Weeding and Planting and Cleaning

Well, so much for sleeping in on the first Sunday off! Well, a couple more hours of rest but Richard, Christine, Andrew, and Tanka headed out to do some invasive control, tend new plantings and waterings, and to remove some trash from the river. Sit back. Another ton of photos.

We took some 'before' images in some areas, including one of the 5 Sand Cord Grass plantings by Net 19.



Around what will become the area of Net 20, Richard has added 8 new Blackberry plants.



Here, we see a long view of the Red Mulberry and new Blackberry plants along the river. We first used the pink marking flags for plotting where the first net poles would be placed. Now they have become quite handy in marking new and proposed native plants.



The Wild Coffee we planted by Net 12 were having a hard time. Some were continuously dug up and a the others just seemed tired. We have replaced them with Maple-leaf Viburnum. Seems like they could be an interesting addition.



Documentation done, we settle in to our main task of removing Air Potato and Caesar Weed. Once blanketing most of the banks, we have all but eliminated them on this side of the river. Introduced into Florida more than a hundred years ago it is extremely invasive and the rangers don't seem to like them. We have spent several years knocking them back.

Next on the list, Air Potato. We have done a phenomenal job at removing this vine from this side of the river. Most sprouting vines now seem to be from leftover tubers knocked down when we first began removing the sheets of them years ago. Most seem anemic and are not too deep in the ground.



Once a bunch of weeding was done, Andrew wandered down his trail at the end of the net lanes. From one spot there is a pretty shot of cattails and the edge of the lake. If only we could get rid of the condos...



Speaking of Cattails, they are all maturing nicely.



It was hoped that the trail could have been connected to the sandbar at the end of the river. However, the land ends at the mouth of the river with a huge break before reaching the bar. Now we can't sun with the gators...but we can get a nice view.



Next, time to get to unfinished business. Andrew finally brought his boots so he could get to some trash down in the river. Note the wet shirt. Yes, the humidity made it back this weekend.



Down near the end of the net lanes, we have been trying to figure out how to get the supposed boat part out of the river. The water was dropping but we did get rain last week so it was back up a bit. Still, this had to be done. Minutes after sizing up the situation, Andrew tried to pry the back of the debris with one of the net poles.



A good start, but it was still in deep water. Without going all the way in, what to do? A couple minutes later, a way was found across the river and a small piece of the hull was used as leverage to move it higher up into the stream.



Now that it looked possible, Richard climbed down to try and grab an edge.



Success! The huge hull was captured!!



Since no fishing is allowed from this part of the water, Richard and Andrew are proud of their catch for the day.



Finally, Andrew discovered a new addition to the river this morning. Some new gate. It could not be moved so it must have been purposefully anchored since last week.



According to the rangers, they are planning to have carp added to the lake to control some weeds. This gate is thought to be used to stop the carp from moving up river into other bodies of water. We shall see.

OK. Now for sleep for real. Until the next weeding time later in the Summer.

Session 4 will begin on the first Sunday in August. Weather permitting...
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Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, August 7th.

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

Session 3: A Fine Finale

We woke to heavy smoke this morning generated by several fires in the area. They were thought to have been sparked by late storms yesterday. Humidity is up, too. Beginning to sweat at 5:30 AM makes us glad we decided to not band June-July. Today is the last banding day of Session 3 and with a clear radar and all this smoke, could it be a fizzle on the way out? Hmmm...

Susan called Andrew while they were setting nets before dawn. First catch of the day. Already?



Not a bird, but a bat! Not exactly sure which species but there it was. We had some thin gloves but it turned out that we just had to get the strand around the wing free and the bat flew off into the gloom. Whew!

Once the Sun began to rise we caught our first bird of the day. One of the first 4 Northern Cardinals we ever captured here back in 2008. Next up was one of our newer members of the property, a young Carolina Wren.



Things grew quiet and we began to wander and do some trimming and watching Nature. As the Sun crept higher, we could easily see the smoke that was filling our noses all morning. Fortunately, the breezes kicked in and cleared most of it out by 8:30. The stumps in the photo are of invasive China Berry and Camphor we felled a while ago.



Insects for the day included some Lubber Grasshoppers and some Leaf-footed Bugs.



A bit later a Buckeye Butterfly was seen along the lanes.



Bill spent some time trying to get some shots of the fish in the river. A small school of rather nice looking Bass were spotted over what we think is a portion of a boat submerged in the riverbed. We will try to raise it in the future as the river level falls.



There have been an increasing amount of Talapia filling the river, also. Some are huge!



One of the biggest surprises of the morning was Bill's encounter with the resident Bobcat. We have found scat in the area for years and there have been rare sightings by others over the years but we finally got a shot. According to Bill, the cat was spooked by the rangers but reemerged from under the boardwalk to clean its fur and just look around as he tried to get some shots before the cat moved back into the park.



Meanwhile, up in the pines, a Pileated Woodpecker swung in for some food options.



All along the lanes, the Beauty Berry plants are blooming nicely.



We repositioned Net 19 in preparation of adding new plants there soon and headed out for one more net check. Christine noticed two birds in Net 14. We ran to them before they could escape and discovered two Red-bellied Woodpeckers! Net 14 is near a known nest tree this year and we wondered if we could capture any of them. Christine removes one as Andrew gets the other.



