KING TIDE

 CAPTAIN SAMS 

It was not a promising start to the morning with a low pressure system forming off the coast. The forecast had it coming ashore about the time we would open nets but after watching the radar, this system continued to break up before reaching land. Aaron and I decided to put down our office work and head out to Captain Sam's spit to see if we could get some banding in. There was a lot of bird movement in North Carolina last night, so we expected there would be birds coming down on Kiawah Island in front of the storm to rest and refuel. Little Bear received rain for most of the morning so we did not band there today.

Due to the lingering threat of rain, we only opened some of the nets. With these conditions and less nets open, we still captured 102 new birds and 5 recaptures of 20 different species. It was a mix of warbler species typical for this time of year led by 24 Common Yellowthroats. After a few net runs, it started to rain and we had to close for the morning but not before the biggest tide of the year inundated the station. Today's king tide crested at 8.4 ft., 1.5 ft. above the predicted! This was the highest I have seen the tide at the station, and it definitely made things more difficult at the table. 

The forecast looks the same through the weekend so we will wait and see if we can band. 

-Michael

 

Species	Captain Sam's		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
White-eyed Vireo	1	-	-	-
Red-eyed Vireo	4	-	-	-
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	-	1	-	-
House Wren	2	-	-	-
Gray Catbird	31	1	-	-
Northern Waterthrush	1	-	-	-
Black-and-white Warbler	5	-	-	-
Swainson's Warbler	-	1	-	-
Common Yellowthroat	24	-	-	-
American Redstart	10	-	-	-
Cape May Warbler	2	-	-	-
Northern Parula	6	-	-	-
Magnolia Warbler	1	-	-	-
Blackpoll Warbler	2	-	-	-
Black-throated Blue Warbler	1	-	-	-
Palm Warbler (Western)	5	-	-	-
Prairie Warbler	2	-	-	-
Northern Cardinal	-	1	-	-
Indigo Bunting	2	-	-	-
Painted Bunting	3	1	-	-

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	102	-	102
# of Recaptures	5	-	5
# of Species	20	-	20
Effort (net-hours)	51.5	-	51.5
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	207.8	-	207.8
# of Nets	23	-	23

2025 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	2,980	2,016	4,996
# of Recaptures	396	361	757
# of Species	63	62	75
Effort (net-hours)	8,618.7	5,840.3	14,459.0
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	39.2	40.7	39.8
# of Days	55	46

Banding Staff

Aaron Given (CS)

Michael Gamble (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.