April 16 and 17, 2018

With weather looking to change on Sunday, we decided to band on Monday as well as our usual Tuesday.  On April 16 it wasn't as birdy as we expected.  We banded 2 Black-throated Blue Warblers, 1 Ovenbird, and 1 Red-bellied Woodpecker.

Ovenbird

Photo by Bill LaFramboise

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Photo by Bill LaFramboise

We did see a few migrants including a pair of Rose-breasted Grosbeaks.  Unfortunately the property lost a lot of flowers during the hurricane so fruit is in short supply.  Birds stayed very high.  It was fun to see a banded Great Crested Flycatcher that returned.  We haven't banded one this spring so we know it has returned for this breeding season.

The weather held true for Tuesday and we did get a few more birds.  Maybe more exciting was what was on the property.  Glad to see these birds that only stay a short time but frustrating to have four species that would have been new to band.  We banded a Northern Parula, an Ovenbird, a Gray Catbird, 3 Black-throated Blue Warblers, and the two highlights:  a Cape May Warbler and our third ever Wood Thrush.

Wood Thrush

Photo by Bill LaFramboise

Cape May Warbler

Photo by Bill LaFramboise

Black-throated Blue Blue warbler

Photo by Bill LaFramboise

Though warblers were still present, the migrants seemed to be represented by larger birds.  Seen were Blue and Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, Summer Tanagers, Red-eyed and Yellow-throated Vireos, and a late Yellow-bellied Sapsucker.  What will come next week?

After Monday's session we made an afternoon visit to PB 3.  The host is not far from Possum Long and we were seeing a good interchange of birds.  It is this location that first showed that Painted Buntings can feed at least 1/2 mile away from where they were banded.  We have seen this at two other locations since.  The host reported a bird with bands that did not seem to match anything we had banded.  Though we did not catch that one we banded 2 new Painted Buntings.  Our Season 5 has ended unless we catch another one at Possum Long.  We banded 355 this season which ties our high of Season 4.

Next scheduled banding at Possum Long will be on April 24.  Nets go up at 6:30.

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 7 & 8, 2017

Sometimes, especially during migration, we elect to band on days that are not at the regularly scheduled time.  We banded on both Saturday and Sunday this week and it was well worth it.  We are at the peak arrival for some of the birds.  Saturday was warbler day.  We banded 22 individuals representing 8 species of warblers.  The expected American Redstarts (3), Ovenbirds (2), and Black-throated Blue Warblers (9) did not disappoint.  We even caught one each of two less commonly caught warblers - Northern Parula and Black-and-white Warbler.  But then there were 3 highlights!!

American Redstart

Photo by Bill LaFramboise

Northern Parula

Photo by Bill LaFramboise

Highlight One was catching more than one Magnolia Warbler!  We have never caught three in one session before.

Magnolia Warbler

Photo by Laura Karg

Magnolia Warbler

Photo by Bill LaFramboise

Highlight Two was catching a first for Possum Long Banding.  Though Yellow-throated warblers are sometimes seen on the property, we had never banded one there.  

Yellow-throated Warbler

Highlight Three was catching not one but TWO Cape May Warblers.  In all of the other years we have banded we had only caught one of these.  Two on one day is pretty awesome.  Cape May Warblers are also typically too high in the trees to catch them.  In areas where there are not tall trees, these bird can be seen down low but they prefer the upper areas in the trees of Possum Long.

Two Cape May Warblers!!

So in addition to the 22 warblers on Saturday we also banded two Painted Buntings and a Red-eyed Vireo.  The vireo was an adult with a really red eye as opposed to the two younger birds we caught recently that had dark eyes.  

Red-eyed Vireo

On Sunday we caught half the number we did on Saturday and the bird diversity on the property was much different, yet it was still a productive session.  There were still Summer and Scarlet Tanagers around and several Red-eyed Vireos.  The surprise was seeing THREE Baltimore Orioles.  We did not catch those but once again, Black-throated Blue Warblers (4) were the majority of the birds caught.   

Black-throated Blue Warbler (female)

Photo by Bill LaFramboise

Other birds caught were 2 American Redstarts, a Black-and-white Warbler, a White-eyed Vireo, an Ovenbird, 2 Swainson's Thrushes, and a Gray Catbird.  Gray Catbird numbers should be increasing in the next few weeks.  

White-eyed Vireo

Photo by Bill LaFramboise

Black-and-white Warbler

Photo by Laura Karg

Swainson's Thrush

Photo by Bill LaFramboise

Gray Catbird

Photo by Bill LaFramboise

Thirty-seven birds in two days!

The next regularly scheduled session as announced on the previous post is on October 10, 2017.  Nets go up at 7:15 am.

April 21 and 22, 2015 WARBLERS!

FINALLY!  Today started out hot and humid but also with the sounds of many chipping birds.  A thunderstorm yesterday and a shift of winds and we had warblers to see and band.

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.

Next regularly scheduled banding will be April 28.  Nets go up at 6 am.