First push of migrants!

 CAPTAIN SAMS

Today was a great day with our first real push of migrants! The cooler temperature and overcast skies also allowed us to keep our nets open for a lot longer! We managed to band 87 new birds and had 8 recaptures. First of season species for Captain Sams today include a Worm-eating Warbler and several Cape May Warblers! We banded 9 species of warblers, and had birds from 16 different species. 

Today's highlight was definitely the Cape May Warblers (CMWA). We banded 13 of this species, which were particularly exciting because they were the first CMWA that Jeremiah and I (Camille) had ever banded! They were so so so gorgeous!! All of these individuals were after hatch year birds. Jeremiah shared a fun fact that CMWA are a bit unique in the warbler world because they have specially shaped curled tongues that can be used to sip nectar. In their wintering grounds, fruit and nectar can comprise up to one third of Cape May Warblers' diet! Hopefully more will come for a visit!

After hatch year Cape May Warblers: male on the left, female on the right

Cape May Warbler, after hatch year male

- Camille 

LITTLE BEAR

The cool temperature was a nice change for us at Little Bear, but we were unfortunately dealing with windy conditions. While this may have kept us from catching as many birds as Captain Sam's, we still banded 29 birds of 11 different species which is a little higher than the last few days. We did not have any recaptures, so new birds are moving into the area even if they aren't flying into our nets. A highlight from today was banding our second Chuck-will's-widow of the season and our first Veery. Veeries are in the genus Catharus, which is sometimes referred to as the group of nightengale-thrushes due to their beautiful flute-like songs. This genus also includes Hermit Thrush, Swainson's Thrush, Gray-cheeked Thrush, and Bicknell's Thrush. What sets the Veery apart from these others is their uniform tawny-reddish color, very faint eye ring, and faint spotting on the breast. I like to say Veeries are "Veery" red. 

After hatch year Veery, unknown sex

Our top three species caught today were Northern Waterthrush with 9 banded, Red-eyed Vireo with 5 banded, and Common Yellowthroat with 4 banded. In between net runs we watched an adult male American Redstart hopping around the tree next to the banding table. Hopefully this means more warblers are moving into the area! Our fingers are crossed for more favorable winds tomorrow and an even busier day. 

-Liz

Species	Captain Sam's		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Chuck-will's-widow	-	-	1	-
Acadian Flycatcher	1	-	-	-
Traill's Flycatcher	1	-	1	-
White-eyed Vireo	-	1	-	-
Red-eyed Vireo	9	-	5	-
Carolina Chickadee	-	1	-	-
Veery	1	-	1	-
Ovenbird	4	-	1	-
Worm-eating Warbler	1	-	-	-
Northern Waterthrush	24	2	9	-
Black-and-white Warbler	5	-	2	-
Common Yellowthroat	8	1	4	-
American Redstart	17	-	2	-
Cape May Warbler	13	-	-	-
Northern Parula	1	-	-	-
Yellow Warbler	1	-	1	-
Painted Bunting	1	3	2	-

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	87	29	116
# of Recaptures	8	0	8
# of Species	16	11	17
Effort (net-hours)	168.3	133.5	301.5
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	56.4	21.7	41.1
# of Nets	28	28	56

2025 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	475	267	742
# of Recaptures	115	101	216
# of Species	35	30	41
Effort (net-hours)	3118.1	1691.5	4809.6
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	18.9	21.8	19.9
# of Days	22	16

Banding Staff

Aaron Given (LB)

Michael Gamble (CS)

Liz Held (LB)

Arden Schneider (LB)

Camille Beckwith (CS)

Jeremiah Sullivan (CS)

Note:  All banding, marking, and sampling is being conducted under a federally authorized Bird Banding Permit issued by the U.S. Geological Survey’s Bird Banding Lab.

Morning Owl at Little Bear!

 CAPTAIN SAMS

We hoped that today’s cooler temperatures would bring a wave of birds, but unfortunately we continued our trend of low capture rates with 18 birds. We were excited, however, to capture six Painted Buntings, giving us the opportunity to collect molt data and fecal samples. Our most exciting capture of the day was a seven year old female Painted Bunting! She was banded in 2019 as a second year and has visited the station at least twice a year since then. Right now she is looking a little scruffy due to her annual molt which she will finish before her migration.

