We banded the 308th American redstart today, breaking the Cape Florida record of 307 set in 2006. Redstarts are all over the place this week, and a lot of them are foraging on the ground, chasing tiny insects that they flush out of the dirt. Some have even been hunting along the wrack line on the beach.
There were not nearly as many birds in the woods today as yesterday, but we added another Blackpoll warbler and Yellow-breasted chat to the season’s total, and recaptured a Chestnut-sided warbler of all things. We still are catching a large percentage of recaptures, but some of them are starting to put on weight in order to get ready to leave. Most of these species can and do overwinter in the area, and one of the recaptures was an Ovenbird banded in August who has made Cape Florida its winter home.
There is some interesting weather on the horizon and a much-anticipated humidity break is forecast for mid-week as a weak front moves into the area. There should be some birds moving behind it, including some species like Gray catbird that we haven’t seen too many of yet this year.
| SPECIES | NEW | RETURN | RECAP |
| Gray catbird | 1 | – | – |
| Swainson’s thrush | 1 | – | – |
| Northern parula | 2 | – | – |
| Chestnut-sided warbler | – | – | 1 |
| American redstart | 9 | – | 2 |
| Black-throated blue warbler | 4 | – | 2 |
| Blackpoll warbler | 1 | – | – |
| Ovenbird | 7 | – | 5 |
| Worm-eating warbler | 2 | – | 1 |
| Common yellowthroat | 2 | – | – |
| Northern waterthrush | 1 | – | – |
| Yellow-breasted chat | 1 | – | – |
| Northern cardinal | – | – | 1 |
| Painted bunting | 1 | – | – |
| # BIRDS CAPTURED | # SPECIES | # NETS | NET HOURS | CAPTURE RATE (BIRDS/100NH) | |
| DAILY TOTAL | 32 | 12 | 23 | 129.75 | 33.91 |
| SEASON TOTAL | 1653 | 47 | 23 | 7060.05 | 26.81 |