CAPTAIN SAMS
Due to the small cold front that moved through the area early Monday morning, we had a slight uptick in birds this morning. We captured 52 new birds and 30 recaptures of 18 species. We just passed the peak of Painted Bunting migration; however, we still banded 12 today. Painted Bunting was the top species captured followed by 11 Gray Catbirds. We have another cold front coming through tomorrow so we expect our first big push of winter birds on Thursday, which will most likely include many more Yellow-rumped Warblers.
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| This figure shows the last 10 years of Painted Bunting fall banding data. Early in the season (August-September), we band a lot of local Painted Buntings (purple) but by early October we begin to capture migratory Painted Buntings (teal). We are just past the peak migratory period but do not expect bunting numbers to dramatically decline until November. |
-Michael
LITTLE BEAR
We also had a little uptick of activity out at Little Bear with 94 birds of 19 species today. We had 28 recaptures and 68 new birds. Gray Catbirds are still our most prevalent bird, making up almost 50% of our captures today. After not seeing a single new or recaptured Painted Bunting yesterday, we banded 12 today and I think we should see a push of them over the next few days. We've also noticed a gradual increase of sparrows, house wrens, and yellow-rumped warblers this week. I'm excited to see more sparrows and what arrives with the next cold front later this week.
We were all a little surprised that Jeremiah came back with a Winter Wren after our first net run. This is the time of year I would expect to see them back home in Wisconsin, so it seems a little early to catch one here. Winter Wrens are our smallest and darkest wrens, with a very short tail that is often held raised up over the back. They are a rich, chocolate brown compared to the grayer brown of the House Wren and have a distinct buffy stripe along the eyeline. We actually ended up with three different wren species from the first run, and we couldn't resist a little wren size comparison.
-Liz
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| Winter Wren, hatch-year unknown sex |
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| Left to right, Carolina Wren, House Wren, Winter Wren |
| Species | Captain Sam's | Little Bear | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New | Recaps | New | Recaps | |
Downy Woodpecker | - | - | - | 1 |
Eastern Wood-Pewee | - | - | 1 | - |
Eastern Phoebe | 3 | - | 1 | - |
White-eyed Vireo | 1 | 1 | 1 | - |
Carolina Chickadee | - | - | - | 1 |
Tufted Titmouse | - | 2 | - | - |
House Wren | 3 | - | 6 | - |
Winter Wren | - | - | 1 | - |
Carolina Wren | - | - | - | 2 |
Northern Mockingbird | - | - | 1 | - |
Gray Catbird | 11 | 24 | 25 | 21 |
Gray-cheeked Thrush | 1 | - | - | - |
Swainson's Thrush | 2 | - | 1 | - |
White-throated Sparrow | 1 | - | - | - |
Song Sparrow | 2 | - | - | - |
Swamp Sparrow | 1 | - | 4 | - |
Northern Waterthrush | 1 | - | 1 | - |
Common Yellowthroat | 4 | 2 | 6 | 2 |
American Redstart | 1 | - | 1 | - |
| Black-throated Blue Warbler | - | - | 1 | - |
| Bay-breasted Warbler | 1 | - | - | - |
| Palm Warbler (Western) | 3 | - | - | - |
| Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) | 1 | - | - | - |
| Indigo Bunting | 4 | - | 2 | - |
| Painted Bunting | 12 | 1 | 12 | - |
| Today's Banding Stats | Captain Sams | Little Bear | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| # Birds Banded | 52 | 68 | 120 |
| # of Recaptures | 30 | 26 | 56 |
| # of Species | 18 | 19 | 25 |
| Effort (net-hours) | 188.0 | 159.6 | 347.6 |
| Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours) | 43.6 | 58.9 | 50.6 |
| # of Nets | 32 | 28 | 60 |
| 2025 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats | Captain Sams | Little Bear | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| # Birds Banded | 4,069 | 2,959 | 7,028 |
| # of Recaptures | 779 | 668 | 1,447 |
| # of Species | 81 | 79 | 94 |
| Effort (net-hours) | 10,163.9 | 7,397.5 | 17,561.4 |
| Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours) | 47.7 | 49.0 | 48.3 |
| # of Days | 64 | 55 |
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.
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