November 28, December 2 & 3, 2017

Our regular Possum Long Banding session was mostly a recapture day with only 2 new birds.  We recaptured a Gray Catbird from November 11, 2014.  It was still in great shape after having made a few trips since it was originally banded.  Pete took a slo-mo movie which I am attempting to add.

releasing a Gray Catbird

Video by Pete Grannis

We also recaptured and banded Painted Buntings.  Our recapture data is looking very good and adding one more at Possum Long has given us 17 there this season.  

The other new bird banded was a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - so tiny.  It weighed only 6 grams which is just a tad more than a nickel weighs.  (Painted Buntings average 15 grams)

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

Sincere thanks go out to Nancy Price and Pat Marshall who hung all of our nets that were not in use and inspected them for holes.  Nets age or get snagged in plants and other things.  Sometimes for a bird's safety we need to cut a strand or two.  Net repair can be tedious but having these marked will make the job much easier.  I appreciate their hard work.

Quite a few years ago, PB 27 hosted Dr. Rotenburg (NC summer Painted Buntings Project leader - PBOT)  when he was in Florida to see a NC bird she had at her feeders.  Then we began our winter study.  Now she has hosted us quite a few times.  This site has a long Painted Bunitng history.  Saturday we returned to PB 27.  We banded 16 birds - 15 were green (10 born this past summer, 5 female) and 1 male.  We noted a few more males and recaptured one but there is an abundance of greens at PB 27 right now.  

Painted Buntings at PB 27 (new green and recaptured male)

Photos by Bill LaFrambosie

The recaptured male bird had a very faded red band.  We replaced it with a new one but you can see how brown the faded one looks.

Sunday we returned to PB 46.  We banded 7 new Painted Buntings and all of them were birds born this past summer.  We did see male birds though.  We also caught a new Blue Jay.  It was also born this past summer.  

Blue Jay

Our last Possum Long session for 2017 will be Tuesday, December 5.  Nets go up at 6:30.  We will announce our return to Possum Long after the holidays.  Until the, keep a watch here for more Painted Buntings Season 5 reports.  

Painted Bunting total so far:  70!

October 21, 28 & 29, 2017

Tuesday was very quiet compared to other migration days.  It turns out that Wednesday would have been ideal but we were unable to band.  Likely from now on things will be quieter but maybe we will still have some surprises in store.  The weekend had a few!

At Possum Long we banded three birds.  A Black-throated Blue Warbler, a Red-eyed and a White-eyed Vireo.  Those birds made it a good day.  We also saw the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher again and were very surprised it was still present.  Happiness all around.

Black-throated Blue Warbler

Photo by Pete Grannis (welcome back!)

Red-eyed Vireo

Photo by Pete Grannis

White-eyed Vireo

On Saturday, we returned to PB 46.  We banded a total of 9 Painted Buntings and had a recapture from a previous season.  These recaptures are giving us very good longevity and site fidelity data.  

Painted Bunting

Photo by Bill LaFramboise

For incidental captures there we were surprised to have a Magnolia Warbler.  There have been more of this species captured this season than any other.  We also had a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher and a Blue Jay.

Magnolia Warbler

Photo by Bill LaFramboise

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

Photo by Bill LaFramboise

On Sunday we returned to PB 61.  We banded a total of 11 Painted Buntings and recaptured 3.  All three had been banded in March, 2016.  This means that they had flown up to their breeding places and back two times since being banded!  

Painted Bunting

Photo by Bill LaFramboise

Incidental captures gave us another Blue-gray Gnatcatcher.  This is one of the smallest birds we band.  They weigh just over the weight of a nickel.  We also banded a Cape May Warbler.  Third for this season and only the fourth ever!  Note gray cheek with pale area under it.

Cape May Warbler

Photo by Bill LaFramboise

Our season total of Painted Buntings now stands at 32.  

Next banding session is Tuesday, October 31.  Nets open at 7:30.

October 21, 2017 hosting Young Audubon

Saturday the banding station hosted a Young Audubon event for Audubon of Martin County.  Eight students in 4th, 5th, and 6th grades came to learn about bird banding.  They got to see birds, banding techniques, nets, and most of the aspects of banding smaller perching birds.  We talked about what can be learned from bird banding.  We did two exercises to understand a bit of the science.

