CAPTAIN SAMS
It was a very slow morning with 19 new birds and 9 recaptures of 10 species. The storms north of us prevented birds from migrating south, but the weather cleared out and tonight should be a good night for migration. We did recapture a late Ovenbird, which may continue on its migration south or overwinter on Kiawah Island. We have had a wintering Ovenbird on the spit over the past several years and more have been overwintering along the South Carolina coast in recent years. Ovenbirds that breed east of the Appalachians spend the winter in Florida and the Caribbean so its possible that their wintering range is shifting north as we have warmer winters.
-Michael
LITTLE BEAR
It was also a slow morning at Little Bear with 17 new birds and 4 recaptures. We were able to open all but three of the nets. It seems like the deer had some more fun after we left and ended up running into a few of our poles. We didn't see them today, so hopefully they have moved on! Even though it was pretty slow today, we did have pretty good species diversity, capturing 11 different species. I am looking forward to tomorrow, which will hopefully bring some new birds into the area.
-Liz
| Species | Captain Sams | Little Bear | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New | Recaps | New | Recaps | |
Eastern Phoebe | 1 | - | 2 | - |
Ruby-crowned Kinglet | 2 | - | 3 | - |
House Wren | - | 1 | - | - |
Gray Catbird | 1 | 3 | 4 | 1 |
Hermit Thrush | - | - | 1 | 1 |
White-throated Sparrow | - | - | 1 | - |
Field Sparrow | 1 | - | - | - |
Song Sparrow | 1 | 1 | 1 | - |
Swamp Sparrow | 1 | - | - | - |
Ovenbird | - | 1 | - | - |
Common Yellowthroat | - | - | 1 | - |
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) | 11 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
Palm Warbler | - | - | 1 | - |
Northern Cardinal | - | - | - | 1 |
Painted Bunting | 1 | 1 | - | 1 |
| Today's Banding Stats | Captain Sams | Little Bear | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| # Birds Banded | 19 | 17 | 36 |
| # of Recaptures | 9 | 4 | 13 |
| # of Species | 10 | 11 | 15 |
| Effort (net-hours) | 185.6 | 123.2 | 308.8 |
| Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours) | 15.1 | 17.0 | 15.9 |
| # of Nets | 32 | 25 | 57 |
| 2025 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats | Captain Sams | Little Bear | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| # Birds Banded | 4,768 | 3,309 | 8,077 |
| # of Recaptures | 988 | 902 | 1,890 |
| # of Species | 90 | 90 | 104 |
| Effort (net-hours) | 12,207.9 | 8,573.7 | 20,781.6 |
| Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours) | 47.1 | 49.1 | 48.0 |
| # of Days | 77 | 67 |
Banding Staff
Aaron Given (CS)Michael Gamble (CS)
Liz Held (LB)
Arden Schneider (LB)
Camille Beckwith (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.
