Post Matthew Recon

Hurricane Matthew caused a lot of havoc throughout the state but, fortunately, most of the interior of the state just had to deal with wind and rain. Power loss was minimal and downed trees were far less than feared. It didn't seem like that much rain over the past two days. With the bulk of the storm well to the North, Andrew headed to the property intending to simply drop off a new pallet near the lake. The first sign of weather was the tarp on the table had been blown off despite pretty heavy anchors on top.



Once he rounded the bend below the table it was clear that a simple task was going to be a little harder than expected. A large oak had fallen across the net lanes directly between the poles for Net 15. No other trees, including the dead snags we would expect to be brought down, had succumbed. Just some smaller branches and leaves scattered about.



Just past the tree one of the educational docks was nearly engulfed. During a dry season the river bed is 8 feet below this deck.



The Closed sign out front was not just window dressing. The river was indeed flowing over the banks...and straight toward the center of the park.



The pallet would never reach its intended destination. The water was backed up beyond Net 9 and close to Net 14. That leaves a total of 9 nets now out of the picture for banding tomorrow and this is prime territory for Fall birds. Sigh.



Nets 16 and 17 might be reachable from another angle. Will have to consider carving a path through the woods to get around the pools.



Heading back to the car Andrew got one last look at the swollen river as it flowed under 414. The water came up high enough to flood back into the tram tunnel that runs under the highway making it impassable for guests even if they were allowed inside the park.



Here at Lake Lotus we consider our nets half-full and hope for the best. The water is bound to drop some overnight. It is just a question of how much? Cold front is on the way. Bringing with it a LOT of migrants. Thanks for nothing, Matthew.
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Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, October 9th.
All nets will be opened by 6:55 A.M.

The First Wave Subsides

Common Yellowthroats were our highest total again today but overall numbers were much lower. Glad we came out Saturday!



Northern Cardinals have been very vocal the past few weeks but they have been feasting on berries up in the trees. Today we recaptured an adult male.



There was a nice surprise. A Worm-eating Warbler, our 4th ever captured at this location.



Then, just when you are trying to get your photo taken, some Human has to photo bomb ya!



A Northern Waterthrush added to our migrant count. Still only hearing a sing Gray Catbird out there. Where the heck are they?



Nick, Connie, Chris, and Avery help out as Andrew quickly processes and releases birds.



Out along the net lanes, Maria was being stalked by a native Green Anole.



Not as many Ovenbirds captured today but always a delight.



A Carolina Wren banded earlier in the year is molting into more adult-like feathers.



For the second day in a row, the final bird captured was a juvenile male Common Yellowthroat.



Lynn found our Barred Owl pair nuzzling each other.



Not a bad weekend haul. Numbers should continue to increase as we head toward the middle of October. Indigo Buntings should arrive soon. Still, where are those Catbirds?

NOTE: Hurricane Matthew may cancel our weekend. Stay tuned...

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Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, October 9th.
All nets will be opened by 6:55 A.M.

Migration Right on Schedule. Mostly.

It is the very first on the month and our bags were filling up early. Only three of us were available so it was a bit hectic but as long as we could keep up it was alright. The most interesting bird today was only due to its absence. No Gray Catbirds. Typically, this is when we begin to get them in large numbers. Zero today.



Common Yellowthroats were the star of the show instead. All plumages were represented but females were the majority.



Our next migrants were Ovenbirds.



Juvenile male Common Yellowthroats were runner=up to the females.



We captured our first of the season House Wren. Kind of forgot about them for a brief second.



The Veerys have passed through and now is the time for the next thrush species. Swainson's Thrush.



Yet another surprise early on. A female American Redstart. Not that we don't expect to catch any but she was in the most out in the open net we have. Usually they are tucked into the branches snatching insects.



The other thrush moving through are Gray-cheeked Thrush.



We don't get a lot of this species so it is nice to get a good close-up.



Our 4th Swainson's Thrush of the morning.



White-eyed Vireos have been moving through for a few weeks and start calling just after sunrise. This young bird, told by its darker eye coloring, joined us for a few minutes.



Ranger Frank stopped by the check on the proceedings. He arrived in time for our first of the season Black-throated Blue Warbler.



This was a younger male Black-throated Blue Warbler. You can tell by the flecks of white on their throat.



October is the prime month for buntings and we captured a beautiful female Painted Bunting in Net 17.



Local birds were heard calling all day but we caught only one. A Carolina Wren we banded in September.



Appropriately, our final bird was another juvenile male Common Yellowthroat.



This was an extra day on our schedule to make sure we cover migration as it is peaking. Tomorrow is our scheduled Sunday. Can't wait to compare captured rates for the whole weekend.
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Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, October 2nd.
All nets will be opened by 6:50 A.M.

Migrant Numbers Climbing

Still having to deal with wet shoes. Sigh. Bird numbers are on the increase though, so we can deal with it. Common Yellowthroats were the most numerous captures today, starting with a female at dawn.



Another migrant flew in. A very fluffy Ovenbird.



Brown Thrashers have been teasing us for months. The adults have been flying and landing on branches just over the nets and they breed here. Finally, we caught one of the new kids.



An adult male Common Yellowthroat hit the nets after a few females.



Our new visitor, Connie, got the job of releasing most of our birds today and was thrilled to let our Common Yellowthroat and others back into the woods.



Northern Waterthrush are still moving through and this bird was beautiful from top to tail.



Carolina Wrens are calling all morning but not moving too much. This bird was very clingy but eventually joined our data.



This female Northern Cardinal is actually a hatch-year bird. You can't see the black specks all over the bill in this shot but she was definitely born here earlier in the year.



White-eyed Vireos began calling soon after sunrise. This bird was full of fat and a definite migrant.



We knew it was just a matter of time. Our first of the season Gray Catbird hit the net today. Now we get ready for the onslaught in the next couple of weeks.



We were surprised that our day was full of new birds with new recaptures. Eventually, we recaptured a male Northern Cardinal as the morning wore on.



Just like last week, the young male Common Yellowthroats seemed to be sleeping in today. Our final birds we young males. This one was very young.



The final Common Yellowthroat juvenile had more of the 5 o' clock shadow.



NOTE: We will be running all weekend for the next two weeks for peak of season. We are close to getting more varied species including Indigo Buntings, Eastern Phoebes, Thrushes, and other migrants for the rest of the month.
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Next (planned) Banding Day: Saturday, October 1st.
All nets will be opened by 6:50 A.M.

Ramping Up to Fall

Fall cannot get here quick enough. It was another warm and humid morning and the cicadas were loud early on and into the afternoon.

Topping our list today was the Carolina Wren. Oddly, all were recaptures dating from as early as last month to two years ago.



Veerys are still moving through the property and it shouldn't be long before we begin getting other species of Thrush.



Ovenbirds also continue to migrate in. Many of them stay here through the Winter.



It was very evident that Common Yellowthroats are on the move South. We captured five this morning and managed to cover all three plumage variations from adult male,...



...juvenile and adult females...



...and immature male. Even though a few remain year round here, you can tell when the migrants are streaming through.



Red-eyed Vireos are flooding back into the property and we see them up and down the river. A few are captured but most stay high in the canopy.



Chris also spotted a lingering Great-crested Flycatcher. We still hear a couple but they won't be around too much longer.



Another species on the move is the White-eyed Vireo. They were calling right after dawn and we captured three of them today.



We can share one more cute Ovenbird to finish our day.



Capture rates are on the increase and should continue well into October. Hopefully, a little cooler weather will return, too.
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Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, September 25th.
All nets will be opened by 6:45 A.M.