CAPTAIN SAMS
A cold front moved through last night but there was a lot rain across the northeast and unfortunately, all it brought with it was strong west winds. We had another slow day of banding with 10 new birds and 20 recaptures of 13 species. We captured a fairly late Chuck-wills-widow although we have banded several of them into November throughout the years. Once the rain clears north of us, I expect the "flood gates" to open and more migrants will start to make their way down. Yellow-rumped Warblers and Ruby-crowned Kinglet numbers are very low compared to other years at this time. We also haven't seen many sparrows yet. I think this weekend we will see a change to the late October doldrum that we are currently in.
-Aaron
LITTLE BEAR
Quiet day at Little Bear, but it was punctuated with the arrival of this gorgeous after-second-year Sharp-shinned Hawk.
Front and back of a beautiful after-second-year Sharp-shinned Hawk. This one is easily discernible as a female by size. Males are far smaller, often the size of a jay! This difference allows them to make maximum us of a territory by feeding of different sized prey. This resource partitioning is a great way to minimize competition between a pair and since males take a dominant role as provisioners, particularly when the chicks are young, this means he will be bringing in more manageable prey items.
Sharp-shinned Hawks are the smallest of our three accipiters, or bird hawks, well adapted to maneuvering quickly through dense woodlands and hedgerows to capture birds and other agile prey using their relatively short-round wings and long tails to give them the mobility necessary to take their preferred game.
Sharp-shinned Hawks are relatively uncommon winter birds here, but can be extremely common in other parts of the continent and are one of the most abundant migrating raptors I have seen at stations in the Intermountain West.
Always thrilled to be able to have a hawk in the hand. Very grateful to have had this beautiful creature.
-Jeremiah
| Species | Captain Sams | Little Bear | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New | Recaps | New | Recaps | |
Chuck-will's Widow | 1 | - | - | - |
Sharp-shinned Hawk | - | - | 1 | - |
Carolina Chickadee | - | - | - | 1 |
House Wren | - | 1 | - | - |
Carolina Wren | - | 1 | - | - |
Gray Catbird | 2 | 12 | 5 | 4 |
Swainson's Thrush | - | 1 | - | - |
Swamp Sparrow | 2 | 1 | 2 | - |
Yellow-breasted Chat | - | 1 | - | - |
Ovenbird | - | 1 | - | - |
Common Yellowthroat | 1 | - | - | - |
American Redstart | - | - | - | 1 |
Northern Parula | 1 | - | - | - |
Black-throated Blue Warbler | - | - | 1 | - |
Myrtle Warbler | 2 | 1 | 1 | - |
Northern Cardinal | - | - | - | 1 |
Indigo Bunting | - | - | 2 | - |
Painted Bunting | - | 1 | - | 1 |
| Hermit Thrush | 1 | - | - | - |
| Today's Banding Stats | Captain Sams | Little Bear | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| # Birds Banded | 10 | 12 | 22 |
| # of Recaptures | 20 | 8 | 28 |
| # of Species | 13 | 10 | 19 |
| Effort (net-hours) | 171.8 | 120.15 | 291.95 |
| Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours) | 17.5 | 16.6 | 17.1 |
| # of Nets | 32 | 28 | 60 |
| 2025 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats | Captain Sams | Little Bear | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| # Birds Banded | 4,532 | 3,175 | 7,697 |
| # of Recaptures | 938 | 843 | 1,761 |
| # of Species | 89 | 84 | 101 |
| Effort (net-hours) | 11,501.0 | 8,371.06 | 19,699.76 |
| Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours) | 47.6 | 48.0 | 48.01 |
| # of Days | 73 | 63 |
Banding Staff
Aaron Given (CS)Michael Gamble (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.
