A Cape May for Little Bear!

 CAPTAIN SAMS

Today was a little slower at Captain Sams than it has been the last few days but the crew still captured 68 birds from 12 species. Common Yellowthroats are still filling our nets with 39 caught today, American Redstart came in second with 5 individuals, and White-eyed Vireo is third with 4. 

We did capture our first Grey Catbird of the season, the first of many as they are one of the top species banded at Kiawah each year. These birds, along with mockingbirds and thrashers, are part of the mimidae family which get their name from their incredible vocalizations and the uncanny ability of some species to mimic other birds and even man made sounds like car alarms. The Catbird boasts a very self explanatory name as both sexes are a sleek gray and their calls sound like a cat meowing! 

-Arden 

LITTLE BEAR

Today was the busiest day yet for Little Bear and we ended up with a total of 70 birds of 12 species. We had 61 new birds and 9 recaps. Most of our new birds were again Common Yellowthroats, but we also had a nice little push of Prairie Warblers (10 banded) and Western Palm Warblers (5 banded). 

A highlight from today was this stunning Cape May Warbler. It was our first Cape May of the season and a lovely bird to see up close in the hand. Hopefully tomorrow will bring us a few more! 

Cape May Warbler, after hatch year male

-Liz

Species	Captain Sam's		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Traill's Flycatcher	1	-	-	-
White-eyed Vireo	3	1	-	1
Red-eyed Vireo	3	-	2	-
Carolina Wren	-	-	-	2
Gray Catbird	1	-	-	-
Veery	1	-	-	-
Northern Waterthrush	1	2	1	1
Ovenbird	-	-	-	1
Common Yellowthroat	38	1	36	-
Black-and-White Warbler	3	-	-	-
American Redstart	4	1	3	-
Cape May Warbler	1	-	1	-
Western Palm Warbler	-	-	5	-
Prairie Warbler	2	1	10	1
Painted Bunting	3	1	3	2
Northern Cardinal	-	-	-	1

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	61	61	122
# of Recaptures	7	9	16
# of Species	12	12	14
Effort (net-hours)	179.2	142.8	322
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	37.9	49.0	42.9
# of Nets	32	28	-

2025 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	927	530	1,457
# of Recaptures	177	142	319
# of Species	41	36	48
Effort (net-hours)	4143.7	2,590	6,733.7
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	26.6	25.9	26.4
# of Days	29	22

Banding Staff

Aaron Given (CS)

Liz Held (LB)

Arden Schneider (CS)

Jeremiah Sullivan (LB)

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.