A popular exercise was "how many at your feeder"?  Hershey miniatures representing 1 bird species came and went from a "feeder".  There were never more than 4 out at any one time.  When asked how many birds, the students realized that only 4 had appeared at any one time but that no one was sure if they were all the same.  The exercise was repeated with marked "birds".  It was quickly apparent that 8 birds had been seen but never more than 4 at a time.  The chocolates were then devoured.

We also repeated an exercise where a small stick is gathered to represent a bird leg.  They are measured with a leg gauge to determine band size.  Each one was told a bird species that had a leg that size.  They also used cut straws to color mark their bird leg.  We were fortunate to recapture a color banded Painted Bunting which really illustrated this activity.  They learned that the position of the colors determined a unique combination for each bird.

leg gauge

cut straws representing color banding

We banded a total of 14 birds and recaptured a few.  We had 1 American Redstart, 1 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, 1 Common Yellowthroat, 1 Palm Warbler, 2 Black-throated Blue Warblers, 1 Ovenbird, 2 Red-eyed Vireos, and 5 Gray Catbirds.  Some of the students were able to release birds.  They enjoyed comparing their size band from the measuring exercise to the real ones we used.

It was such a busy event that there wasn't always time for photography but here are a few photos:

Red-eyed Vireo

Photo by Bill LaFramboise

Common Yellowthroat

Photo by Bill LaFramboise

Black-throated Blue Warbler (female)

Photo by Bill LaFramboise

Excitement for the day, besides the birds banded and sharing our project with students, was the presence of a new bird for the Possum Long property.  Robin spotted an amazing treat for all present!  Totally unexpected was a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher in the top of the large ficus tree.  Typically this species feeds over fields from low trees, power lines, or fences.  The majority of its diet is large insects like dragonflies and grasshoppers.  This bird was actually observed eating the figs from the ficus tree.  I only knew of one other instance of this species in Martin county.  There are sometimes small numbers of them in open areas in western St Lucie county over winter.  This seems like an early arrival.  It is not expected to stay in the area.

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

Next regualrly scheduled banding is on October 24.  Nets open at 7:15.  If it is raining hard the session will not be held.  

November 8, 11, and 13, 2016

Sometimes there is too much to do and so little time.  My apologies for being late posting this but at least there are a lot of birds to report!  Tuesday, at Possum Long, we moved operations closer to the pond and it paid off.  It was a warbler blitz:  6 species and 11 birds!  One Northern Parula, 1 Ovenbird, 1 Prairie, 2 Palm, 1 Black-throated Blue, and 5 Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warblers. There was another warbler species recaptured - a Common Yellowthroat.  Also recaptured were 2 Painted Buntings and 2 House Wrens.

It seemed a bit late for the Ovenbird and the BT Blue but neither flagged as particularly rare on eBird.

Black-throated Blue Warbler (female)

Northern Parula

Photo by Pat Marshall

Prairie Warbler 

Photo by Pat Marshall

Ovenbird

Palm Warbler

recaptured House Wren originally banded in 2015

On November 11, we were once again hosted at PB 27.  This location has two caged feeders that perfectly fit our traps.  We banded 9 new Painted Buntings and recaptured 3 more.  Two of the three recaptures were from Season Two (early 2015 - two seasons ago).  This is great data for us.  

Painted Bunting (glowing in the sun)

Photo by Pete Grannis

Painted Bunting

Photo by Pete Grannis

We did a supplemental session today (Nov 13).  We banded 5 new birds and recaptured 2.  We banded one Gray Catbird today.  It seems odd to be "missing" them but we hadn't banded many recently. Much different from Tuesday we only banded 2 Yellow-rumped Warblers.  Extra bonuses were a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher and an Eastern Phoebe, only our second banded at Possum Long

 Eastern Phoebe 

Gray Catbird

Next Tuesday session:  November 15.  Nets go up at 6:15 am.  Remember to find us closer to the pond.  We WILL NOT BE at Possum Long on 11/22.  Watch future posts for our return.