Female Painted Bunting 

Female Painted Bunting molting
her flight feathers

LITTLE BEAR

Today was a very exciting day at Little Bear. Started the day with a bang with this gorgeous (if a little tired and grumpy) hatch year Eastern Screech Owl that flew into one of the nets right after it was opened.

Hatch Year Red Morph Eastern Screech Owl

Hatch Year Red Morph Eastern Screech Owl

Eastern Screech Owls are the only owls in North America to occur in two color morphs, red and grey, though there are neotropical owls that also show this variety of color morphs.  In Eastern Screech owls roughly a third (36%) of all birds are red morphs, but this varies widely depending on where in their range you are with some western populations having very few to no red morphs and some eastern areas have a closer to fifty-fifty split. I have been told that the majority of birds in this area are red morph birds. Interestingly one of my sources suggested that gray morph birds were better adapted to colder conditions, but I am skeptical of this as western populations are almost exclusively grey and the other species of screech owl inhabiting the southwestern deserts do not have red morphs. What I have heard elsewhere, and I am inclined to agree with is that the red morphs are associated with more humid areas. This reconciles nicely both with the frequency of the morph in the east and southeast as well as in the Neo tropical species of the rainforests of the Latin World.

Our screech owl left a very stinky present in the bag and it was quickly made apparent that this bird had been feasting on fish. This makes sense as with drier local conditions we have seen a decrease in water and subsequent die-offs of unfortunate minnows in the few remaining puddles on the path. Eastern Screech Owls are the most opportunistic feeders among North American owls feeding on everything from insects, to birds, to mammals up to the size of rats. That they will take aquatic fare is well documented and one of my sources talks about how they will even wade into shallow water to hunt for a variety of organisms. In the totality of prey species consumed, Eastern Screech Owls predate a wider variety of prey species than any other North American Owl.

Hatch Year Red Morph Eastern Screech Owl view of back.

You might notice our friend has a bit of a bald spot on the back of his head. Beginning in late summer and continuing through fall Eastern Screech Owls molt many of their feathers so what you are seeing right now is just natural feather replacement. While South Carolina is in someways a more forgiving part of the species range, it is generally much better to replace your feathers in August and September than wait to winter.

Eastern Screech Owls do not typically disperse far from where they were hatched so there is a reasonable chance our friend will establish himself elsewhere on the island. If you listen close come winter, maybe you will hear his horse-like whinny call some chilly night!

Overall great day with a wonderful species diversity for the number of birds banded at 26 individuals of 12 species!

-Jeremiah

Species	Captain Sam's		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
EASO	-	-	1	-
TRFL	1	-	-	-
CACH	-	-	-	1
CARW	-	-	1	2
NOMO	-	-	1	-
OVEN	-	-	1	1
NOWA	2	3	2	2
BAWW	-	-	1	-
COYE	-	1	1	-
HOWA	-	1	-	-
YEWA	-	-	1	-
PRAW	2	1	4	-
NOCA	-	-	-	2
PABU	2	4	3	2

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	7	16	23
# of Recaptures	11	10	21
# of Species	7	12	19
Effort (net-hours)	134.4	105	239.4
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	13.4	24.8	38.2
# of Nets	35	28	63

2025 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	388	238	626
# of Recaptures	107	101	208
# of Species	31	29	40
Effort (net-hours)	2949.8	1452.95	4402.75
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	16.8	23.3	18.9
# of Days	21	15

Banding Staff

Aaron Given (CS)

Michael Gamble (LB)

Arden Schneider (CS)

Camille Beckwith (LB)

Jeremiah Sullivan (LB)

Chuck came back for a visit

 CAPTAIN SAMS

It was a hot and slow day with 8 new captures and 4 recaptures of 5 different species. We are hoping for some more migrants with the next cold front arriving tomorrow night. 

-Michael

LITTLE BEAR

Today was slow and hot, as it has been for the past several days, BUT I was really excited to come up to net 15 and see a Chuck-will's-widow fly right in this morning! This was my first time seeing one, and it was really amazing getting to see one so close in the hand. This Chuck was the same individual banded on the first day of banding at Little Bear, so it is cool to see that it has been hanging around the station! It is a second year male - we can tell it is a second year by a molt limit in its secondary flight feathers, and male because of the white patch on its tail (see pictures below). A second highlight for me was getting to band a hatch year Mourning Dove! 

