Today was record breaking - we banded 26 birds and all of them were warblers. There were 11 species noted on the property and we managed to catch 7 of them.
First it was a run of Ovenbirds. We eventually banded 8. The second photo shows the lighter tips indicating a bird that was born last year.
Ovenbird
Photo by Pete Grannis
Ovenbird
Photo by Pete Grannis
The birds kept coming and coming. We caught a Common Yellowthroat and a Black-and-white Warbler at the same time. Currently I do not have a photo of the Common Yellowthroat from today. It was a male. We eventually banded 4 Black-and-white Warblers.
Black-and-white Warbler
Photo by Pete Grannis
It seemed like most of the Ovenbirds took off or at least found a place to hide. We started getting Worm-eating Warblers and Black-throated Blue Warblers. All this time, between bandings, we were seeing many warblers in all of the ficus/strangler fig trees as well as in the oaks. Frustrating to have so many birds so high. We banded 3 Worm-eating and 7 Black-throated Blue Warblers.
Worm-eating Warbler
Photo by Crystal Conway
Worm-eating Warbler
Photo by Bill Eaton
Black-throated Blue Warbler (male)
Photo by Bill Eaton
Black-throated Blue Warbler (female)
Photo by Bill Eaton
At times it seemed like birds were flying in. We started to see a few more American Redstarts. We banded 2.
American Redstart (male)
Photo by Georgia Binderow
The bird that topped it all off for me was finally (in our third spring) catching a Cape May Warbler and a stunning male at that! This is the 99th species I have banded.
Cape May Warbler (male)
Photo by Pete Grannis
The other 4 warbler species present on the property today were Blackpoll, Prairie, Palm, and Northern Parula. Only the Blackpoll is a species I have yet to band.
If weather/time/personnel permits we will band for a while tomorrow. Hopefully the birds will stay and fatten up before continuing their journey.
(UPDATE 4/22: It seemed about half of the birds had moved between yesterday and today but we still had a good day. We banded 3 American Redstarts, 4 Black-throated Blue Warblers, 1 Common Yellowthroat, and 4 Ovenbirds. That would usually be a great day. We also noted 2 migrants on the property that we had not seen yet this season - A Scarlet Tanager and a Red-eyed Vireo. Also present was a Black-throated Green Warbler, bringing the two day warbler total to 12.
(UPDATE 4/22: It seemed about half of the birds had moved between yesterday and today but we still had a good day. We banded 3 American Redstarts, 4 Black-throated Blue Warblers, 1 Common Yellowthroat, and 4 Ovenbirds. That would usually be a great day. We also noted 2 migrants on the property that we had not seen yet this season - A Scarlet Tanager and a Red-eyed Vireo. Also present was a Black-throated Green Warbler, bringing the two day warbler total to 12.
Next regularly scheduled banding will be April 28. Nets go up at 6 am.
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