Recaps Only

Another quiet day at the site. Some flyovers newly arrived warblers, mostly Northern Parulas, but very quite.

First bird up was a Gray Catbird.



Next up was a recap Carolina Wren first banded not too long ago.



Our newest volunteer, Jeffery, got to release the Carolina Wren.



Last bird of the morning was a female Northern Cardinal. Jeffery and Andrew managed to get bitten as she was released.



Spring migration is right around the corner but it might take a few more weeks to see bigger results. Fingers crossed as this late season has been so slow.

Today's Totals

Birds Processed	New	Recaptured	Total
Gray Catbird	0	1	1
Carolina Wren	0	1	1
Northern Cardinal	0	1	1
Totals	0	3	3

______________________________________
NOTE: Due to the new CDC recommendations, if you are fully vaccinated you are not required to wear masks, esp. at outdoor events such as ours. Get your shots and come on out. Otherwise, bring a mask. All current members at Lake Lotus are fully Vac'ed.
______________________________________
Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, March 6th.
All nets will be opened by 6:15 A.M.

Locals Only But New Arrivals

A quiet day with light fog began our day, but all things were still. We had hopes for an interesting day. However, only locals were captured today. Waiting on the begining of the Spring turn.

First bird brought up was a new Carolina Wren.



Connie's brother, Fred, was in town and got to release the newly banded bird.



Brown Thrashers were heard calling all along the property today and we did manage to get a couple. Both were first banded in 2019.



Our other new visitor, Alex, got to record data and release one of the adult Brown Thrashers. We look forward to seeing her return next month!



Despite a slow morning, we did notice a number of species today. Other birds seen were a Swainson's Thrush, Orange-crowned Warbler, and more as we await the next round of returning migrants. Northern Parulas are back, too.

Today's Totals

Birds Processed	New	Recaptured	Total
Brown Thrasher	0	2	2
Carolina Wren	1	0	1
Totals	1	2	3

______________________________________
NOTE: Due to the new CDC recommendations, if you are fully vaccinated you are not required to wear masks, esp. at outdoor events such as ours. Get your shots and come on out. Otherwise, bring a mask. All current members at Lake Lotus are fully Vac'ed.
______________________________________
Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, February 27th.
All nets will be opened by 6:20 A.M.

No Banding February 13th

2022 is not the best for us so far. Rain projected all morning. Not risking bird safety and volunteer happiness. Maybe next week.

Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, February 20th.
All nets will be opened by 6:30 A.M.

No Banding February 6th

Wishy washy. Not taking a chance. Sleep is good.

Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, February 13th.
All nets will be opened by 6:35 A.M.

Waves

Back to the grind with winds predicted. Fortunately, they did not pick up too hard until a bit later in the day but the lake side was very tough to band as winds poured in from the East. So, we had waves of birds all morning.

We started our day with a Gray Catbird.



Second up, Connie found a Common Yellowthroat and she and Andrew extracted it fairly quickly. They sometimes twirl in as they fly but this male adult was not too difficult to bring in.



We had a recap Carolina Wren and then had a new Western Palm Warbler.



We were glad to have Lynn come back into the fold for the day. She was one of our best volunteers and does a great job of finding all kinds of bugs during the net checks. Today she found some dragonflies hunkering down during a chilly morning and then spotted a new caterpillar for us amoung the leaves. A Unicorn Caterpillar.



The day had become very quite so we decided to close up a bit early. As we were beginning to close the nets, Jenny returned with a smile and 2 bags. She had two Blue-gray Gnatcatchers. Jenny and Thomas sat down to record the new birds.



Blue-gray Gnatcatchers are very rare to capture. They can see the nets very easily and avoid them for the most part. For some reason we got 4 today!



Another Western Palm Warbler was captured between the Gnatcatchers.



A pretty good day for chilly and windy conditions. A good start to the 2022 season.

Watching the weather for next Sunday. Please make sure to check the blog before you head to the site as rains are scheduled in weird forecasts through the weekend.

Today's Totals

Birds Processed	New	Recaptured	Total
Gray Catbird	1	0	1
Common Yellowthroat	1	0	1
Carolina Wren	0	1	1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher	4	0	4
Western Palm Warbler	2	0	2
Totals	8	1	9

______________________________________
NOTE: Due to the new CDC recommendations, if you are fully vaccinated you are not required to wear masks, esp. at outdoor events such as ours. Get your shots and come on out. Otherwise, bring a mask. All current members at Lake Lotus are fully Vac'ed.
______________________________________
Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, February 6th.
All nets will be opened by 6:50 A.M.

No Banding January 16th

This storm will not change course or timing. We sleep in. Maybe next Sunday.

Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, January 23rd.
All nets will be opened by 6:50 A.M.

Let the New Year Begin

A quiet start to 2022. Fog couldn't decide what to do and the day was cool and later breezy. We did manage a few birds captured but all were recaptures. We had two birds that escaped as we went in to extract them, but most birds were feeding up in the sunshine through the morning.

Connie and Andrew got a Common Yellowthroat out of Net 22 just after dawn.



During the rest of the day we did have our hands on a couple of Carolina Wrens. Both were young recaptures.



