A little push of birds

 CAPTAIN SAMS

A small push of birds last night brought a little more excitement than we've experienced the last several slow days and we ended up with 42 newly banded birds and 4 recaptures of 16 species. Some exciting captures include a few late migrants: Northern Parula, American Redstart, and Eastern Wood-Pewee. We also heard a couple Pine Siskins flying over the banding table but had no luck in capturing any. Flocks of Yellow-rumped Warblers were flying around and we managed to catch 23 in total. Yellow-rumped Warblers are one of my favorite late season birds to see in hand because their plumage is so variable even within the same age and sex class. Molt limits in hatch year birds can vary but there is usually an alula limit (A1) or a carpal covert limit (CC) present. We use several plumage characteristics to sex these guys including color of the lesser coverts, extent of black in the centers of the back feathers and upper tail coverts, amount of black streaking to the flanks, and amount of white in the outer tail feathers. Combining all of these traits allows us to separate sexes of both age classes. 

The photo above provides a glimpse into some of the plumage differences between hatch year and after hatch year males and females. The top two birds are both hatch years with A1 limits. The three overlapping feathers close to my finger make up the alula feathers with the smallest being A1, then A2 in the middle, and A3 is the largest underneath the other two. Note how A1 on both HY birds is darker with buffy/grayish edging whereas A2 and A3 are contrastingly brown with buffy tan edging. The two bottom birds are both after hatch years and have uniform plumage without any limits. Examining the alula feathers is a quick and easy way to age Yellow-rumped Warblers because the contrast in different feather generations is usually pretty extreme. Now onto distinguishing sex in these birds… the same plumage differences can be seen in both age classes but they are often more pronounced in after hatch years. Hatch year birds can have more intermediate features and sometimes require a closer inspection. One plumage clue to use is the color of the lesser coverts, which are the small scalloped feathers on a bird’s “shoulder”. Compare the brown lesser coverts on the females to the blueish gray lesser coverts on the males. You can also look at the greater coverts, which are located beneath the lesser coverts. The females have brownish greater coverts with buffy tan edging, while the males’ are blackish with white edging. AHY males are the most distinct of all with uniformly blackish alula feathers, large dark centers to the lesser coverts, and shiny blackish flight feathers. Since Yellow-rumped Warblers migrate in flocks, we sometimes catch many at once and it provides a great opportunity to compare the differences between them and I’m crossing my fingers we’ll have more days with lots of Yellow-rumps. 

-Olivia

LITTLE BEAR

Our first round was the busiest we've had in almost a week, but activity quickly waned as the wind picked up. We ended up with a total of 21 new birds and 4 recaptures of 13 species. Similar to Captain Sams, we saw a few late migrants today including a Northern Parula, a Blackpoll Warbler, 2 Black-throated Blue Warblers, and a stunning hatch year male Cape May Warbler. We heard small flocks of Yellow-rumps flying around but only 6 of them made it into our nets. 

-Liz

Cape May Warbler (hatch year, male)

Species	Captain Sams		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Downy Woodpecker	-	1	-	-
Eastern Wood-pewee	1	-	-	-
Golden-crowned Kinglet	1	-	-	-
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	7	-	3	-
Northern House Wren	1	-	-	-
Carolina Wren	-	-	-	1
Gray Catbird	2	1	1	2
Hermit Thrush	1	-	-	-
House Finch	1	-	-	-
White-throated Sparrow	1	-	-	-
Song Sparrow	1	-	-	-
Swamp Sparrow	1	-	1	-
Eastern Towhee	-	-	1	-
Common Yellowthroat	-	-	1	-
American Redstart	1	-	-	-
Cape May Warbler	-	-	1	-
Northern Parula	1	-	1	-
Blackpoll Warbler	-	-	1	-
Black-throated Blue Warbler	-	-	2	-
Western Palm Warbler	1	-	1	-
Myrtle (yellow-rumped) Warbler	21	2	6	-
Painted Bunting	1	-	2	1

