Sunday, October 2, 2016

FOS: Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Eastern Phoebe, Marsh Wren and Gray-cheeked Thrush

Captain Sam's

Captain Sam's was bustling this morning with 181 new birds and 8 recaps for a total of 189 birds. The first few hours were an almost continuous stream of birds coming in and being processed. A sedge wren was popping around near one of our nets and we were hoping we'd catch it but alas, we did not. However we did have several exciting birds including an Eastern Pheobe, Marsh Wren, Male Hooded Warbler and to top it off a hatch year male Rose-breasted Grosbeak. As this bird was a hatch year it did not have its iconic breeding male plumage. He did however have his typical red under-wing coverts making him a stunning sight. He also made sure to bite every hand that came near him. It was, as usual, an honor to be bitten by such a strong bird!

-Collette
HY Male Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Under-wing Coverts


Little Bear
Little Bear was fairly busy this morning as well, with 111 new birds and 12 recaptures representing 23 different species. We had our first Gray-cheeked Thrush of the season and 12 species of warblers.

A common theme today was fat birds. You can tell when the wind conditions are good for migration because the birds we catch won't have burned through their fat reserves on their overnight migratory flights. Last night must have had particularly good conditions, because in addition to the good numbers of birds at both sites, many birds were loaded up with fat. The Veery and two of the Swainson's Thrushes that we caught all had masses of well over 40 grams (their normal weight outside of migration tends to stay between 25 and 30 grams), with one of the Swainson's Thrushes tipping the scale at a mass of 48.5 grams.

--Blaine


  Species Captain Sam's Little Bear
New Recaps New Recaps
Common Ground-Dove
-
-
1
-
Eastern Phoebe
1
-
-
-
White-eyed Vireo
2
2
-
-
Red-eyed Vireo
7
-
12
-
House Wren
-
-
1
-
Marsh Wren
1
-
-
-
Veery
2
-
1
-
Gray-cheeked Thrush
-
-
1
-
Swainson's Thrush
2
-
5
-
Gray Catbird
10
2
16
5
Brown Thrasher
-
1
1
1
Northern Mockingbird
1
-
-
-
Ovenbird
-
-
1
-
Northern Waterthrush
2
-
-
1
Black-and-white Warbler
-
-
1
-
Common Yellowthroat
101
2
37
4
Hooded Warbler
1
-
-
-
American Redstart
31
-
13
-
Northern Parula
1
-
1
-
Magnolia Warbler
2
-
2
-
Yellow Warbler
1
-
3
-
Black-throated Blue Warbler9
-
5
-
Palm Warbler (Western)
4
-
4
-
Prairie Warbler
-
-
2
-
Yellow-breasted Chat
-
-
1
-
Eastern Towhee
-
-
1
-
Scarlet Tanager
1
-
-
-
Northern Cardinal
-
-
1
-
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
1
-
-
-
Painted Bunting
1
1
2
-




 Banding Stats Captain Sam's Little Bear TOTAL
# Birds Banded
181
111
292
# of Recaptures
8
11
19
# of Species
21
23
30
Effort (net-hours)
112.2
90.0
202.2
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)
168.4
135.6
153.8
# of Nets
26
20
46

Banding Staff
Aaron Given (CS)
Blaine Carnes (LB)
Mattie VandenBoom (CS)
Alison Nevins (LB)
Col Lauzau (CS)
Michael Gamble (CS)
Michael Rodgers (CS)
Ryan Donnelly (LB)