October 30 and November 1, 2016

On October 30 we returned to PB 61 and banded.  The wind was challenging and we are working on placing feeders so that we can catch more Painted Buntings that are there.  Despite the challenges we banded 3 new buntings and recaptured 2 from last spring.  We had quite a few incidental captures which incidentally added 2 new species to my banded list.  I really appreciate the hosts at PB 61 (and everywhere else!) as they make all of the research possible.  Incidental captures included a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, a Gray Catbird, a Northern Mockingbird, a Common Yellowthroat, a House Sparrow, and the two new ones; Spot-breasted Oriole and Blackpoll Warbler.  The Blackpoll is rare this time of year as they tend to migrate south over the water, not land.  It is also getting late.  Typically they feed high in treetops so it was very good to band this one.

male Painted Bunting

Common Yellowthroat

Northern Mockingbird

Blackpoll Warbler

Spot-breasted Oriole

November 1 we banded at Possum Long.  We had a very good Painted Bunting day banding two new ones and recapturing two from previous seasons.  

We also banded a House Wren and two Black-throated Blue Warblers.  We recaptured the same White-eyed Vireo from 10/1/16 that had been banded in 2013.  It is still doing very well.  The Northern Cardinal that we recaptured was born this past summer.  It has now begun to replace its tail with adult feathers.  You can see the color change in the photo.  The feathers in the center are newer and more red than the outside ones that still show the browner color.

Northern Cardinal

Next banding will be Tuesday, November 8.  Nets go up at 6:15 am (time change folks!)  We may be closer to the pond if our net lanes have dried.  Expect Yellow-rumped Warblers!

October 10, 2016

I got a text from Nancy Price saying that there were birds all over Possum Long on October 10.  Last minute we put up a few nets and banded for a short while until a light rain started.  It was amazing.  In a short time we had banded a Gray Catbird, an Indigo Bunting, three American Redstarts, a Black-and-white Warbler and a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher.   The American Redstarts were all male - 2 were born this summer and was was at least 2 years old.  You can see the tinge of darker orange of the young bird in the first photo and the darker red of the older bird in the second one.

Not only did we catch birds but we saw a host of other migrants.  There was a young male Rose-breasted Grosbeak, several Summer Tanagers, Cape May Warblers, and a few thrushes.  Best of all was a first for the property:  a Bay-breasted Warbler!!

American Redstart - hatch year male

American Redstart full adult 

Black-and-white Warbler

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

Indigo Bunting

Indigo Bunting - tail with slight blue coloring

All was very promising for our regular Tuesday banding but after Hurricane Matthew there was some serious limb trimming that had to be done on the property.  So for safety, our session was cancelled.  We hope to be back to banding soon.

Next regularly scheduled banding will be October 18 with nets going up at 7 am.

September 10, 2016

We did one more practice session today before Fall Opening Day scheduled for September 13.  More birds today and hopefully more to come.  Today we banded 6 new birds:  2 Northern Cardinals, 2 Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, and 2 Ovenbirds.  We caught two others that went unbanded; an Ovenbird that we had banded last week and another cardinal that had leg issues that we did not want to put a band around. Typically this leg condition is due to mites but this bird seemed fairly clean of them.

We were greeted by the calls of an Eastern Screech-Owl this morning as we put up the nets.  Always a treat.

The Northern Cardinals were all youngsters born this summer.  There was a span of development that was nice to see so they were likely not siblings.

young Northern Cardinals

The bills of these two youngsters show different progression with the one on the left still having a dark beak of a hatchling and the one on the right progressing to a more adult looking bill.  The third cardinal that we did not band was almost entirely in "grown-up" plumage and had an almost all orange bill.  

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

We rarely catch a gnatcatcher and today we caught two.  What a little bird!  With weights of 5 and 6 grams, these are the smallest birds we get.  Though a few breed here, it is nice to have higher numbers around and to hear their wheezy call notes.  Both were adult birds.

Both of the Ovenbirds were born this nesting season.  

Migrants on the property included at least two American Redstarts, a Worm-eating Warbler, and a Red-eyed Vireo.  The variety should keep improving.  

Next banding is Fall Opening Day; weather permitting (no hard rain).  Net go up at 6:30.

