One of the most important food trees for migrating songbirds is the Florida Strangler fig (Ficus aurea) and they are heavily in fruit right now on our site, although there aren’t too many birds around to take advantage of it and fruit is falling uneaten to the ground. These distinctive trees are known for sending tendrils around other trees that become roots in ornate patterns. They fruit year-round but seem to be especially prolific this spring. Watch for Black-throated blue warblers with the large fruit impaled on their bills while they eat it from the inside out, eventually dropping the husk on your head as you look up at them.
We had a burst of activity on Friday May 7 and Saturday May 8 associated with another brief westerly wind shift, and caught 40 then 35 birds each day. American redstarts in particular were abundant in this wave of birds, and we started to see more young males and females.
Southeasterly winds had returned by Monday and we were back down to an 8 bird day, despite passing showers overnight and during the morning. One was this beautiful female Blackpoll with an intricate black, yellow and white plumage.
TOTALS TO MAY 10 2021
| SPECIES | NEW | RETURN |
| Yellow-billed cuckoo | 1 | – |
| Chuck-will’s widow | 3 | – |
| Blue-headed vireo | 1 | – |
| Black-whiskered vireo | 1 | – |
| Gray catbird | 95 | 4 |
| Gray-cheeked thrush | 1 | – |
| Hermit thrush | 1 | – |
| Golden-winged warbler | 1 | – |
| Northern parula | 14 | – |
| Magnolia warbler | 1 | – |
| Cape May warbler | 2 | – |
| Black-throated blue warbler | 133 | – |
| Western palm warbler | 7 | – |
| Blackpoll warbler | 3 | – |
| Black and white warbler | 62 | 4 |
| American redstart | 158 | – |
| Prothonotary warbler | 1 | – |
| Prairie warbler | 44 | 2 |
| Worm-eating warbler | 36 | – |
| Swainson’s warbler | 4 | – |
| Ovenbird | 49 | 4 |
| Louisiana waterthrush | 2 | – |
| Northern waterthrush | 50 | – |
| Mourning warbler | 1 | – |
| Common yellowthroat | 111 | 1 |
| Hooded warbler | 1 | – |
| Summer tanager | 1 | – |
| Northern cardinal | 3 | 11 |
| Indigo bunting | 3 | – |
| Painted bunting | 5 | – |
| Common grackle | 1 | – |
| TOTAL | 796 | 26 |
| # BIRDS CAPTURED | # SPECIES | # NETS | NET HOURS | CAPTURE RATE (BIRDS/100NH) | |
| SEASON TOTAL | 822 | 31 | 23 | 7004 | 12.46 |
Nice pics of the birds. Yes, park yourself under the shade of a fruiting fig with a cooler of cold beer and watch the show!! It’s a Hoot! 😊