Seems we got Dad, noted by the bright red feathers extending all the way towards the bird's bill.



Surprising us was that Dad also has a brood patch.



The other bird was one of the newly fledged chicks!



As we headed back to the table we found a couple more birds. Another Red-bellied Woodpecker from another family. This time a Mom.



She was none too happy and showed it by grabbing Andrew before being released.



We have been hearing young Northern Cardinals back in the woods and were wondering if we would catch one. Today was the day! We caught two!! The females are always a bit more dull but still beautiful.



Young males show more red all over, especially around the head. Both birds show their age by the dark bills that will turn bright red-orange as they become adults.



So, that wraps up the Session. Susan captured the exit march as we headed toward our cars. We all say goodbye to the site for banding until August.



Just outside the gates we found a bunch of Leather Flower blooming along the fences.



We will do some ground work a few times during the next couple months, including adding Sand Cord Grass around Net 19 and replacing the wild Coffee around Net 12 with Maple-leaf Viburnum. Black Berries will be added near the Mulberry trees. Should have fruit all over soon.

Session 4 will begin on the first Sunday in August. Weather permitting...
______________________________________
Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, August 7th.

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

Getting Quiet, Hot

Would it be more babies this week or slim pickings? Unfortunately, the latter. Just not much moving around today as the humidity finally creeps in. We did capture a Brown Thrasher right before sunrise.



It was not in a mood but we needed to tighten that band a bit more.



A bit later we caught one of our adult Carolina Wren pairs together in Net 4 but we didn't take photos as we have plenty of them. However, Maria finally made it back out and took a lot of shots around the riverside. Such as this one showing that the next crop of Muscadine Grapes are beginning to set.



Still blooming strong for another year is the Partridge Pea near Net 2.



Even grasses can be pretty in their own right.



Maria and Susan headed down Andrew's trail that leads to the lake.



Anyone know what the name of this bug is?



An Ichneumon wasp wanders around in search of food. We believe genus Eutanyacra.



We began hearing the now familiar calls of the local Summer Tanagers. Andrew decided to try and get some shots.



However, they stay so far back across the river it is proving difficult. See that tiny red dot...?



Great-crested Flycatchers do come a little closer but not by much.



Meanwhile, a native Green Anole turns from green to brown. Or is it turning brown from green?



Time to go home. One more surprise as we captured a Mourning Dove in Net 18 just as Christine was about to close it up!



Mourning Doves are often too hard to catch as they are too big for the mesh size in the nets but we do get a few.



One more week before the end of Session 3.
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Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, May 29th.

All nets will be opened by 6:00 A.M.

A New First and Some Last Migrants?

Radar looked promising at 4:30 AM. What would we find today? A lot of babies and a new surprise. I will have to save the surprise for the end but it was the first bird captured today. At about 5:30 AM. Can you guess?

We will start with our only migrants for the day. Two adult male Common Yellowthroats. Never get tired of them despite how tangled they can get.



We captured a couple of new adult male Cardinals and one recaptured female. Thought we had caught all of our locals by now. We also captured a number of Carolina Wrens. Two adult recaptures, two juvenile recaptures (banded last week), and 3 new juveniles.

Other baby captures included 3 juvenile Tufted Titmice. A whole family was feeding near the river and Andrew watched as the first two flew into Net 1. He was waiting for more to join them but with Barred Owls around lately he decided to go get them though the owls were not in sight. Anything cuter than a newly fledged Titmouse? We think not.



Turns out that getting them then was a good idea. As the birds were being extracted we heard the adult Titmice getting upset. Not with us. Glancing to our right we found the source of the anger.



Along the way, we caught the two adult Titmice and one more juvenile. One of the adults was actually one of our first Titmice ever banded back in 2008! Family is still going strong.



Ready for the surprise catch? Andrew arrives at the banding site an hour and a half before sunrise to begin setting nets. Based on past capture rates in certain spots, selected nets are set first along the lanes before other volunteers arrive to catch up on the remaining nets and we work our way out to the end and back to the table. Susan arrived a bit later and found our new bird in one of those first nets.

An Eastern Screech Owl! A first ever wild capture for Wekiva banding stations. We do band rehabilitated Screech Owls from time to time. We weren't sure of the disposition of this species so we donned a glove just in case. Turns out this bird was really quite docile.



We were scrambling for size 5 bands as we do not usually stock up on larger sizes out here. The largest we rarely use is size 3 for Mourning Doves.



The owl was banded and so calm that it posed for several photos.



This is an adult Red-morph Screen Owl. Florida also has Gray-morph versions. Like the one Andrew sometimes gets in his yard in Orlando.



Susan got a beautiful shot before the owl was released. It never tried to use its claws but did attempt a quick nip at the gloved hand before release. Gorgeous.



One last shot from the morning. The Button Bush are blooming along the river. Such an interesting flower.



Let's see if we get any last migrants before we begin to wrap up the 3rd Session in June.

NOTE: No banding on the 15th. Rain in the forecast.
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Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, May 22nd.

All nets will be opened by 6:00 A.M.