Another busy day for Captain Sam's

 CAPTAIN SAMS

Very busy day at Captain Sam's as the Common Yellowthroat influx continues unabated. Out of 104 total birds 64 were yellowthroats alone! These made for a hectic morning and a few tough extractions. Other highlights of the day included an adult female Black-throated Blue Warbler and a male Chestnut-sided Warbler.

One of the most interesting birds came in late in the day. This was a Common Yellowthroat with a bit of very noticeable leucism on its head. Leucism is a reduction or total absence of pigmentation in the plumage, but not in the skin or eyes as opposed to, albinism which is the absolute lack of melanin and is much rarer. Leucism can be limited, as in the case of todays yellowthroat, or extensive and dominating much of a bird's total plumage. 

A few images of a male Common Yellowthroat exhibiting leucism. 

Leucism can sometimes have negative effects. The most obvious one is that in many species large area of white plumage make an otherwise cryptic bird more noticeable, thereby exposing itself and possibly its nest to predation more easily. The other negative is that melanin strengthens plumage making them wore wear-resistant and less susceptible to UV radiation. Even in mostly white birds like American White Pelicans and Snow Geese the outer primaries, those feathers furthest out on the wing that can be expected to go through the most amount of wear and stress, are black. In the case of our yellowthroat, however, there is little cause for worry as the limited amount of leucism is unlikely to cause much in the way of negative outcomes for this individual.

As a birder you often think leucism is rarer than it is, but as a bander I feel like I see limited spots like this fairly regularly even if in low numbers and at random intervals. Like many things in life, when you are able to see many animals of a single species up close it is easier to see them as the individuals they are and the occasional leucistic bird exemplifies that pattern.

Leucistic birds are an occasional treat that always elicit enthusiasm at banding stations and are a great way to draw attention to the beauty of individual birds, particularly those that sometimes get overlooked due to their abundance. This one definitely brightened our day and we hope to see it again in the future especially as we may not even need it in hand to recognize it!

-Jeremiah

LITTLE BEAR

There was nothing too exciting to report from Little Bear today. Our volume stayed about the same as the last few days, with 40 birds of 9 species captured. We banded 36 new birds and had 4 recaptures. Most of our birds came from our first couple of net runs and activity slowed down throughout the day. Common yellowthroats again made up the majority of the birds today with 18 captured, followed by White-eyed Vireos and Yellow Warblers with 4 of each caught. With slightly warmer temperatures we were back to closing up a little early as the dunes started to heat up. 

A highlight from today was some interesting moth activity. In our first net run, there were multiple nets that had captured mating pairs of Walnut Sphinx Moths. They are pretty robust moths with wingspans up to almost 3 inches that were a lovely reddish-brown color. The caterpillars feed on leaves of various trees like walnut, hickory, and alder, however the adults do not feed and live only long enough to reproduce. We ended up letting the moths hang out and do their thing, gently removing them from the nets once they had separated from each other.

-Liz 

Walnut Sphinx Moth (photo from mothidentification.com)

Species	Captain Sam's		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Yellow-billed Cuckoo	-	1	-	-
Acadian Flycatcher	2	-	-	-
Traill's Flycatcher	1	-	-	-
White-eyed Vireo	1	1	3	1
Red-eyed Vireo	2	-	3	-
Veery	1	-	-	-
Swainson's Thrush	1	-	-	-
Ovenbird	1	-	-	-
Northern Waterthrush	5	2	2	-
Black-and-white Warbler	1	-	-	-
Common Yellowthroat	63	1	18	-
American Redstart	11	-	2	-
Yellow Warbler	1	-	4	-
Chestnut-sided Warbler	1	-	-	-
Black-throated Blue Warbler	1	-	-	-
Prairie Warbler	3	-	2	-
Northern Cardinal	-	2	1	2
Painted Bunting	2	-	1	1

