Captain Sam's:
Rain again this morning caused me to delay opening the nets by about 30 minutes and a thunderstorm caused me to shut down the nets early around 9:15 am. Even though it was a shortened banding effort, there was not much going on out on the spit with only two new birds and 11 recaptures of 4 species. It was uncomfortably humid out there today and there was not a dry spot on me by the end of the morning.
-Aaron
Little Bear:
We kicked off the banding season at Little Bear this morning with many of the usual suspects, and a pleasant surprise! After getting reacquainted with Kiawah's ubiquitous Painted Buntings and Carolina Wrens, I was excited to see Kristin walking up to the banding table with the sort of smile that means only one thing- a new "in-the-hand lifer". Pretty much all birders keep a life list of birds they've seen, and most bird banders keep a list of the species that they've banded as well. Given that this is Kristin's 3rd season here, I knew right away that it must be something special. Sure enough, she had bagged only the second Swainson's Warbler ever captured at the Little Bear site! This species is widespread in the southeastern United States, breeding from the lush forests of the lower Appalachian Mountains to the swampy hardwood forests across the coastal plain, but it is notoriously difficult to see. I've been fortunate to have banded a few of these on the Gulf Coast, and it was great to take a turn recording while Kristin processed this highly sought after bird.
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| Swainson's Warbler, Hatch-year photo by Kristin Attinger |
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| It wouldn't be August at Little Bear without some molting Painted Buntings. We recaptured this adult male, first banded here in October 2018. Photo by Josh Lefever |
It was a fun first day back, and with such a strong start I can't wait to see what else this season has in store!
| Species | Captain Sam's | Little Bear | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New | Recaps | New | Recaps | |
Great Crested Flycatcher | - | 1 | - | - |
Carolina Chickadee | - | - | 1 | 1 |
Carolina Wren | - | 1 | 5 | 2 |
Northern Waterthrush | - | - | 1 | - |
Swainson's Warbler | - | - | 1 | - |
Prairie Warbler | - | - | 1 | - |
Northern Cardinal | - | 5 | - | 1 |
Painted Bunting | 2 | 4 | 11 | 1 |
| Today's Banding Stats | Captain Sam's | Little Bear | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| # Birds Banded | 2 | 20 | 22 |
| # of Recaptures | 11 | 5 | 16 |
| # of Species | 4 | 7 | 8 |
| Effort (net-hours) | 81.0 | 100.3 | 181.3 |
| Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours) | 16.0 | 24.9 | 21.0 |
| # of Nets | 30 | 20 | 50 |
| 2020 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats | Captain Sam's | Little Bear | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| # Birds Banded | 208 | 20 | 228 |
| # of Recaptures | 77 | 5 | 82 |
| # of Species | 27 | 7 | 28 |
| Effort (net-hours) | 995.95 | 100.3 | 1096.25 |
| Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours) | 28.6 | 24.9 | 28.28 |
| # of Days | 9 | 1 | - |
