Friday, May 7, 2010

Cold front keeps birds hunkered down

Dodging raindrops made for a busy day at the station. Strong winds blew off the lake making the nets closest to the lake not so good for catching birds with the net bowed out. The other nets took on their responsibility. We had 139 new banded birds with 30 recaptures in 147.6 net hours. We caught an old Common Yellowthroat. I will report on that tomorrow. It had to be at least 5 years old. Stay Tuned…

Twenty-two warbler species were heard or seen on site today including: Blue-winged, Tennessee, Nashville, Northern Parula, Yellow, Chestnut-sided, Magnolia, Cape May, Black-throated Blue, Myrtle, Black-throated Green, Blackburnian, Western Palm, Bay-breasted, Blackpoll, Black-and-white, American Redstart, Prothonotary, Worm-eating, Ovenbird, Northern Waterthrush, and Common Yellowthroat. We caught 13 of those warbler species and still no Blackburnian to admire briefly in the hand.

Top 6 species:
Myrtle Warbler (MYWA)- 21
Yellow Warbler (YWAR)- 17
White-throated Sparrow (WTSP)- 14
Gray Catbird (GRCA)- 13
Nashville Warbler (NAWA)- 9
Red-winged Blackbird (RWBL)- 8

Take a look at this bird:
Makes you wonder if it has some Audubon’s race gene. Take a look at the hint of yellow in the throat and some yellow on the center of the chest.
Strong winds tomorrow so hang onto your hat! The winds will keep the birds down low. Keep watching the weather for the next southwest winds. The volume will be coming soon! Enjoy the birds while they are here.

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