A Windy Day for Banding

CAPTAIN SAM'S
Conditions were less than favorable for banding on Kiawah today. So much so that Little Bear was unable to open due to wind. The undesirable conditions forced Captain Sam's to only open 15 nets. Because of this, we captured very few birds; 7 new birds and 5 recaptures for a total of 12 birds. Although our capture rate was low, our station managed to observe a few interesting birds.  We witnessed a large flock of Tree Swallows flying above our station. During fall migration and winter these Swallows can form large flocks, sometimes numbering in the thousands.  Unfortunately they did not swoop down into our nets. A Loggerhead Shrike was also spotted perched near the banding station. Although the shrike is a songbird, it exhibits raptor-like behaviors. These birds will feed on a variety of food sources including insects, rodents, and even other birds.  Shrikes will often impale their prey on objects such as thorns and barbed wire, and will return to feast off of the remains. In the days to come we hope to have more luck capturing these interesting birds.

-Ryan

LITTLE BEAR
Little Bear did not open the nets today due to strong winds.

-Aaron

Species	Captain Sam's		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Carolina Chickadee	-	1	-	-
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	3	-	-	-
Hermit Thrush	-	1	-	-
Gray Catbird	-	1	-	-
Orange-crowned Warbler	1	-	-	-
Yellow-rumped Warbler	3	1	-	-
Northern Cardinal	-	1	-	-

Banding Stats	Captain Sam's	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	7	-	7
# of Recaptures	5	-	5
# of Species	7	-	7
Effort (net-hours)	33.2	-	33.2
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	36.1	-	36.1
# of Nets	15	-	15

Banding Staff
Aaron Given (CS)
Mattie VandenBoom (CS)
Ryan Donnelly (CS)