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	42	21	63
# of Recaptures	4	4	7
# of Species	16	13	22
Effort (net-hours)	128.8	107.55	236.35
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	35.7	23.2	29.6
# of Nets	33	28	-

2026 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	4,364	2,568	6,932
# of Recaptures	645	428	1,073
# of Species	84	76	98
Effort (net-hours)	11,294.6	8,082.55	19,377.15
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	44.3	37.1	41.3
# of Days	75	68

Banding Staff

Michael Gamble (CS)

Liz Held (LB)

Olivia DeMarchi (CS)

Jasmine Fu (LB)

Aiden Gifford (LB)

Nick Schleissmann (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.

Bat's all, folks!

 CAPTAIN SAMS

It was a nice chill day at Captain Sam's today. Our first net run had a number of birds and the rest of the day was pretty slow. We ended the day with 23 new birds and 4 recaps, adding up to 9 species. The high tide has been getting progressively later in the day so Aaron and I packed up a little early to avoid getting stranded until the tide receded. It was nice to stay dry all day, although walking through the water was kind of fun!

-Aiden

LITTLE BEAR

Hot weather and mosquitoes have returned to Little Bear. 20 birds were processed at the station today, including a Ruby-crowned Kinglet male that was banded back in 2024 as an after hatch year, which means this bird is at least 3 years old.

As I am nearing the end of my time at Kiawah Island, I'd like to give a final bat summary for the fall season.

From August 28 to October 28 2026, I opportunistically put out my bat recorders at the two banding stations. My recorder turned on and recorded for 5 seconds every time a high frequency was detected. There were some nights when I did not get any detections at all, and some nights when I would get non-stop detections. Here are some findings from my bat recordings.

Sonogram of Tricolored Bat at Captain Sam's (9/29/2026)

Special bat detections this season include the Tricolored Bat, which was detected at Captain Sam’s on September 29th, and a Little Brown Bat, which was detected at Little Bear on August 30th. The Tricolored Bat is classified as a vulnerable species, and the Little Brown Bat is endangered according to the IUCN. These are microbats that echolocate at a higher frequency of 40+kHz.

Bar chart of bat detections on Kiawah Island by species

The most common detection by far was the Free-tailed bat, and their arrival seemed sporadic throughout the season, and aligned with migration events.

Free-tailed Bat detections at Captain Sam's and Little Bear from October 11, 2026 7pm to October 13, 2026 6am

It was interesting to look at how bats move around the island. On October 11, Free-tailed bats seemed to arrive at Captain Sam’s first. A few were detected on that night, while none were detected at Little Bear. But the very next night, there were many Free-tailed bat detections at Little Bear, and a lot less at Captain Sam’s. Evening bats also migrated through the station, and detections sometimes coincided with Free-tailed bat migration.

Bat detections by wind direction. Weather data was collected from Open-Meteo historical weather API. Each detection was matched with the wind direction of the hour.

This season, bats were detected usually in north winds. More Evening bats and Northern yellow bats were detected in NW winds, and more Free-tailed Bats were detected in N winds.

Most bats were detected when winds were under 10 miles per hour, though there were a couple of Eastern red bat detections in windy conditions above 10mph.

Bat detections by wind speed and species

This may be my last blog post for the banding station. I am very grateful for my experience here and the wonderful crew I got to work with!

