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. 

November 14, 17, and 19

Tuesday at Possum Long was better with the arrival of more Yellow-rumped Warblers.  We banded 4 of them in addition to a Black-throated Blue Warbler, 2 Gray Catbirds, and a Northern Cardinal. 

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Photo by Pete Grannis

Gray Catbird

Photo by Pete Grannis

Black-throated Blue Warbler

Photo by Pete Grannis

Since we have been banding near the pond at Possum Long, several folks wondered if there were more birds back at our "woods" net.  This area is our best area for numbers and diversity.  No coincidence that it is densely vegetated and has pretty good ground cover.

So, we returned to Possum Long on Friday to test the theory.  It did pay off.  We banded 2 Painted Buntings (known for their love of cover), 2 Gray Catbirds, and an American Redstart.  We also recaptured the Carolina Wren that was one of the first birds we banded this fall.  We could not get all of the bird's measurements then as it was molting.  It is now fully feathered and we collected all of the typical data.

Carolina Wren

On Sunday we revisited PB 1.  Though there were quite a few birds attending the feeders, it was a bit windy and we only caught 3 new buntings and recaptured one from last spring.  It had been banded as a young, green bird and it remained green so we now know it is a female.  

Painted Bunting (male)

Photo by Bill LaFramboise

Grand total of Painted Buntings to date is 45.

Next scheduled banding at Possum Long is November 21.  Nets go up at 6:30 am.

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.  

October 17, 2017

The last day of this 4 day marathon was relatively quiet yet exciting.  We recaptured a Northern Mockingbird that we had banded almost exactly one year ago.

Northern Mockingbird

We banded a total of 6 new birds:  1 Black-throated Blue Warbler,  1 Black-and-white Warbler, 1 Red-eyed Vireo, 1 Northern Cardinal and 2 American Redstarts.  It was the redstarts that held the excitement.  

Black-and-white Warbler

Typically a female or young male American Redstart has yellow coloring and a white underside.  The second one we caught was distinctly different.  There are color variations in most species.  Many times it is a lighter color, partially white, or entirely white birds.  There are also differences in many yellows and reds.  In this case the bird was distinctly blacker than normal.  This is called melanistic.  We are waiting to hear more about this particular bird.

American Redstart - melanistic

We are setting up for a banding event on October 21.  Young birders in grades 3-6 can come view our station.  We will post results.

The next scheduled banding session will be held on October 24, 2017.  Nets go up around 7:15 am.

October 16, 2017

On Monday we caught more bigger birds than warblers.  We did catch 1 American Redstart and TWO more Magnolia Warblers but the rest of the captures were big.  It has been hard to believe how many Magnolia Warblers are around and being captured.

We caught a good variety of the bigger birds:  Our second only Scarlet Tanager.  The white underwings are created by the flight feathers being half white and half black.  The black shows on the upper wing and the white shows on the underwing.  This is not the case with the similar Summer Tanagers.  This bird was missing its tail.  There were signs of it already growing back in. 

Scarlet Tanager

Scarlet Tanager

We also caught 3 thrushes:  2 Gray-cheeked and one Swainson's.  This Gray-cheeked does not show the spectacle that the Swainson's does.  It was carefully measured to rule out the smaller Bicknell's Thrush.

Gray-cheeked Thrush

We rarely capture Rose-breasted Grosbeaks but they had been on the property for several days and were feeding on figs, palm berries, and beautyberry fruit.  Last year when we caught another one it was feeding on beautyberry. 

Rose-breasted Grosbeak

The other birds caught and banded were 1 Brown Thrasher, 2 Gray Catbirds and 1 Northern Cardinal.

Note for next scheduled session is on the next post.

October 15, 2017

Sunday was a gift to birders and banders.  We banded a total of 21 birds of 12 species.  We saw 11 different kinds of warblers as well as many other migrants.  Remember you can see bird lists of this site on eBird.  Explore hotspots, type in Possum Long, view recent lists or all sorts of other data.

Many of the birds we banded were warblers:  1 American Redstart, 1 Magnolia Warbler, 1 Northern Parula, 1 Common Yellowthroat, 3 Black-throated Blue Warblers, 1 Ovenbird, and our best bird of the day.

Black-throated Blue Warbler

Photo by Bill LaFramboise

Northern Parula

Photo by Bill LaFramboise

Common Yellowthroat

Photo by Bill LaFramboise

Our best bird was a real surprise as they are tree-top lovers so we rarely catch them and also because in the fall they typically migrate more offshore.  Fall Blackpoll Warblers do not look like the "chickadee look-alike of warblers"  they are more streaked and yellowish.  However their feet still have bright soles.  

Blackpoll Warbler

Photo by Bill LaFramboise

The other 12 birds banded were 2 Red-eyed Vireos, 5 Gray Catbirds, 1 Northern Cardinal, 3 Painted Buntings (YAY!) and a Blue Jay.

Red-eyed Vireo

Photo by Bill LaFramboise

Gray Catbird

Photo by Bill LaFramboise

Continue to view the next 2 days.  Update for next session is on the October 17 post.

