A Change in the Weather

A pretty impressive cold front has moved through the area and the temperatures in the 80s yesterday have given way to highs in the low 60s today. I made sure I went out and stocked up on birdseed today and will begin to keep feeders full from now on.

The little fellow above was one of our captures last weekend and with the change in weather may be down in Missouri by now. We had good luck while the conditions were quite summer like but this morning it was too windy to band and may be cold enough tomorrow morning to keep me from trying then.



One of the rarer species for us to catch is the Brown Thrasher. We might get one a year if we're lucky and usually only at the Ritter Farm location. We used to get many more thrashers at Carver Park years ago but the habitat has changed enough that the thrashers have become uncommon and Gray Catbirds are on the rise. It's a pretty classic example of species composition changing as habitat changes.



I do get a kick out of the eyes on these guys. Many of the birds we handle have relatively dark eyes that, if they vary, it's usually from brown to red or something like that. These bright eyed birds just have a whole different look to them.

It may be time to start watching radar at night to get a handle on movement south. We should be seeing a real difference in what is around in the next few days.