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	97	36	133
# of Recaptures	7	4	11
# of Species	18	9	18
Effort (net-hours)	166.4	151.2	317.6
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	62.5	26.5	45.3
# of Nets	32	28	60

2025 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	757	426	1,183
# of Recaptures	161	125	286
# of Species	39	34	47
Effort (net-hours)	3,964.5	2,308.9	6,273.4
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	23.2	23.9	23.4
# of Days	27	20

Banding Staff

Aaron Given (CS)

Michael Gamble (LB)

Liz Held (LB)

Arden Schneider (LB)

Camille Beckwith (CS)

Jeremiah Sullivan (CS)

Amy Nickerson (CS)

Keegan Foster (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.

A couple more first of season captures!

 CAPTAIN SAMS

The push of migrants we had a few days ago has definitely slowed, though we still had a solid number of birds come through the station. It was also the third day in a row that the tide has been high enough to bring in a lot of water around close to half of the station! I'm amazed at how fast the tide comes in, and equally amazed at how fast it starts to retreat.

We banded 40 new birds and had 12 recaptures, from 12 different species. We had one First of Season today: a hatch year Swainson's Thrush! We also captured another Baltimore Oriole, which we do not capture many of during the fall. 

- Camille 

Baltimore Oriole, hatch year female

Swainson's Thrush, hatch year

LITTLE BEAR

We continue to enjoy these cooler temperatures out at Little Bear! We thought we might get a push of migrants today, but weather conditions were a little different than forecasted and the volume was nearly the same as yesterday. We captured a total of 43 birds of 15 species today with 38 new birds and 5 recaptures. Our top 3 birds today were Common Yellowthroats with 11 caught, Northern Waterthrush with 6 caught, and Painted Buntings with 5 caught. 

Highlights from today were another Baltimore Oriole (this one a really cute hatch year female), a second Palm Warbler, and our first two Black-throated Blue Warblers. The males and females of this species look so different that when first discovered, the female was thought to be an entirely different species named the Pine Swamp Warbler. These warblers prefer mixed conifer/hardwood forests with heavy undergrowth and its thought that they love to nest low to the ground in rhododendron bushes when available. They mostly winter in the West Indies, although some may linger in the southern tip of Florida and some may venture into northern South America. 

-Liz

Black-throated Blue Warbler, hatch year male

Black-throated Blue female

Species	Captain Sam's		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
White-eyed Vireo	4	2	3	-
Red-eyed Vireo	6	1	4	-
Carolina Chickadee	-	2	-	-
Carolina Wren	-	-	1	1
Swainson's Thrush	1	-	-	-
Baltimore Oriole	1	-	1	-
Ovenbird	-	-	1	-
Northern Waterthrush	-	1	5	1
Black-and-white Warbler	-	-	1	-
Common Yellowthroat	14	3	10	1
Hooded Warbler	-	1	-	-
American Redstart	8	-	2	-
Yellow Warbler	1	-	1	-
Black-throated Blue Warbler	-	-	2	-
Western Palm Warbler	-	-	1	-
Prairie Warbler	2	1	-	-
Northern Cardinal	-	-	1	2
Painted Bunting	3	1	5	-

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	40	38	78
# of Recaptures	12	5	17
# of Species	11	14	19
Effort (net-hours)	168	162.4	330.4
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	31.0	26.5	28.8
# of Nets	32	28	60

2025 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	660	390	1,050
# of Recaptures	154	121	275
# of Species	39	34	47
Effort (net-hours)	3,798.1	2,157.7	5,955.8
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	21.4	23.7	22.2
# of Days	26	19

Banding Staff

Aaron Given (CS)

Michael Gamble (LB)

Liz Held (LB)

Arden Schneider (LB)

Camille Beckwith (CS)

Jeremiah Sullivan (CS)

Amy Nickerson (CS)

Keegan Foster (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.

