Another calm day brought a bright spot

Not a day to get your hopes up but it was a beautiful day none the less. Banding was slow again today, slower than slow. We had 12 new banded birds and 5 recaptures. If it means anything the birds were not moving either. We had a banded Magnolia and Mourning Warbler today from a couple days ago. There is plenty of insects and fruit so they are not in a hurry to go anywhere without a favorable wind from the north.

The bright spot of the day was this handsome dude! This made everyone stop and enjoy looking at the adult male Mourning Warbler.

Even the back of him is handsome with his slate gray head and olive green back and tail. Hmmm.... sometimes you just have to focus on the good things not the fact that we had more time to stare at each other than normal banding days.

This high pressure is supposed to stick around through the weekend. It might be a good time to get other work done while the birds are slow. Enjoy the great weather!

High pressure still in place... not much new

High pressure is still overhead and the marsh was very quiet today. It is still early I tell myself. A highlight was a hatching year Ruby-throated Hummingbird. You can see a couple iridescent gorget (throat) feathers showing. Twenty-four new birds and 8 recaptures made the day including nine warbler species (Chestnut-sided, Magnolia, Black-throated Blue, Black-and-White, American Redstart, Mourning, Common Yellowthroat, and Canada).

Aging Ovenbirds can be done by looking at the tertial feathers. If they are edged with a rusty color then they are hatching year birds (see where blue arrow is pointing). This marking is not very visible unless you look close.
Top four species:
Gray Catbird – 6
Magnolia Warbler – 5
Ovenbird – 3
American Goldfinch -2

Every fall day is an adventure. You never know what may show up. I was wishing I was fishing today. It probably would have been a more productive fish day. Who knows?!

First Day of September was not so bad a day!

The first day of September was a good day for diversity of warblers. Sixteen warblers were captured including Tennessee, Nashville, Yellow, Chestnut-sided, Magnolia, Black-throated Blue, Black-throated Green, Blackburnian, Black-and-White, American Redstart, Ovenbird, Northern Waterthrush, Mourning, Wilson’s, and Canada.

I have not differentiated our daily catch between the five beach nets and the 23 inside ridge nets since the numbers have not been anything to talk about. Today was the highest capture of the fall thus far with seventy-seven new birds and 11 recaptures. One of the recaptures was a Mourning Warbler from last week. It must not be in a hurry to head south.

Top 9 species:
Magnolia Warbler -11
Gray Catbird -10
Chestnut-sided Warbler – 8
Canada Warbler – 5
Mourning Warbler -5
Black-throated Blue Warbler – 4
Ovenbird – 4
Warbling Vireo - 4
Common Grackle – 4

The answer to the quiz bird with the white tail band was a Magnolia Warbler on August 25th. Here is a female Canada Warbler. The breast markings are a gray necklace instead of dark black necklace for an adult male or the dark gray necklace with some black beads mixed in.

Not bad looking for a female. It looks like it could be a contestant for the mad bluebird picture you see many places. The tuft of feathers above the eyes make the bird look angry. There is always something in nature to make you smile. Enjoy!