November 11, 2014

Today was a day of great variety, great company, and a great bird.  We banded 6 birds and for this time of year, that is a good number.  We expect over-wintering birds and residents.  Gray Catbirds never seem to disappoint this time of year.  It still feels like numbers are low.  We banded 2 today.

The next bird was a bit unexpected although some may over-winter.  We had a Black-thoated Blue Warbler that was clearly a hatch-year bird.  Its throat still showed a few white feathers.  If I get a photo from the photographers, I will add it.

We had a bit of a quiet spell and then the surprise.  A new bird on the property and a new species for me to band.  You can imagine my surprise when Nancy Price brought a Wood Thrush to the banding table.  Not only had we never documented one on the property, this one may be quite late going through.

Wood Thrush

Photo by Pat Marshall

Wood Thrush (body molt)

Photo by Georgia Binderow

We aged the bird to be hatch-year based on light tips on the coverts.  It also had some body molt still happening.

Then almost at the end of our session we got a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher.  We had not had one at Possum Long in 2014. They are such small critters weighing in at 6 grams! (Just a tad over 1 nickel.)

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

Photo by Georgia Binderow

Last but not least we banded our 5th Painted Bunting in 2014 at Possum Long.  Painted Bunting season is just ramping up.  Follow Season Two in the Pages section.  This bird cannot be aged or sexed in Florida in winter.  It could be female or a hatch year male.

Painted Bunting

Photo by Georgia Binderow

Next banding will be November 18.  Nets go up at 6 am.  NO BANDING AT POSSUM LONG on November 25 or December 2.  We hope there will be birds and a continuation of banding on December 9 & 16.  Always watch the end of the blog entry for the latest schedule.

December 17, 2013

Well, good thing we attempted to keep banding in December as this one is so much different than last year.  Part of the solution is having more nets.  We also concentrated on the pond area today as that's where most of the bird activity has been.  Also, having ready, willing, and able volunteers makes a difference.

Today at first we had recapture birds.  Northern Cardinal and Gray Catbird.  Another unbanded Northern Cardinal was released because its legs were too thick for the proper band.  We saw this last year and were told the thickening is due to bird mites.

Northern Cardinal with thickened legs

Photo by Bill Eaton

Northern Cardinal recapture with molting body feathers

Photo by Bill Eaton

Then we got new birds; a total of eight.  Four were Yellow-rumped Warblers and they just may be the "birds of the winter".  There's a lot to learn about aging these birds.  The upper tail coverts help as well as some of the body markings.  The blue edges to the coverts and the bluish coloring of the back of this one indicates an adult non-breeding male as does the traces of black coming in on the face mask.

 Yellow-rumped Warbler

Photo by Crystal Conway 

Yellow-rumped Warbler 

Photo by Bill Eaton

Yellow-rumped Warbler 

Photo by Bill Eaton

We also got two Gray Catbirds and a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher.  We hadn't had a gnatcatcher in a while.  It always amazes us how really small this bird is.  It weighed 4 grams (1/7 of an ounce!).  

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher into the bag to be weighed

Photos by Bill Eaton

Also exciting was capturing another Painted Bunting.  This was also a "green" like the recapture of last week - not able to determine age or sex of these.  Could be female or a young male.  

Painted Bunting

Photo by Bill Eaton

We are now working with Dr James Rotenberg at the University of North Carolina Wilmington and Florida Wildlife Commission to color band Painted Buntings on their wintering grounds here in Florida.  So, this "green" was the first to be color banded at Possum Long.  A lot of this banding will occur at feeders and we have already banded 13 at Nancy Price's feeders.  More information can be found at the Painted Bunting Observer Team (PBOT)'s web page at http://www.paintedbuntings.org/  Even though we are just getting started we have made it to the blog on that site.  Most of the Painted Bunting banding except those captured at Possum Long will not be written up here.  We will let you know how this information gets posted.  

Painted Bunting

Photo by Bill Eaton

Next scheduled banding:  December 31, 2013 - expecting Boy Scout Troop to visit.  Nets go up at 6:30 am.  

First 2014 banding will be on THURSDAY, January 9.