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.