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.