It has been so
slow I even had 3 days that I caught nothing.
More often I was catching 1-2 birds and a number
were recaps. As you may have heard by now there
may be an explanation for the decreased number
of birds seen this spring. Large numbers of
warblers and other birds are washing up on the
shores of the Florida panhandle. And, no, the
deaths are not related to the recent oil spill.
You may have noticed that we have had extreme
winds from the North, Northwest and West for
quite some time. Birds coming from Central and
South America and the Caribbean that must cross
the Gulf of Mexico fatten up before they leave.
If the wind conditions are favorable they make
it to coastal US. If they encounter headwinds
then they may use up all their fat reserves
before they can arrive, become weak, fall to the
ocean surface and drown. It is one of the many
factors that challenge birds during migration.
A few
interesting things were of note over these weeks
of few birds. Brown-headed Cowbirds showed up
in the park for 3 days for the first time.
Ticks started showing up everywhere and falling
out of the trees, tiny ones you cannot see until
it is too late. A few warblers were appearing
high in the tree tops where flowering was just
starting. They were nowhere low enough to be
caught in nets, which are 10 feet high. I tried
one afternoon of banding with no appreciable
success so I scratched that idea for future
days. On April 2 we found our first Worm-eating
Warbler (WEWA) for the season, also not
captured. Finally April 5 brought in the first
Chimney Swifts (CHSW) and Chuck-Will's Widows (CWWI)
around the park. We heard a Yellow-billed
Cuckoo but didn't see it. And on April 6 the
first "whip-whip" was heard of the Great-crested
Flycatcher (GCFL). It still was a couple days
before actual viewing of the bird occurred. On
April 12 my first American Redstart (AMRE) male
was seen and the last of the House Wrens (HOWR)
was caught and banded before vacating the
park. And, I went in early on April 5 just to
watch the shuttle take off before opening the
nets. Spectacular.
March
28 - April 15, 2010
VISITORS ARE ALWAYS WELCOME