Technically 5 birds if you count the escapes. Hoping for a better result next weekend if the rain that is predicted doesn't happen. Please check the blog before you head out in case we have to cancel.

Today's Totals

Birds Processed	New	Recaptured	Total
Common Yellowthroat	0	1	1
Carolina Wren	0	2	2
Totals	0	3	3

______________________________________
NOTE: Due to the new CDC recommendations, if you are fully vaccinated you are not required to wear masks, esp. at outdoor events such as ours. Get your shots and come on out. Otherwise, bring a mask. All current members at Lake Lotus are fully Vac'ed.
______________________________________
Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, January 16th.
All nets will be opened by 6:50 A.M.

One More for the End of the Year. Literally...

No real fun today. Only one bird. 26 species heard or seen, but real quiet.

Our bird today was a recaptured Hermit Thrush first banded almost exactly a year ago. That is info we do like, though. Means this bird is using this patch of ground to hang out for the Winter. Glad to be a safe haven for another life to continue the line.



We will plan on starting the New Year off on a better foot after a slight break. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Today's Totals

Birds Processed	New	Recaptured	Total
Hermit Thrush	0	1	1
Totals	0	1	1

______________________________________
NOTE: Due to the new CDC recommendations, if you are fully vaccinated you are not required to wear masks, esp. at outdoor events such as ours. Get your shots and come on out. Otherwise, bring a mask. All current members at Lake Lotus are fully Vac'ed.
______________________________________
Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, January 9th.
All nets will be opened by 6:50 A.M.

Foggy Start and Another Slow Morning

As we ettle into the Winter months, captures are rather slow. Last year was pretty steady but looking back at the last few years it seems to be about average. Still surprised at the lack of Robin flyovers (though we did have a flock of 30 circle near the lake) and we still have yet to capture a Kinglet or hear a Goldfinch.

As the fog dropped in we started the day with a new Gray Catbird.



We also captured a couple of new House Wrens. The real shock of the day was a Purple Gallinule sighting in the Marsh as we waited for birds to hit the nets. They have nested here for years but have not been seen in person for years.



Connie brought in a new Western Palm Warbler a while later but we spent a lot of the morning removing 'leaf birds' until we closed.



So, what does Andrew do when things are a bit cooler and slow and drier? Carve a path back out to Lake Lotus. First time this path was reopened since last December.



A few fronts are set to drift in over the next week but our weather is much warmer than usual for December. Really not too abnormal, historicaly. Mabye we get our first Yellow-rump? Fingers crossed.

We will head out next week and then take a couple of weeks off for the holidays.

Today's Totals

Birds Processed	New	Recaptured	Total
Gray Catbird	1	0	1
House Wren	2	0	2
Western Palm Warbler	1	0	1
Totals	4	0	4

______________________________________
NOTE: Due to the new CDC recommendations, if you are fully vaccinated you are not required to wear masks, esp. at outdoor events such as ours. Get your shots and come on out. Otherwise, bring a mask. All current members at Lake Lotus are fully Vac'ed.
______________________________________
Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, December 19th.
All nets will be opened by 6:45 A.M.

People? Yes. Birds? Not So Much.

We arrived to a light fog and waited for our visitors from the North Shore Birding Festival. It was a good thing that they arrived on time right after sunrise as we only caught 3 birds today and all of them were captured before 8 AM.

Our first bird was a new Gray Catbird.



Just when we were going to do a tour of the property the last two birds were brought to the table. The first one was a recaptured House Wren. This bird was first banded in October and was just recaptured last week and then again today.



With limited birds in hand today, we at least got to let willing visitors release all of them. Even a humble House Wren brings joy to anyone releasing them.



Our final bird was a new adult Hermit Thrush. As we tell ourselves and visitors, the easiest way to ID a Hermit Thrush from similar Thrushes is "Tail, tail, tail!". Hermits have distictive rufus tail coloring instead of other Thrush tails that are more uniform brown overall.



The tour group headed to the Lake Lotus boardwalks to conclude their day as we continued to try for more birds. Not much was happening anywhere today. Super quiet. Birds go where they want to...

As we closed nets, we noticed the first American Alligator we have actually seen since last year after we had the mating pair just past the banding table. Today, the water was very murky for some reason (some construction upstream?) but this younger gator popped up for a bit before we left.



We always hate that we have so few birds during a scheduled event, but it was a very quiet day. Robins should be heard all morning but they were not around at all. We did manage to find few migrants while trying to catch birds such as White-eyed Vireo, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Myrtle Warbler (first of the season), and a very bright Prairie Warbler. Nothing else was moving, though.

Would not be surprised that we have a more interesting day next week. Stay tuned.

Today's Totals

Birds Processed	New	Recaptured	Total
Gray Catbird	1	0	1
House Wren	0	1	1
Hermit Thrush	1	0	1
Totals	2	1	3

______________________________________
NOTE: Due to the new CDC recommendations, if you are fully vaccinated you are not required to wear masks, esp. at outdoor events such as ours. Get your shots and come on out. Otherwise, bring a mask. All current members at Lake Lotus are fully Vac'ed.
______________________________________
Next (planned) Banding Day: Sunday, December 12th.
All nets will be opened by 6:40 A.M.