— Jasmine

Species	Captain Sams		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Eastern Phoebe	1	-	3	-
Red-eyed Vireo	-	-	1	-
Carolina Chickadee	-	-	-	1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	5	-	-	1
Gray Catbird	2	1	-	1
Hermit Thrush	4	-	-	-
Swamp Sparrow	3	-	-	-
Common Yellowthroat	1	1	1	-
Black-throated Blue Warbler	1	-	-	-
Western Palm Warbler	-	-	1	-
Myrtle Yellow-rumped Warbler	6	1	3	-
Painted Bunting	-	-	2	-
Northern Cardinal	-	1	-	-

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	23	11	34
# of Recaptures	4	3	7
# of Species	9	9	13
Effort (net-hours)	114.85	137.2	252.1
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	23.5	10.2	16.3
# of Nets	33	28	61

2026 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	4322	2547	6869
# of Recaptures	641	425	1066
# of Species	84	76	98
Effort (net-hours)	11,165.8	7,975.0	19,140.8
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	44.4	37.3	41.5
# of Days	74	67

Banding Staff

Aaron Given (CS)

Michael Gamble (CS)

Liz Held (LB)

Olivia DeMarchi (LB)

Jasmine Fu (LB)

Aiden Gifford (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.

The Snowbirds Return to Kiawah Island

 CAPTAIN SAMS

It was pretty slow out there with 13 new birds and 7 recaptures. We were able to make some progress on net repairs at least. This is the time of year when we started to catch individuals that likely spend the winter at the banding site. Because birds generally have good site fidelity to breeding and wintering areas, we get a lot of recaptures of wintering birds. Today we captured a Gray Catbird and a Hermit Thrush that we banded back in 2022 and anther catbird that was banded last year. We will likely recapture these birds several times during the rest of the fall and winter as they make Kiawah Island their "winter home".

-Aaron

LITTLE BEAR

'Twas another pretty sluggish day at Little Bear with 10 newly banded birds and 10 recaptures of 8 species. Nothing too notable happened, but one interesting bird was a recap after hatch year female Common Yellowthroat originally banded on 9/26/2025. We recaptured this bird for the first time over a month ago on 9/25/2026 making it almost exactly a year in between captures. Since this bird has been sticking around Little Bear for over a month at this point, it's likely she calls this area home for the winter and will spend the next several months hanging out around Little Bear. Another interesting recapture was an after hatch year Gray Catbird originally banded as a hatch year in 2020 making it over 6 years old! According to The Animal Aging and Longevity Database, on average, catbirds will live to 2.5 years in the wild, although the oldest age recorded for a catbird was 17.9 years. It's not too common to catch birds you know are 5+ years old and it's cool to see that an old recapture is doing well.

-Olivia

Species	Captain Sams		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Yellow-billed Cuckoo	-	-	1	-
Downy Woodpecker	-	1	-	-
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	1	-	-	-
Carolina Wren	-	-	-	1
Gray Catbird	2	4	-	6
Hermit Thrush	-	1	1	-
Swamp Sparrow	2	-	2	-
Common Yellowthroat	1	-	1	2
Western Palm Warbler	-	-	2	-
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)	5	-	3	1
Northern Cardinal	-	1	-	-
Painted Bunting	2	-	-	-

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	13	10	23
# of Recaptures	7	10	17
# of Species	10	8	12
Effort (net-hours)	161.0	142.8	303.8
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	12.4	14	13.2
# of Nets	33	28	61

2026 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	4,298	2,536	6,834
# of Recaptures	637	422	1,059
# of Species	84	76	98
Effort (net-hours)	11,050.9	7,700.1	18,751
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	44.7	38.4	41.55
# of Days	73	66

Banding Staff

Aaron Given (CS)

Michael Gamble (CS)

Liz Held (LB)

Olivia DeMarchi (LB)

Jasmine Fu (LB)

Aiden Gifford (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.

Exciting Recaptures

 CAPTAIN SAMS

The tides were high again today. We donned our leaky boots and waders and flushed some marsh sparrows into mist nets. We processed 3 Saltmarsh Sparrows recaptures from previous seasons. One of them was banded back in 2021 as an after hatch year. In other words, this bird is at least 6 years old.

We also caught a hatch year male Cooper's Hawk this morning. This bird was not banded on Kiawah Island, so it will be interesting to see where it was originally banded once data becomes available in the USGS Bird Banding Laboratory database. Foreign recaptures are generally rare at banding stations, and foreign recaptures of raptors even more so.

