The walk out to the banding lab and to open nets seemed a bit quieter than the day before, but the first round was a different story. It was a virtual repeat of the day before with 30+ birds caught. Thankfully things calmed down a bit afterward and kept steady at 5-10 birds/round, except for a few busier ones. The parade of Yellow Warblers continues, although an increase in Orange-crowned Warblers were noted. Perhaps this means that we are seeing a changing of the guard. Another sure sign that fall is coming shortly is that we caught our first Fox Sparrow of the year. While it may be a while before we see many more of them, that combined with the rain forecast is a sign that summer is coming to an end.
Northern Pintail are noted daily flying in high from the north, presumably migrants, and overall duck numbers are slowly starting to build. The large numbers of swallows present on the weekend (500+) has dissipated slightly with only ~250 around today, comprised of all six of the regularly occurring species. Rain forecast for tomorrow likely indicates a well deserved sleep in for all volunteers, except Tom Plath who will keep the census going strong!
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