CAPTAIN SAMS
My bad. After doing a fantasy football draft, cooking dinner, and helping with my son's homework, I completely forgot to do my part of the blog last night.
Despite cooler temperatures and north winds, it was a very slow morning out on the spit with 14 new birds and 4 recaptures of 9 different species. There is still some lingering water around some of the nets which is probably helping boost our waterthrush numbers.
-Aaron
LITTLE BEAR
We are still waiting for migration to pick up on the island but are still enjoying our frequent flyers such as resident Carolina Wrens and migrating Prairie Warblers. Today the crew captured 17 new birds and 6 recaptures including a slew of very young Northern Cardinals. While the slow days may be boring, they provide excellent opportunities to collect some poop! This year KIBS is assisting a PhD student from the University of Georgia by collecting fecal samples and molt data from Painted Buntings. Her project is focused on understanding how their diet and molt are related. Along with major events like migration and breeding, molt is considered an important part of a bird's annual cycle so understanding it helps ecologists better understand their conservation needs.
-Arden
| Species | Captain Sams | Little Bear | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New | Recaps | New | Recaps | |
White-eyed Vireo | - | 1 | - | - |
Red-eyed Vireo | 1 | - | - | - |
Carolina Wren | - | - | - | 3 |
Ovenbird | - | 1 | - | - |
Northern Waterthrush | 5 | - | 4 | - |
Black-and-white Warbler | 1 | - | - | - |
Prothonotary Warbler | 1 | - | - | - |
Common Yellowthroat | 5 | 1 | 1 | - |
American Redstart | - | - | 3 | - |
Prairie Warbler | 1 | - | 2 | - |
Northern Cardinal | - | 1 | 6 | 1 |
Painted Bunting | - | - | 1 | 2 |
| Today's Banding Stats | Captain Sams | Little Bear | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| # Birds Banded | 14 | 17 | 31 |
| # of Recaptures | 4 | 6 | 10 |
| # of Species | 9 | 7 | 12 |
| Effort (net-hours) | 152.2 | 122.6 | 274.8 |
| Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours) | 11.8 | 18.8 | 14.9 |
| # of Nets | 32 | 28 | 60 |
| 2025 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats | Captain Sams | Little Bear | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| # Birds Banded | 240 | 122 | 362 |
| # of Recaptures | 40 | 30 | 70 |
| # of Species | 27 | 21 | 32 |
| Effort (net-hours) | 1668.2 | 609.8 | 2278 |
| Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours) | 16.8 | 22.8 | 18.4 |
| # of Days | 12 | 5 | 12 |
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.
