Swainson’s warblers. Hard to see lurkers that look dull in the field guide but are much more interesting when you see them in the hand or the field. They have a huge bill and sloping forehead that suggests a member of the blackbird family rather than a warbler. Most of the species moves through South Florida on their way to a fairly restricted wintering range in the Caribbean and Yucatan Peninsula. We banded seven of them today; a site record!
We also banded our first Kentucky warbler of the season, another species infrequently encountered on the Atlantic coast of Florida. This is a first year female.
The dissipating front made it to our area overnight, and with it came the largest push of migrants we have seen so far this season. A variety of songbirds were dropping in on Cape Florida at sunrise and they formed flocks that quietly foraged through the netting area all morning. We were able to stay open until 1PM today without being bothered by the thunderstorms billowing up all around us. We captured 67 new and 2 recaptures of 10 species:
American redstart: 15
Black-and-white warbler: 12
Worm-eating warbler: 11
Ovenbird: 8
Northern waterthrush: 8
Swainson’s warbler: 7
Northern parula: 2
Black-throated blue warbler: 2
Kentucky warbler: 1
Northern cardinal: 1
Oh man! Awesome day! Congrats!
Wow, I didn’t know you had a website! I’m excited to see what you all post and come up with. Good banding!
One of the best places to see Swainson’s Warbler during migration, I would say!