March 25, 2014

Today we dodged raindrops and managed only a few hours of banding.  We missed some early bird activity and as it has been in the last few weeks the birds were high in the canopy.  We noted at least two very crisp and clean Prairie Warblers as well as a few Northern Parula.  Great Crested Flycatchers were singing.  I noted the first of spring Chimney Swifts over the property.  There were plenty of Cedar Waxwings on the property.  We estimated at least 150!

We banded 2 Gray Catbirds and a Black-and-white Warbler.  One of the catbirds had undertail coverts that were missing some of the rusty coloring - not sure if some feathers had come out and there weren't enough to overlap or if the feathers were actually missing color.

Gray Catbird

Photo by Nancy LaFramboise

The Black-and-white Warbler was born last year.  Some of the wing feathers (to the right of the lower thumb) are duller than the fresher, blacker ones.  

Black-and-white Warbler

Photo by Jane Wiewora

Next banding session:  April 1, 2014.  No Fooling!  Nets go up between 7 and 7:30.

March 11, 2014

Today was a bit busier than the last few sessions.  It is hard to contain the anticipation of the arrival of spring migrants.  We had help from the faithful banding team volunteers and visiting assistant Jim Closs today.  Jim added bird species to our day list and faithfully checked nets and carried gear - our thanks.  We had visitors Larry and Mary Ann from New York who got to see a bit of what we do.

Gray Catbird

Photo by Bill Eaton

Mostly there were Gray Catbirds and we banded three of them.  And on the lighter side - attempted revenge!

Gray Catbird

Photo by Bill Eaton

We also banded a Yellow-rumped Warbler, a Northern Cardinal, and another new green Painted Bunting.  It could be that Painted Buntings are starting to shift north in FL as they start their migration back to their breeding grounds.  Interesting to note that some birds have built up some fat reserves while others are still fat-free.

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Photo by Bill Eaton

You can see that the Yellow-rumped Warbler is aptly named.  The blue edged feathers and large amount of black help us age and sex the bird as ASY (After Second Year - not born last year) and male.

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Photo by Bill Eaton

It looks like a lot of the birds are feeding on the blossoming oak trees.  This may be a factor that is keeping the birds up so high and away from the nets.  We observed a singing Yellow-throated Vireo on the property again today.  It stayed high in the cedar tree.  We did not see this species at all last spring and for three weeks it has been present and singing.  Also the Northern Parulas have been singing; not just on the property but in many locations I've been over the past few weeks.  Waiting for the migrants............

NOTE:  NEXT BANDING SESSION AT POSSUM LONG - March 25, 2014  Nets up at 7 am.

NO BANDING AT POSSUM LONG NEXT WEEK!

March 4, 2014

We had a fairly good session today but we had to work hard for it.  Birds were around all day but we are guessing that a lot of bug-eating is going on way up in the trees.  We had several Yellow-throated Vireos today (photos below) and we banded a Blue-headed Vireo - first one banded on Possum Long.  The only other new captures were three Gray Catbirds, a Yellow-rumped Warbler, and a green Painted Bunting.

Blue-headed Vireo

Photo by Nancy LaFramboise

We recaptured a female Northern Cardinal that was banded in October.  She was just packed with fat.   Nest building, egg laying, and brooding are all energy intensive things.  She's getting ready to nest as there was no sign of a current brood patch so she is not on eggs yet.

Northern Cardinal

Photo by Crystal Conway

No pictures of the Painted Bunting we caught but it was color banded.  It was a green one meaning it was female or a first-year male.  We will let you know if this one shows up at a nearby feeder.  

In addition the the vireos, we had a Summer Tanager on the property today.

Pat got pictures of the Yellow-throated Vireo as well as a White-eyed.  Three Vireo species on the property today.

Yellow-throated Vireo

Both photos by Pat Marshall

Next banding:  March 11, nets up at 6:30.  Yes, I know there's a time change but there's also more day length.  It will be darker at the start but maybe we'll get a few more early captures.

NEW START TIME:  7:15 ignore above start time

Painted Bunting Info

I am not doing a blog per se on the Painted Bunting Banding Project but you can follow what we are doing on a page in this blog.  Look in the upper right where there is a list of pages.  Once you have read the beginning, on subsequent visits, you can just scroll down for the latest news.  We are posting pictures of some of the buntings and some incidental captures.

We were very pleased to be featured in Hart Rufe's column on the St Lucie Audubon web page.  When he has added other columns, you may have to scroll down to Previous Columns.  http://stlucieaudubon.org/docs/hartBeat/hartBeat.html

I have also added banding totals to the bottom of the blog.

Nancy LaFramboise