Today was a lot like yesterday with little wind and heavy dew on the vegetation. We had 7 new captures and 8 recaptures with a total of 8 species. Among the typical species caught, we had our first of the season Yellow-breasted Chat! Yellow-breasted chats like to skulk around low, dense vegetation so they can be difficult to see. I've only seen a couple while birding throughout the years, so it was pretty special to see one in the hand and learn how to age and sex them. To sex them, you can look at the amount of black in their lores (region between the eye and nares), with males being darker.
 |
| Hatch-year female Yellow-breasted Chat |
-Meredith
Little Bear
We started off the morning a little slow. We captured a total of 9 new birds and 4 recaptured birds. During that time, we captured our first of the season Northern Mockingbird, for Little Bear. We also got to see quite a few different birds today, like the Belted Kingfisher, Chuck-will's-widow and even an Eastern Screech-Owl.
The bird of the day would be the Prothonotary Warbler. This warbler was an after hatch-year male, showing a more vibrant color of yellow. For a comparison to a female, the males are more brightly colored and have a more distinctive color contrast from the head to the back. The males will also have more white in the tail feathers compared to the females. The word Prothonotary was referred to the Roman Catholic clerks, who wore bright yellow robes. They are also nicknamed swamp candle because of their bright yellow coloration in the dark swamps where they nest.
 |
| After hatch-year female |
 |
| After hatch-year male |
| Species | Captain Sam's | Little Bear | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New | Recaps | New | Recaps | |
Downy Woodpecker
|
-
|
1
|
-
|
-
|
Red-eyed Vireo
|
-
|
-
|
1
|
-
|
Carolina Chickadee
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
1
|
Carolina Wren
|
-
|
1
|
1
|
2
|
Northern Mockingbird
|
-
|
2
|
1
|
-
|
Yellow-breasted Chat
|
1
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
Northern Waterthrush
|
2
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
Prothonotary Warbler
|
-
|
-
|
1
|
-
|
Prairie Warbler
|
1
|
-
|
2
|
-
|
Northern Cardinal
|
-
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
Painted Bunting
|
3
|
3
|
2
|
-
|
| Today's Banding Stats | Captain Sam's | Little Bear | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| # Birds Banded |
7
|
9
|
16
|
| # of Recaptures |
8
|
4
|
12
|
| # of Species |
8
|
8
|
11
|
| Effort (net-hours) |
131.6
|
68.0
|
199.6
|
| Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours) |
11.4
|
19.1
|
14.0
|
| # of Nets |
28
|
20
|
48
|
| 2018 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats | Captain Sam's | Little Bear | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| # Birds Banded |
254
|
74
|
328
|
| # of Recaptures |
83
|
21
|
104
|
| # of Species |
27
|
11
|
29
|
| Effort (net-hours) |
1729.65
|
379.05
|
2108.7
|
| Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours) |
19.5
|
25.1
|
20.5
|
| # of Days | 13 | 6 | - |
Banding Staff
Aaron Given (CS)
Michael Gamble (LB)
Meredith Heather (CS)
Kristin Attinger (LB)
