April 24, 29 and May 1, 7, and 8, 2018

To say we have been busy is an understatement.  We have had 5 sessions since our last report.  Migration is such a great time to be birding and banding.  Winds and rain are a key to having many of the migrants stop for refueling, otherwise they pass right over.  There are always a few who just run out of fuel and they too will feed in places like Possum Long.  We got a few times when conditions were good so we set up when that happened as well as our scheduled Tuesdays. 

We banded a total of 77 birds in these last 5 sessions.  Only one was quite notable but more on that later.  The other 76 were typical and expected Caribbean migrants.  It's always a pleasure to see these migrants and to learn what we can about them.

The warblers we banded were 1 Northern Parula, 12 American Redstarts, 24 Black-throated Blue Warblers, 10 Common Yellowthroats, 6 Black-and-white Warblers, 14 Ovenbirds, and 4 Northern Waterthrushes, (and 1 more).    We also banded 3 Gray Catbirds and 2 Northern Cardinals.

Black-and-white Warbler

Photo by Bill LaFramboise

Common Yellowthroat

Photo by Bill LaFramboise

Northern Waterthrush

Photo by Bill LaFramboise

Black-throated Blue Warbler

Photo by Bill LaFramboise

Ovenbird

Photo by Bill LaFramboise

The bird of note was a Connecticut Warbler.  Seeing this bird in the wild is very challenging.  They are very secretive as they pass through.  Typically winds from the west are required to drop these birds in our area.  West winds were not very strong or long but we decided to band on a Monday, May 7, because of them.  Exactly one year ago from then was the first time we ever banded this species.  Many people never see this bird.  It was never noted on the property without it being caught for banding.

Connecticut Warbler

Photo by Bill LaFramboise

We may be banding on Tuesday May 15 or any day that weather may drop birds.  Nets would go up at 6:30.  If there are no other sessions, we will do a total update on numbers once the data are compiled.