The Fall 2019 banding season was off to a decent start with 31 birds of 11 species captured this weekend:
American redstart -7
Ovenbird -4
Northern waterthrush -4
Worm-eating warbler -3
Blue-gray gnatcatcher -3
Northern cardinal -3
Black & white warbler -2
Common ground-dove -2
Chuck-will’s-widow -1
Northern parula -1
Swainson’s warbler -1
Classic early season Caribbean migrants are on the move! Species seen around the site but not banded include Red-eyed and Black-whiskered vireos, Prothonotary warbler and Black-throated blue warbler. Swallows were also coming through in large numbers, skimming the canopy. Most of these were Barn swallows but there were a few flocks of Cave swallows mixed in and single Bank, Cliff and Rough-winged swallows. Winds were out of the southwest this morning as a low pressure moved away from us out into the Atlantic.
We are running a reduced effort in 2019 due to work constraints, and will only be open on Saturdays, Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. This should be enough to get a good sample of this fall’s migration season.
First bird banded: Ovenbird!
Nice opening, guys.