long. However, our hours are limited so we enjoy each bird we can get in our window each Sunday. We took the opportunity of the brighter sunlight to capture the brilliance of the blues visible on even the Winter plumaged males.



We should have at least one more good weekend of buntings next Sunday. Fronts are forecast to push through again and give us drier, cooler temperatures and the possibility of our first Wintering Sparrows. Can't wait!
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Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, October 21st.
All nets will be opened by 6:55 A.M.

Indigo Buntings Return

Still a lot of rain in the area over the past few days. The cold air just can't making it through the stalled front. Another day of wet feet. Though it did see the return of one of our favorite species. The radar looked promising for a busy day as large amounts of birds are now moving more freely as the clouds thin.



As proof, we had a couple good runs right off the bat with a nice mix of species.



Common Yellowthroats ruled the day again and we caught a variety of ages again.



A Gray Catbirds were around but not like the big numbers we usually see this time of year.



Another typical species is still showing up. Ovenbirds are one of our constants from the past couple of months.



Now arriving are the Eastern Phoebes. We caught one younger bird today.



Probably the Bird-of-the-Day was what at first glance appeared to be an Orange-crowned Warbler. Turns out it was a Tennessee Warbler.



This is the first Tennessee Warbler we have banded out here. An excellent capture.



Vying for BOTD are the returning Indigo Buntings referenced in our opening paragraph. They are now being heard and captured up and down the river. First ones we banded were young females.



Fortunately we also captured a male to give us a bit more color.



Our final Indigo was an adult female. If this year is anything like last year, we should be getting a lot of buntings in the next couple of weeks.



In the middle of our morning we caught a female Painted Bunting. Is this the mother to our earlier captured young birds? Perhaps. We do believe they are breeding on site. Now we just need Dad!



To round out our captures, we found a Black-throated Blue Warbler waiting for us in Net 16. A beautiful male.



Another couple of interesting observations were made today. As mentioned, we have still been having rains in the area. In fact, the river was a lot higher than anticipated and setting our last net in the willows was almost not possible. We splashed to it and only had it half-way open.

Next to the trail, a colony of Fire Ants were trying to escape the flood by forming an ant bridge that winded around a several-foot long path.



One close-up shows how thousands of ants gather together, sacrificing themselves for the greater purpose of evacuating the colony.



Some ants organized others while some carried out the larvae to safety. A remarkable sight, overall.



Not too far away, a clump of grasses held up a nest near the mouth of the river. Seems to be rather new as we have never seen it before. Not sure of the species that built it but we are still researching.



A nice day. Finally getting the expected numbers now that the front is slowly falling apart. Just need it to get out of here completely and return more birds. And drier air!
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Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, October 14th.
All nets will be opened by 6:55 A.M.

Familiar Returns. No Flood.

Time for our annual all-weekend banding stint. Typically, this is the weekend the dam bursts and the bird flood in. Peak migration. For the first time in memory, this did not happen.

A front draped itself across the northern Gulf stretching to the Atlantic. Not a huge amount of storm energy but enough to close the door our peak birds use on their ways south. Birds in motion now are using the route through Texas.

However, we did capture some birds that made it through. One of the species returning right on time is the House Wren. We started catching them on Saturday.



We have been hearing Brown Thrashers for weeks but they have been able to avoid the nets. Until now. We recaptured this bird that we first banded last year.



Common Yellowthroats are still in the area but not much of anything is flying this weekend. We captured a few over the weekend.



Surprise of the day was catching another young Painted Bunting in the same spot we caught an even younger bird a couple weeks ago. There must be a nesting pair right around us somewhere.



Sunday was just about as quiet as Saturday. We were joined by Nancy and Bill LaFramboise who wanted to check out out operation. Nancy recently acquired her banding permit and will be starting a station in Stuart, FL. we let her sit in for a few birds and we provided information about birds we have discovered over the years.



We captured another young male Cardinal.



This bird was undergoing a tail molt which you can see nicely in this shot.



As we were trying to figure out what was flying up in the oaks at one point, a Gnatcatcher basically fell into the net in front of us.



A nice female American Redstart joined us for a short visit. Looks like she could use some fresh tail feathers.



The White-eyed Vireo we caught was a very young bird. It loved to nip. Here is a little behind the scenes view of our typical photo sessions.



And here is the view from the other camera.



Still collecting Ovenbirds throughout the morning.



The day ended with a Swainson's Thrush, most of which have been down in net 8 which is located in the pine area of the lanes.



We will watch a slow moving front this week and hope that it clears enough to allow better migration traffic for next weekend.
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Next (planned) Banding Day: Saturday, October 7th.
All nets will be opened by 6:50 A.M.

A Nice Variety But No Flood Yet

It seemed like today might be a big day based on findings in the area yesterday but the front that had been stalled over Florida for a week finally broke and allowed birds to continue South. Seems a lot took advantage of the good winds but we still had a good day.

The morning started with a rush. We captured another Veery on the first run.



In the same net, just feet apart, we got out first Swainson's Thrush of the season. We caught another Swainson's later in the day.



We have been hearing Brown Thrashers in the brush for the past few weeks. One of our birds we banded previously decided to make our acquaintance again.



The next run included one of two Ovenbirds for the day.



Common Yellowthroats ruled the day for the second week running and we managed to band a wide range of ages, from the youngest of males...



...to a slightly older one...



...all the way to a full-grown adult. We also captured females, too.



Last week we captured a few White-eyed Vireos. The majority of them were juveniles. Today we caught adults. One early in the morning...



...and another not long before we left.



Blue-gray Gnatcatchers are notoriously difficult to capture. We saw several escape nets last Sunday and once they figure out where a net is you can watch them fly headlong at it and then suddenly hover, change direction, and go right over or around it. Today, however, one was not paying attention. She is a pretty little bird.



Finally, what day would be complete without a visit from our local Carolina Wrens? We had some recaptures and a new bird to join the other family members in having some 'jewelry'.



Historically, next weekend is the peak rush for Fall Migration. As we usually do, we will band both days to try and capture as many birds as possible before they all clear through. It is always a hit or miss affair. If we are not there on the right day, we are left with meager banding subject. Being optimists, we prefer to think of our nets as 'half-full'.
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Next (planned) Banding Day: Saturday, September 29th.
All nets will be opened by 6:45 A.M.