They keep coming

The last two days have continued to be busy at Cape Florida with 157 birds of 24 species banded on 15 Oct, and we banded 74 more this morning before we had to close at 1020 because of the rain. The stalled front in the Keys is drifting northward over extreme south Florida, and this is creating ideal circumstances for migrants to have to stop here and wait for better weather. The birding is great area-wide right now!

Black-throated blue warblers are the dominant species this week, but there was quite a bit of diversity along with them. We banded our fifth ever Black-throated green warbler (below, left); a species easily found overwintering in live oaks but not often seen at the Cape. Thrushes were on the move this week, too, and we banded Swainson’s, Gray-cheeked and Wood thrush on the 15th. Wood thrush (below, right) are an uncommon migrant in this area, and we get to hear their voices in the woods for only a couple of days a year. They are much larger than the more common Swainson’s and Gray-cheeks, with distinct round spots on a potbelly and a solid rufous-brown back.

We anticipate being busy the whole weekend, as long as the rain lets up enough during the daytime so that we can open the nets. Here is a gallery of species caught in the last two days: