September 26, 2017 Opening day was hot!

Yes, opening day was hot both in terms of weather and birds.  Thankfully the thunderstorm skirted our area.  We banded a total of 20 birds (11 species).  Some ever faithful volunteers as well as some new ones were there and kept very busy.  My thanks to all of you.

We started off with a bang as our first bird was a Swainson's Warbler our fifth ever.  We really didn't expect to catch a second one later in the day!

Swainson's Warbler

After that we had a few more typical species a Northern Cardinal and our first of the season Gray Catbird. Many birds including the catbird had fat which means they still have reserves to go farther.

 Northern Cardinal

Gray Catbird

After these birds more kept coming.  We banded 1 male Painted Bunting (first one of Season 5!), 2 American Redstarts, 1 Black-throated Blue Warbler, 3 Black-and-white Warblers, a Common Yellowthroat, a White-eyed Vireo, 6 Ovenbirds, and what I consider the bird of the day.  I do think others may disagree but it was pretty good in my opinion.

Common Yellowthroat

Ovenbird

Black-and-white Warbler

Painted Bunting

Black-throated Blue Warbler

American Redstart

There were a few other migrants present on the property today including Red-eyed Vireos, a Scarlet Tanager, and Northern Parulas.  

So what I consider the bird of the day I had only banded one other of this species before and have seen under 10 of these in Florida!  We had a Chestnut-sided Warbler today.  The unique yellow-green color and chestnut sides were exciting to see up close.

Chestnut-sided Warbler

Chestnut-sided Warbler

Chestnut-sided Warbler

Photo by Robin Potvin

Quite the opening day.  Things should continue to be busy (we hope) for the next few weeks.  The next session will be on October 3.  Nets go up around 7 am.  

September 18, 2017

Hurrah!  We open on September 26!  Our late start is due to Hurricane Irma.  There were many limbs down at Possum Long but a great crew helped out with the clearing.  Thanks to the 20 folks who cut and dragged and raked and cleared.  Remember to check the weather as hard rain will cancel a session.

Possum Long volunteers clearing debris from Hurricane Irma

Photos by Robin Potvin

Anyone attending must be very careful and be aware of things on the ground as well as overhanging obstacles.

I have updated numbers on the bottom of the blog.

Nets will be set up and opened around 7 am, 9/26.  Hope to see you.

September 13, 2017

Due to Hurricane Irma, we will not be banding on September 19, 2017.

There are limbs down on the property.  When it is clear we will  announce  an opening date here.  Please keep checking.

September 1, 2017

Painted Buntings are now back in Florida but not yet in large numbers.  We have had reports from Kissimmee to Fort Lauderdale so far.  We have yet to attempt banding as rain and schedules have held us up.  Some of the returning birds are banded.  As noted earlier we had a banded bird from Jupiter show up at a Kissimmee feeder.

Painted Bunting (not this season)

Photo by Becky Cook

We had a strange report from South Carolina of a Painted Bunting with a split black/white band and 2 other color bands. However there was no federal (metal) band seen and the reported placement of the bands was not what we do. We may never know if this was one of our birds.  However, it was nice to get a report and know that someone was looking in South Carolina.

Painted Bunting (not this season)

Photo by Bill Eaton

New for this Painted Bunting Season 5 will be a new split band.  We have used almost all of the possible combinations for the black/white split and only have 30 or so left.  We will use those and then we will begin to use a yellow/light green split.  If you have Painted Buntings we might band, send an email with a phone number to keepbirding2@yahoo.com  We will call and answer your questions and we will determine if your yard can host our banding.

Northern Cardinal (not recent)

Photo by Georgia Binderow

We will be starting our 7th fall banding at Possum Long on Tuesday, September 19.  Nets go up at 7 am.  Hope to see you then!