The Wekiva Basin Banding Station, originally based in Wekiwa Springs State Park, has operated on Lake Lotus Park property since 2008. It is situated on several acres along the Little Wekiva River which runs through Lake Lotus in Altamonte Springs. We are an all volunteer station and band every Sunday, weather permitting, and on additional days if conditions indicate a strong migration might pass through. Visitors are welcome. For more information, go to: http://wekivaband.blogspot.com
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10/23/2011
October is remaining fairly steady for migrants at Lake Lotus. Oddly, this is the first time I can recall NOT catching any local birds. Only migrants. Aside from Yellowthroats, other warbler species were pretty much absent. We had a Belted Kingfisher in the net for 20 seconds but it escaped as we were just about to grab it. Some day…
12 Indigo Bunting
4 Gray Catbird
4 House Wren
3 Common Yellowthroat
1 Painted Bunting
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10/16/2011
Would have loved another Saturday opportunity but I had to lead a Birding Walk. Itching to get out. Sunday did provide us with a good variety of birds and the Indigo Buntings made a good showing. We processed 28 birds today! Could have bumped up the total by staying longer, but…. Oddly, we seem to be running low on Catbirds and we have not seen a thrush at all for weeks.
7 Indigo Buntings
4 House Wrens
2 Gray Catbirds
2 American Redstarts
2 Black-throated Blue Warblers
2 Carolina Wren
1 Northern Waterthrush
1 Northern Cardinal
1 Ovenbird
1 Blue Jay
1 Tufted Titmouse
1 Eastern Phoebe (FOTS)
1 Downy Woodpecker
1 Magnolia Warbler
1 Common Yellowthroat
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10/09/2011
Washed out! A strong storm system dumped over 7 inches of rain on our area from Saturday through Monday morning. Shame. This is historically our prime Bunting week of the year. Oh, well…
A check of the site on late Monday revealed that the river was up 4-5 feet and the several nets at the end of our lanes were a foot deep in water!
However, many Indigo Buntings are there and 2 male Painted Buntings were spotted.
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10/02/2011
Following a great start to the migration push we find ourselves wondering what the heck happened. Just one day later and the birds have seemed to have disappeared. Only 9 birds today.
2 Common Yellowthroats
2 White-eyed Vireos
2 Brown Thrashers
1 American Redstart
1 Black-throated Blue Warbler
1 Carolina Wren
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10/1/2011
NEXRAD radar indicated the first strong migration push of the season. Right on schedule! So, we planned a special Saturday so we could capture as many birds as possible. Glad we did. We ended up processing 24 birds including the First of the Season Gray Catbirds and House Wren, also right on schedule!
10 Common Yellowthroat
3 Gray Catbird
2 American Redstart
1 Ovenbird
1 Black-throated Blue Warbler
1 House Wren
1 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
1 White-eyed Vireo
1 Blue Jay
1 Northern Cardinal
1 Carolina Wren
1 Brown Thrasher
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