October 10, 2017

Another migration banding session at the Possum Long Banding Station was completed today.  We banded 8 birds and one was a 1 new arrival.  A lot of the fun was watching the other birds high in the ficus tree.  We noted there are still Baltimore Orioles, Scarlet and Summer Tanagers, Swainson's Thrushes, and Red-eyed Vireos around.  However, alas, we did not band any of these! 

We did band 3 Black-throated Blue Warblers.  There were many more on the property.  The photo below is of a young male with traces of white on its throat/chin.  The adult male is entirely black there.

Black-throated Blue Warbler

We banded our first of the season Veery.  Glad to have thrushes on site.

Veery

Photo by Megan Ekman

In addition to 2 Ovenbirds and an American Redstart, we banded a female Painted Bunting.  I don't know how many times I have reminded people that the green ones might not be female.  However this one is and we photographed the wing to show the feathers that show this bird is an adult (at least 15 months old) and no longer has the juvenal plumage that a young male would show.  The short feathers to the right of my thumb have green edging.

Painted Bunting (female)

A few of us hung around to see if the Monarchs were returning to the property.  Hurricane Irma blew away a lot of blooms.  Nancy Price noted a female Monarch laying eggs.  We captured it and it became our first tagged Monarch for the property.  There's an event on November 11th at Possum Long and we hope to share this tagging with children attending the event.  

Tagged Monarch

Next scheduled banding session will be October 17, 2017.  Nets go up at 7:15 am.

September 26, 2017 Opening day was hot!

Yes, opening day was hot both in terms of weather and birds.  Thankfully the thunderstorm skirted our area.  We banded a total of 20 birds (11 species).  Some ever faithful volunteers as well as some new ones were there and kept very busy.  My thanks to all of you.

We started off with a bang as our first bird was a Swainson's Warbler our fifth ever.  We really didn't expect to catch a second one later in the day!

Swainson's Warbler

After that we had a few more typical species a Northern Cardinal and our first of the season Gray Catbird. Many birds including the catbird had fat which means they still have reserves to go farther.

 Northern Cardinal

Gray Catbird

After these birds more kept coming.  We banded 1 male Painted Bunting (first one of Season 5!), 2 American Redstarts, 1 Black-throated Blue Warbler, 3 Black-and-white Warblers, a Common Yellowthroat, a White-eyed Vireo, 6 Ovenbirds, and what I consider the bird of the day.  I do think others may disagree but it was pretty good in my opinion.

Common Yellowthroat

Ovenbird

Black-and-white Warbler

Painted Bunting

Black-throated Blue Warbler

American Redstart

There were a few other migrants present on the property today including Red-eyed Vireos, a Scarlet Tanager, and Northern Parulas.  

So what I consider the bird of the day I had only banded one other of this species before and have seen under 10 of these in Florida!  We had a Chestnut-sided Warbler today.  The unique yellow-green color and chestnut sides were exciting to see up close.

Chestnut-sided Warbler

Chestnut-sided Warbler

Chestnut-sided Warbler

Photo by Robin Potvin

Quite the opening day.  Things should continue to be busy (we hope) for the next few weeks.  The next session will be on October 3.  Nets go up around 7 am.  

May 12 and 14, 2017 - Three of a Kind - a winning hand!

Following the success of last week, we decided to try an extra session on Friday.  There were a few remnant (hungry?) warblers around.  We saw Blackpoll Warblers and caught 2 American Redstarts and a Northern Waterthrush.  This has certainly been more redstarts and waterthrushes than ever before.

Northern Waterthrush

Photo by Bill LaFramboise

Sunday, although it was Mother's Day, we were thinking of banding.  The forecast was for a little bit of rain in the early morning and then winds from the west.  Usually one needs these winds overnight but we decided to at least listen at the property.  There seemed to be a lot of redstarts present so we set up a few nets.  First capture was another Northern Waterthrush.  Then came the redstarts.  Then another big surprise - our second ever Connecticut Warbler.  

Connecticut Warbler

Photo by Bill LaFramboise

Birds were present, we saw a Cape May Warbler.  Then we caught ANOTHER Connecticut Warbler. If you read the entry from May 7 you know how unbelievable this really was.

Connecticut Warbler

Photo by Bill LaFramboise

Not long after, the third Connecticut Warbler.  Stunningly shocked!  It was a very well marked male.

Connecticut Warbler

Connecticut Warbler

Photo by Bill LaFramboise

We ended up with two Great Crested Flycatchers who likely have finished with their nesting.

Great Crested Flycatcher

In total we banded 5 American Redstarts, 1 Northern Waterthrush, 2 Black-throated Blue Warblers, 2 Common Yellowthroats, 3 Connecticut Warblers, and 2 Great Crested Flycatchers.  An awesome day.

American Redstart

After second year male

Common Yellowthroat female

The next session at Possum Long will be on May 16.  Nets go up at 6:15.  There may be a few lingering migrants.  Bring bug spray if you are bothered but keep in mind it is not good for the nets or the birds.