Prothonotary Warbler by Alex Sharp
The weather cleared up this week and the winds continued out of the east, making for a slow trickle of birds coming south. Most days we caught only between 2 to 5 birds, including young Northern Cardinals that are exploring the woods and stumbling into the nets that their savvy uncaptured parents know are there. A second Louisiana Waterthrush and two Prothonotary Warblers were nice captures, as these species are early migrants that will already be on their wintering grounds by September. In the old days the Prothonotary was known as the Golden Swamp Warbler, and they can be found breeding as close by as Big Cypress.
On August 21 we had a nice burst of activity and ended the day with 13 new captures. Despite the brilliant sunshine, August heat and quiet woods, multiple migrants found the nets throughout the morning. A minor invasion of Black-and-white Warblers took place late in the morning, and we banded 5 of them between 11 and 12.
Young female Northern Cardinal by Steffanie Mungia