Chuck-will's-widow, second year male

Chuck-will's-widow, white tail feathers indicate male

Chuck-will's-widow: the old, retained feathers (yellow line) indicate second year

We banded 9 new birds and had 3 recaptures, from 7 species. The forecast says a cold front should be headed our way, so we are crossing our fingers that it gets birds moving and we start getting more migrants! 

There were no sightings of our alligator friend today, so maybe it has moved on from Little Bear?

- Camille 

Species	Captain Sam's		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Mourning Dove	-	-	1	-
Chuck-will's-widow	-	-	-	1
White-eyed Vireo	-	-	1	-
Ovenbird	-	-	-	1
Northern Waterthrush	1	1	2	1
Common Yellowthroat	1	-	-	-
Prairie Warbler	3	-	-	-
Northern Cardinal	-	1	1	-
Painted Bunting	3	2	4	-

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	Total
# Birds Banded	8	9	17
# of Recaptures	4	3	7
# of Species	5	7	9
Effort (net-hours)	137.6	106.4	244.0
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	8.7	11.3	9.8
# of Nets	32	28	60

2025 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	Total
# Birds Banded	388	222	610
# of Recaptures	96	91	187
# of Species	31	28	39
Effort (net-hours)	2953.4	1,452.95	4406.4
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	16.4	21.5	18.1
# of Days	21	14

Banding Staff

Aaron Given (LB)

Michael Gamble (CS)

Arden Schneider (CS)

Camille Beckwith (LB)

Jeremiah Sullivan (LB)

Keegan Foster (CS)

Note:  All banding, marking, and sampling is being conducted under a federally authorized Bird Banding Permit issued by the U.S. Geological Survey’s Bird Banding Lab.

Unexpected Guest at Little Bear

 CAPTAIN SAMS

The crew is still experiencing a September slump with sixteen birds captured today. The crew is using this time to repair nets and prepare for the crazy migration days ahead. Luckily there is a fair bit of water at Captain Sam's still meaning that Northern Waterthrushes are our number one species captured with seven caught today. The crew has spent the last couple weeks observing a Mourning Dove nest right above the banding station and we suspect they fledged yesterday! They young were observed flapping their wings and beginning to venture out of the nest. We didn't see the family today but hope they pay us a visit in our nets sometime soon!

LITTLE BEAR

With few birds and high temperatures things seemed very quiet at Little Bear, but as we closed nets we had a surprise down at Net 27! Hanging out below the near net pole and just around a bend in the trail we had a rather battered American Alligator of about six and a half feet in length. Unfortunately for our new neighbor he had evidently seen better days as he was missing many teeth on the lower right side of his jaw and definitely appeared to be somewhat underweight. While we can't know for certain what happened, I personally think it may be that he has been pushed out of his territory by another alligator and is looking for a new spot to call home. 

American Alligator after having been moved a little away from net pole

And just a little close-up.

Sometimes people wonder how much damage alligators do to the waterbirds, like herons and egrets, that share their habitat with the enormous reptiles. This is not without reason as alligators are hardly discriminating in their diet, but the presence of alligators is a great benefit for the ecosystem and the creatures they share their habitat with. In the creation of their dens alligators create habitat diversity and permanent sources of deeper water, and because many of the most notorious nest-predators, like raccoons, are the perfect size for consumption alligators can serve to insulate nesting colonies of wading birds with proverbial gator-infested moats. Moreover alligators often have more to fear from wading birds as many a hatchling alligator has found its way down the gullet of a creeping heron.

In South Carolina American Alligators inhabit the eastern half of the state. Though historically decimated by hunting, they have since enjoyed a wonderful recovery and can now be found with some ease in much of state.The largest alligator recorded in South Carolina came in at thirteen and a half feet and clocked in at 1,025 pounds, which compares favorably to the largest verified record from Alabama in 2014 at fifteen feet, nine inches and 1,011.5 pound specimen. Both of these, however, seem small compared to the 1890 Louisiana record of nineteen foot and two inches. Apparently no weight was every recorded as it could not be moved from the wetland it was found in. When I reflect on this, I am very happy with the alligator we ran into.