FOS Palm Warbler and Eastern Wood-Pewee

 CAPTAIN SAMS

Despite calmer winds and continued north winds, migration along the coast slowed down a bit last night as evident by the paucity of flight calls heard while opening the nets and the much lower capture rate compared to yesterday. We only banded 37 new birds but had 18 recaptures of 12 different species. A majority of the recaptures were birds that we had banded yesterday and will likely use the dense habitat of Captain Sams as a stopover area as they gain weight to continue their migration. In addition, we banded the first of many Palm Warblers that will make their way through the spit on their southward migration. While some Palm Warblers will stick around during the winter months, most will winter further south along Gulf coast, Florida, the Caribbean, and the Yucatan Peninsula.   

-Aaron

LITTLE BEAR

We are enjoying the surprisingly cooler weather for this time of year. It was a slower morning but a good diversity of species. We captured 39 new birds and 5 recaptures of 17 species. The highlights of the morning were a first of the season Eastern Wood-Pewee and Palm Warbler and a hatch year male Baltimore Oriole. The migration forecast looks good over the next couple of days so we expect additional arrivals to the banding station. 

Baltimore Oriole (hatch year, male)

-Michael

Species	Captain Sam's		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Downy Woodpecker	-	-	1	-
Eastern Wood-Pewee	-	-	1	-
Eastern Kingbird	-	-	1	-
White-eyed Vireo	4	-	1	-
Red-eyed Vireo	1	-	1	-
Carolina Chickadee	-	-	1	2
Carolina Wren	-	-	-	1
Baltimore Oriole	1	-	1	-
Northern Waterthrush	5	7	4	-
Common Yellowthroat	16	7	8	-
American Redstart	5	2	7	-
Cape May Warbler	1	-	-	-
Northern Parula	-	-	1	-
Yellow Warbler	1	-	1	-
Palm Warbler (Western)	1	-	1	-
Prairie Warbler	1	-	6	1
Northern Cardinal	-	1	-	1
Painted Bunting	1	1	4	-

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	37	39	76
# of Recaptures	18	5	23
# of Species	12	17	18
Effort (net-hours)	179.2	159.1	338.3
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	30.7	27.7	29.3
# of Nets	32	28	60

2025 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	620	352	972
# of Recaptures	142	116	258
# of Species	38	33	39
Effort (net-hours)	3,630.1	1,995.3	5,625.4
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	21.0	23.4	21.9
# of Days	25	18

Banding Staff

Aaron Given (CS)

Michael Gamble (LB)

Liz Held (LB)

Arden Schneider (CS)

Camille Beckwith (CS)

Jeremiah Sullivan (CS)

Amy Nickerson (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.

High Tides and High Numbers at Kiawah

CAPTAIN SAMS

Another great day of birds migration at Captain Sam's! Early morning began with a chorus of chips in the area a sign that did not disappoint as our first run left us swamped with dozens of birds. While nothing compared to the first rush, numbers held steady through much of the morning giving us a fantastic total of 101 birds banded and a further nine recaptures.

Given the numbers of birds we enjoyed a few particular highlights. One of these was a hatch-year Marsh Wren. Marsh Wrens are vocal wetland birds often associated with cattail marshes, the bigger the better, where their loud trills often peel out from the marsh incessantly by both day and by night during the breeding season. 

Hatch-year Marsh Wren

Hatch-year Marsh Wren

While often heard Marsh Wrens are less often seen. Like the rest of their kin these wrens are skulky by nature and often hop about within the cover of dense vegetation, though observant birdwatchers can often spot the songsters singing from an exposed cattail head if they are quick enough to catch sight of wetland sprite! 

