CAPTAIN SAMS
It was a record breaking day at the Captain Sam's banding station. We had a long day (we closed nets just before 3PM), so I will keep this short and sweet. We had a feeling it would be a busy day earlier in the week based on the forecasted wind and the clearing of rain north of us from the tropical system that passed through South Carolina earlier in the week. Our suspicions were further supported by Bird Cast (birdcast.info), which uses climate information to model predicted bird migration. The model predicted high migration through South Carolina and Charleston Thursday night into Friday morning. Additionally, we are able to use weather radar to visualize bird migration. In weather radar, migrant birds taking off appear as plumes or splotches on the radar and the intensity and size of these splotches can be interpreted as the number of birds migrating. Typically birds appear as blue splotches on the radar imagery but during nights with high migration the centers of these splotches become green, this is similar to weather radar with heavy rain. Here is a short video of part of last night's radar below.
We captured 438 new birds and 6 recaptures of 28 different species, which is the highest number of birds ever banded in a day at either banding site! Highlights included 223 newly banded common yellowthroats, and a first of season least flycatcher, eastern kingbird, marsh wren, yellow-throated warbler, and Canada warbler. Canada warbler is a particularly good capture as we do not catch them every year as they prefer a more inland migratory route. A big thank you to Molly Kilper, who volunteered, and to the Little Bear crew for helping process all these birds!
 |
| Canada Warbler (hatch year, male) |
-Michael
LITTLE BEAR
| Species | Captain Sams | Little Bear | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New | Recaps | New | Recaps | |
Eastern Wood-pewee | - | - | 2 | - |
Traill's Flycatcher | 3 | - | 3 | - |
Least Flycatcher | 1 | - | - | - |
Eastern Kingbird | 1 | - | - | - |
White-eyed Vireo | 58 | 2 | 27 | - |
Red-eyed Vireos | 41 | - | 16 | - |
Marsh Wren | 1 | - | - | - |
Gray Catbird | 17 | - | 4 | - |
Northern Mockingbird | 1 | - | - | - |
Veery | 4 | - | 5 | - |
Swainson's Thrush | 7 | - | - | - |
Yellow-breasted Chat | 1 | - | - | - |
Ovenbird | 1 | - | 1 | - |
Worm-eating Warbler | - | - | 1 | - |
Northern Waterthrush | 3 | - | 3 | - |
Black-and-white Warbler | 2 | - | 1 | - |
Prothonotary Warbler | 1 | - | - | - |
Common Yellowthroat | 223 | 1 | 40 | 1 |
American Redstart | 33 | 1 | 6 | - |
Cape May Warbler | - | - | 1 | - |
Northern Parula | 2 | - | 1 | - |
Magnolia Warbler | 1 | - | - | - |
Yellow Warbler | 3 | - | 1 | - |
Chestnut-sided Warbler | 1 | - | - | - |
Black-throated Blue Warbler | 4 | - | - | - |
Palm Warbler (Western) | 15 | - | - | - |
Yellow-throated Warbler | 1 | - | - | - |
Prairie Warbler | 5 | - | 1 | - |
Canada Warbler | 1 | - | - | - |
Northern Cardinal | - | 1 | - | - |
Indigo Bunting | - | - | 1 | - |
Painted Bunting | 7 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Today's Banding Stats | Captain Sams | Little Bear | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| # Birds Banded | 438 | 115 | 553 |
| # of Recaptures | 6 | 5 | 11 |
| # of Species | 28 | 18 | 32 |
| Effort (net-hours) | 264 | 140.4 | 404.4 |
| Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours) | 168.2 | 85.5 | 139.5 |
| # of Nets | 32 | 26 | 58 |
| 2024 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats | Captain Sams | Little Bear | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| # Birds Banded | 1,506 | 952 | 2,458 |
| # of Recaptures | 320 | 266 | 586 |
| # of Species | 51 | 48 | 64 |
| Effort (net-hours) | 5,670.8 | 3,172.4 | 8,843.2 |
| Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours) | 32.2 | 38.4 | 34.4 |
| # of Days | 36 | 28 |
Banding Staff
Aaron Given (CS)