Hopefully our little friend is able to find a good place to rest up and spend the winter.

-Jeremiah

Species	Captain Sam's		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Traill's Flycatcher	1	-	-	-
Least Flycatcher	-	1	-	-
Red-eyed Vireo	1	-	-	-
White-eyed Vireo	-	1	-	1
Carolina Wren	-	-	-	2
Carolina Chickadee	1	-	-	1
Northern Waterthrush	5	2	2	-
American Redstart	-	-	1	-
Yellow Warbler	-	-	1	-
Prairie Warbler	2	-	1	1
Common Yellowthroat	1	-	-	-
Northern Cardinal	-	-	1	1
Painted Bunting	1	-	1	-

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	12	9	21
# of Recaptures	4	6	10
# of Species	8	9	12
Effort (net-hours)	128.4	92.4	220.8
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	12.8	16.2	14.0
# of Nets	32	28	60

2025 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	380	213	593
# of Recaptures	92	88	180
# of Species	31	28	39
Effort (net-hours)	2,815.8	1,439.0	4254.8
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	16.8	20.9	18.2
# of Days	20	13

Banding Staff

Aaron Given (CS)

Liz Held (LB)

Arden Schneider (CS)

Camille Beckwith (LB)

Jeremiah Sullivan (LB)

Keegan Foster (CS)

Note:  All banding, marking, and sampling is being conducted under a federally authorized Bird Banding Permit issued by the U.S. Geological Survey’s Bird Banding Lab.

Supersized Suckers: The Gallinipper is the King

CAPTAIN SAMS

The southeast is sitting in a high pressure system which mean the heat and humidity has returned and it will likely stick around for the next couple of days until the next cold front moves through sometime on Sunday. 

It is still fairly wet out on the spit which has created optimal conditions for breeding mosquitos. Thousands, if not millions, of squirming mosquito larvae dive down towards the bottom our shallowly flooded banding paths as we walk through. I try to smush them into soft mud below to try to prevent at least some from emerging out.  Lately, we have been seeing a very large mosquito, Psorophoro ciliata, or the gallinipper. The name gallinipper is inspired by the gallon of blood it is said to drink. This is the largest species of mosquito in the U.S. with a wing span as wide as a penny. It is very aggressive and can cause a painful bite. On the plus side, this species is not known to carry or transmit diseases.

Gallinipper (Sharpie cap for size reference)

Gallinipper nipping a gallon of my blood

According the South Carolina Department of Public Health, there are 61 species on mosquitos in South Carolina. While many of those species are harmless causing nothing more than an itchy bite, others pose a public health risk and can transmit diseases like West Nile Virus. They are also responsible to transmitting heartworm to our dogs and cats. 

I am not super confident in my mosquito identification skills but I had at least two other species land on me this morning. I believe the species in the two photos below is Aedes taeniorhynchus, black salt marsh mosquito.   

Black Salt Marsh Mosquito

Black Salt Marsh Mosquito

This one I am not too sure about but could be Culex quinquefasciatus, the southern house mosquito. 

Southern House Mosquito?

We also had some birds today. It wasn't very busy which is obvious by my obsession with the mosquitos but we had 13 new birds and 4 recaptures of 9 species. 

-Aaron

   

LITTLE BEAR

It was another slow and hot day over at Little Bear today. We had to close the nets by 10:15am because of the heat. We banded 11 new birds and had 5 recaptures, from 9 different species. Despite the low numbers, we enjoyed banding a second Worm-eating Warbler today, as well as getting to see our Wilson's Warbler from the past few days! We also had 4 Prairie Warblers, more than any other species today! 

