Probably our last Louisiana Waterthrush of the season? (Photo by Michelle Davis)
Migration has finally gained a little momentum as we are already a week into September. South Florida is currently underneath a high pressure system giving us very hot, still mornings. Rain is forecast for the next few days and the wind may change to the S-SW in response to low pressure in the Gulf, so we will see what the weather change will bring.
We are close to the 300 bird mark for the season, which is typical for this time. The majority of our bandings happen between Sept 15 and Oct 20, and already we have added several new species for the season. The most unusual was a Black-billed Cuckoo banded on Aug 30. This bird was very skinny from a hard flight so we released it immediately and there are no photos. Hopefully it will be able to restore its fat and muscle on Key Biscayne somewhere and continue its migration.
The smallest bird we band is the Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher. This is a very common wintering bird in South Florida and their ‘cheee’ call is a familiar sound. (photo by Miriam Avello)
Chuck-will’s Widows, Traill’s Flycatchers and a Hooded Warbler are among the new species that are showing up now. Ovenbirds are filling the woods, and three have returned from last year to spend the winter at Cape Florida. The busiest days for banding so far were on Sept 2 and 3, with 28 and 32 birds respectively. A few early Black-throated Blue warblers were in the mix, along with a relatively late Louisiana Waterthrush on Sept 5.
Two views of Ovenbirds, our 20th anniversary mascot and a species that does well overwintering in BBCFSP’s restored forest. (top photo: Miriam Avello. Bottom photo: Steffanie Munguía)
I like to look upstream in the fall and follow waves of birds down the East Coast while waiting patiently for them to get to us in South Florida. Last week, Sept 1 was a nice night for birds passing over New York City while the Kiawah Island Banding Station in South Carolina saw their first good push yesterday, Sept 7. Sometimes I imagine it’s the same American Redstart or Red-eyed Vireo passing all these locations and it will end up in one of our nets! Our recovery data over the years of birds banded by other banders supports this, as we have recaptured birds initially banded in Pennsylvania, upstate New York, West Virginia and South Carolina.
