Nothing lasts forever, and the Fall 2022 banding season is coming to a close. Bird activity has slowed down a lot since the peak on October 19. We recaptured a lot of birds from that wave that were staying at the site to put on fat for the next leg of their migration, and the numbers of these have been slowly dwindling as a few more are ready to depart every night. Meanwhile winter stalwarts like Gray Catbirds and Painted Buntings continue to arrive. A few winter species have teased us without getting banded, especially Eastern Phoebes and Myrtle Warblers. We have one more week to add a species or two to the total!
Bell’s Vireo (Photo by Miriam Avello)
The most exciting bird of the week was this Bell’s Vireo, banded on Oct 23. This is only the second one we have banded in 20 years (the first was back in 2007), although this petite Western vireo turns up annually somewhere in South Florida.
House Wren (Photo by Miriam Avello)
We also banded a House Wren, a locally common bird in the winter down here, but rarely captured at CFBS. The heavy black striping on the wings and tails is a beautiful detail that is hard to see in the wild. We call wrens ‘squirmys’ because of their behavior when you are trying to handle them.
The weather for the previous week has been less than optimal for getting birds out to Cape Florida, as high pressure and northeast winds have set in and may remain for the rest of the upcoming week. It is still nice to enjoy cooler, less humid mornings and see the avian snowbirds arrive. Painted Buntings are arriving at backyard feeders now, so get your millet out!
Painted Bunting (photo by Miriam Avello)