Marsh Wren males engage in intense competition to secure the most favorable marshland habitat composed in true wren fashion of those areas where the vegetation grows thickest. Wetlands are amongst the most productive ecosystems on earth, and Marsh Wrens will often have two broods of as many as six young per brood. Since males controlling the highest-quality habitats can take multiple females as mates this means that the procreative success of a single breeding season has the potential to be exceptionally impressive. The cost for this success runs high however, as much is expected of a territory-holding male with an individual males singing as much as ten songs a minute at times, constructing five or six (and in at least one exceptional case 27) for a prospective female to choose from, as well as defending his territory from other males and doing his share of the provisioning. As with the most successful bull elk in the West, I truly would not be surprised to find that the most successful Marsh Wrens often expire after an intense season or two of life.

Marsh Wrens are also unique in that they will often sabotage the nests of other Marsh Wrens as well as other birds, particularly blackbirds, who themselves will predate Marsh Wren nests. Marsh Wrens will even strike out at other wren nests well beyond their own home ranges. In the face of intense competition and pressure in their chosen habitat, Marsh Wrens are the poster-birds of ruthless competition and cutthroat practices in the bird world.

Aside from the wren we also enjoyed a beautiful little Chestnut-sided Warbler, a Yellow-billed Cuckoo, a young Eastern Kingbird, a pair of Chuck-will's-widows, and an onslaught of of yellowthroats. The tide rose high and fast today, coming consistently above boots in several places on the trails and in the net lanes, and was likely the causer of us catching the second "widow" as these birds roost almost imperceptibly upon the leaf litter.

My first Chuck-will's Widow. Lovely hatch-year female. Note the stiff rictal bristles along the sides of the bill that protect the eyes while gulping down moths, beetles and even sometimes migratory birds!

Forecast looks great for the next couple of days. I am very excited for what else we may catch in the nets this week.

-Jeremiah

LITTLE BEAR

Though it wasn’t as busy as Captain Sam’s, Little Bear got its own small push of migrants with a total of 56 birds captured today. Common Yellowthroats were our most captured species with 19 individuals followed by Northern Waterthrushes with 9, and American Redstarts with 7.

The crew enjoyed watching a handful of redstarts foraging just a few meters above the banding table in the pre-dawn light. Passerines will migrate overnight to take advantage of the cooler temperatures and cover from predators that are active during the day. Because of this, they often arrive at stopover points, like Kiawah Island, in the morning absolutely famished and will waste no time devouring any seed, berry, and insect in sight. Our capture rates were hindered today by gusts of wind so the crew is looking forward to the reduced wind and favorable weather in the coming days. 

-Arden

Hatch Year Male Common Yellowthroat

Species	Captain Sam's		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Mourning Dove	-	-	-	1
Yellow-billed Cuckoo	1	-	-	-
Chuck-wills Widow	2	-	-	-
Acadian Flycatcher	-	1	-	-
Trail's Flycatcher	-	-	1	-
Eastern Kingbird	1	-	-	-
White-eyed Vireo	2	-	-	-
Red-eyed Vireo	2	-	1	-
Carolina Chickadee	-	-	-	1
Marsh Wren	1	-	-	-
Carolina Wren	-	-	-	3
Northern Waterthrush	7	2	8	1
Black-and-white Warbler	-	-	1	-
Prothonotary Warbler	-	-	1	-
Common Yellowthroat	66	2	19	-
American Redstart	11	-	7	-
Northern Parula	2	-	-	-
Chestnut-sided Warbler	1	-	-	-
Prairie Warbler	2	1	4	-
Northern Cardinal	-	-	-	2
Painted Bunting	3	3	2	2
Ovenbird	-	-	2	-

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	101	46	147
# of Recaptures	9	10	19
# of Species	14	14	20
Effort (net-hours)	198.4	114.8	313.2
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	55.4	38.7	46.9
# of Nets	32	28	60

2025 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	576	313	889
# of Recaptures	124	111	135
# of Species	37	30	37
Effort (net-hours)	3,450.9	1,836.2	5,142.4
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	17.3	23.1	20.9
# of Days	23	17

Banding Staff

Aaron Given (CS)

Michael Gamble (LB)

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.

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	32	28	60

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.