Our fortunes changed over the weekend as thousands of migrating birds moved through South Florida, giving us several interesting days at the banding station. Saturday was quiet and hot, but Sunday dawned much cooler with a light northwest wind blowing. And the birds arrived!
It is always interesting how each consecutive day during a rush of migrants can have such different species compositions. Sunday October 10 was the most diverse of the last 3 days, with 78 birds banded of 18 species and four new species for the season. Today had twice the numbers, but with only 16 species. American Redstarts were dominant on Oct 10, and the Black-throated Blue Warblers arrived in force today with 65 banded! The 1,000th bird banded of the Fall 2021 season was a Swainson’s Warbler, of all things.
Oct 10 2021
| SPECIES | NEW | RETURN | RECAP |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 1 | – | – |
| Great Crested Flycatcher | 1 | – | – |
| Red-eyed Vireo | 2 | – | – |
| Swainson’s Thrush | 1 | – | – |
| Gray Catbird | 2 | – | – |
| Blue-gray Gnatcatcher | – | – | 1 |
| Ruby-crowned Kinglet | 1 | – | – |
| Tennessee Warbler | 1 | – | – |
| Northern Parula | 2 | – | – |
| Prairie Warbler | 2 | – | – |
| Black & white Warbler | 5 | 1 | – |
| American Redstart | 29 | – | 1 |
| Black-throated Blue Warbler | 3 | – | – |
| Worm-eating Warbler | 1 | – | – |
| Swainson’s Warbler | 3 | – | 1 |
| Ovenbird | 2 | – | 1 |
| Common Yellowthroat | 17 | – | – |
| Wilson’s Warbler | 1 | – | – |
| Painted Bunting | 3 | – | – |
Oct 11 2021
| SPECIES | NEW | RETURN | RECAP |
| Gray Catbird | 14 | – | – |
| Ruby-crowned Kinglet | – | – | 1 |
| Prairie Warbler | 1 | – | – |
| Black & white Warbler | 2 | – | – |
| American Redstart | 6 | – | – |
| Black-throated Blue Warbler | 13 | – | – |
| Worm-eating Warbler | 2 | – | – |
| Ovenbird | 6 | – | – |
| Common Yellowthroat | 4 | – | – |
| Painted Bunting | 3 | – | – |
Oct 12 2021
| SPECIES | NEW | RETURN | RECAP |
| Yellow-billed Cuckoo | 1 | – | – |
| Acadian Flycatcher | 1 | – | – |
| White-eyed Vireo | – | 1 | – |
| Red-eyed Vireo | 1 | – | – |
| Swainson’s Thrush | 2 | – | – |
| Blue-gray Gnatcatcher | – | – | 2 |
| Gray Catbird | 12 | – | – |
| Northern Parula | 2 | – | – |
| Magnolia Warbler | 2 | – | – |
| Black & white Warbler | 9 | – | – |
| American Redstart | 16 | – | – |
| Black-throated Blue Warbler | 65 | – | 1 |
| Worm-eating Warbler | 2 | – | – |
| Ovenbird | 32 | – | 1 |
| Northern Waterthrush | 1 | – | – |
| Common Yellowthroat | 2 | – | – |
| Painted Bunting | 2 | – | – |
Fall Season Total (from August 15)
| SPECIES | NEW | RETURN |
| Cooper’s Hawk | 1 | – |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 1 | – |
| Common Ground-dove | 1 | – |
| Yellow-billed Cuckoo | 1 | – |
| Chuck-will’s Widow | 6 | – |
| Red-bellied Woodpecker | 1 | – |
| Acadian Flycatcher | 1 | – |
| Traill’s Flycatcher | 7 | – |
| Alder Flycatcher | 4 | – |
| Great Crested Flycatcher | 7 | – |
| White-eyed Vireo | 8 | 1 |
| Yellow-throated Vireo | 1 | – |
| Red-eyed Vireo | 23 | – |
| Veery | 2 | – |
| Swainson’s Thrush | 8 | – |
| Gray Catbird | 31 | – |
| Blue-gray Gnatcatcher | 34 | – |
| Ruby-crowned Kinglet | 1 | – |
| Tennessee Warbler | 1 | – |
| Northern Parula | 41 | – |
| Magnolia Warbler | 3 | – |
| Cape May Warbler | 9 | – |
| Black-throated Blue Warbler | 180 | – |
| Blackburnian Warbler | 1 | – |
| Yellow-throated Warbler | 1 | – |
| Prairie Warbler | 29 | – |
| Western Palm Warbler | 3 | – |
| Blackpoll Warbler | 1 | – |
| Black-and-white Warbler | 96 | 1 |
| American Redstart | 199 | – |
| Prothonotary Warbler | 4 | – |
| Worm-eating Warbler | 92 | – |
| Swainson’s Warbler | 23 | – |
| Ovenbird | 247 | 7 |
| Northern Waterthrush | 72 | – |
| Louisiana Waterthrush | 4 | – |
| Common Yellowthroat | 87 | – |
| Hooded Warbler | 2 | – |
| Wilson’s Warbler | 1 | – |
| Canada Warbler | 1 | – |
| Northern Cardinal | 12 | – |
| Blue Grosbeak | 1 | – |
| Painted Bunting | 9 | – |
| Common Grackle | 1 | – |
| # BIRDS CAPTURED | # SPECIES | # NETS | NET HOURS | CAPTURE RATE (BIRDS/100NH) | |
| DAILY TOTAL | 151 | 16 | 23 | 166.5 | 93.09 |
| SEASON TOTAL | 1267 | 43 | 23 | 7664.25 | 18.38 |
You all had quite a busy day! Congratulations on the 1000th banded bird for this Fall season!!! The Swainson’s Warbler is certainly a cool bird for that distinction, and the Ruby-crowned Kinglet is a special treat, as well. All of the photos are fantastic, and the fierce look on the White-eyed Vireo is so cute!