After hatch year female Prairie Warbler

-Camille

Species	Captain Sam's		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Red-eyed Vireo	1	-	-	-
Carolina Chickadee	-	2	-	-
Carolina Wren	-	-	-	1
Veery	1	-	-	-
Ovenbird	1	-	1	1
Worm-eating Warbler	-	-	1	-
Northern Waterthrush	5	1	1	1
Common Yellowthroat	1	-	-	-
American Redstart	2	-	-	-
Yellow Warbler	-	-	1	-
Prairie Warbler	-	-	4	-
Wilson's Warbler	-	-	-	1
Northern Cardinal	-	1	1	-
Painted Bunting	2	-	2	1

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	13	11	24
# of Recaptures	4	5	9
# of Species	9	9	14
Effort (net-hours)	152.6	105	257.6
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	11.1	15.2	12.8
# of Nets	32	28	-

2025 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	368	204	572
# of Recaptures	88	82	170
# of Species	31	28	39
Effort (net-hours)	2,687.4	1,346.6	4,034.0
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	17.0	21.2	18.4
# of Days	19	12

Banding Staff

Aaron Given (CS)

Michael Gamble (CS)

Liz Held (LB)

Arden Schneider (CS)

Camille Beckwith (LB)

Jeremiah Sullivan (LB)

Keegan Foster (CS)

Note:  All banding, marking, and sampling is being conducted under a federally authorized Bird Banding Permit issued by the U.S. Geological Survey’s Bird Banding Lab.

FOS Least Flycatcher and Yellow-breasted Chat

 CAPTAIN SAMS

It was another cool morning with a few migrants flying over as we opened nets. We ended the morning with 27 new birds and 5 recaptures of 10 different species. We captured 7 species of warbler, including another two Prothonotary Warblers. It has been a good fall for Prothonotary Warblers with 10 captured so far. We also banded a first-of-the-season Least Flycatcher, which is the smallest flycatcher species that migrates through our area and has a characteristic white eye ring that is typically shaped like a tear drop. 

Least Flycatcher (hatch year, unknown sex)

-Michael

LITTLE BEAR

While things are still a little slow, overall we had a pretty good day at Little Bear. The winds have died down a little bit and we were able to open all of the nets for the first time this week. We caught a total of 26 birds, with 14 newly banded and 12 recaptures including a first of the season Blue-gray Gnatcatcher and Yellow-breasted Chat. These are two species that are known for their spunky attitudes, so we were delighted to see them in our nets today. We also ended up catching almost as many recaptures as new birds today. Our migrating warblers are hanging around, foraging and fattening up while waiting for the right weather to continue their journey south. 

Hatch year female Yellow-breasted Chat

Aside from a nice day of banding, we enjoyed a few other wildlife encounters today. Camille came across a Timber Rattlesnake while checking a couple of our nets in the dunes. It was all of our first time seeing one, so we rushed over to observe it (from a safe distance away). Camille also had a flock of Ibis fly right overhead, and not too far away from a net! We've had a couple of close encounters with a night heron bouncing out of net 27, so our fingers are crossed that we end up catching one soon.

-Liz  

Timber Rattlesnake

Species	Captain Sam's		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Traill's Flycatcher	1	-	-	-
Least Flycatcher	1	-	-	-
White-eyed Vireo	-	1	1	-
Carolina Chickadee	-	-	-	1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher	-	-	1	-
Carolina Wren	-	-	-	3
Eastern Towhee	-	-	-	1
Yellow-breasted Chat	-	-	1	-
Ovenbird	1	-	-	-
Northern Waterthrush	3	1	1	2
Black-and-white Warbler	1	-	-	-
Prothonotary Warbler	2	-	-	-
Common Yellowthroat	5	-	4	-
Hooded Warbler	-	1	-	-
American Redstart	6	-	-	-
Yellow Warbler	-	-	2	-
Prairie Warbler	3	-	1	-
Wilson's Warbler	-	-	-	1
Northern Cardinal	-	1	1	2
Painted Bunting	4	1	2	2

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	27	14	41
# of Recaptures	5	12	17
# of Species	13	13	20
Effort (net-hours)	155.3	128.8	284.1
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	20.6	20.2	20.4
# of Nets	32	28	60

2025 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	355	193	548
# of Recaptures	84	77	161
# of Species	31	28	39
Effort (net-hours)	2534.8	1241.5	3776.4
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	17.3	21.7	18.8
# of Days	18	11

Banding Staff

Aaron Given (CS)

Michael Gamble (CS)

Liz Held (LB)

Arden Schneider (CS)

Camille Beckwith (LB)

Jeremiah Sullivan (LB)

Note:  All banding, marking, and sampling is being conducted under a federally authorized Bird Banding Permit issued by the U.S. Geological Survey’s Bird Banding Lab.