I also took a picture of this Song Sparrow with an eccentric molt. Below, I highlighted the outer primaries and inner secondaries that are replaced (in green) and are retained (in red). Replaced feathers are darker, longer and less worn than retained juvenile ones. The rachis (i.e. feather shaft) is thicker and darker as well on replaced feathers.

Song Sparrow (hatch year, unknown)

Thank you Abby and Erin for helping out and spending the day with us!

— Jasmine

LITTLE BEAR

There isn't anything new or exciting today to report from Little Bear today. We are still wading through thigh deep water for a few birds per net run. We had 15 new birds and 8 recaps of 10 species today. Our exciting recapture from today was a returning Myrtle Warbler that was banded in 2024. He was captured alongside an after hatch year female, so we are able to show a comparison between adult males and females. The bird on the right is the male, with brighter black flight feathers, white edges on the greater and median coverts, and bright blue-gray feathers on the shoulder. The female on the left is more brown overall. The flight feathers are still a dark dusky gray with nice quality and sheen, but the tips of the coverts are more brown and the edging on the scapular feathers is not as bright blue. 

Myrtle Warblers (left: after hatch year female, right: after hatch year male)

-Liz

Species	Captain Sams		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Cooper's Hawk	-	1	-	-
Eastern Phoebe	1	-	-	-
Golden-crowned Kinglet	-	1	-	-
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	1	-	-	-
Northern House Wren	1	-	-	-
Carolina Wren	-	-	-	1
Gray Catbird	4	1	2	3
Gray-cheeked Thrush	-	-	1	-
Hermit Thrush	1	-	-	-
Seaside Sparrow	1	-	-	-
Saltmarsh Sparrow	3	3	-	-
Song Sparrow	1	-	1	-
Swamp Sparrow	-	-	1	-
Orange-crowned Warbler	2	-	-	-
Northern Waterthrush	-	-	-	1
Common Yellowthroat	-	-	2	-
American Redstart	1	-	-	-
Western Palm Warbler	1	-	-	-
Myrtle (Yellow-rumped) Warbler	1	-	3	2
Northern Cardinal	-	1	-	1
Painted Bunting	1	-	5	-
	-	-	-	-

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	19	15	34
# of Recaptures	7	8	15
# of Species	16	10	21
Effort (net-hours)	139.1	132.3	271.4
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	18.7	17.4	18.1
# of Nets	33	28	-

2026 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	4,285	2,526	6,811
# of Recaptures	630	412	1,042
# of Species	84	76	98
Effort (net-hours)	10,889.9	7,700.1	18,590
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	45.1	38.2	42.2
# of Days	72	65

Banding Staff

Aaron Given (CS)

Michael Gamble (CS)

Liz Held (LB)

Olivia DeMarchi (LB)

Jasmine Fu (CS)

Aiden Gifford (LB)

Abby Burke (CS)

Erin Rogers (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.

 CAPTAIN SAMS

Same ole, same ole. Slow, windy, and flooded. We captured 30 new birds and 6 recaptures of 17 species. We were able to flush some marsh sparrows into a net during high tide with all our free time. 

Seaside Sparrow (after hatch year, sex unknown)

-Michael
 

LITTLE BEAR

Another day with king tides, but with slightly more bird activity. We ended up with 29 new birds and 8 recaps of 14 species today. Today we banded our 4th Eastern Towhee of the season and saw a little push of Eastern Phoebes with 5 banded today. They've arrived just in time to help keep the mosquito population at bay. I see them scattered around the station, sallying out over the flooded areas to hunt. Another highlight from today was a late hatch year male Prairie Warbler. 

-Liz

Species	Captain Sams		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Eastern Phoebe	1	-	5	-
Golden-crowned Kinglet	1	-	-	-
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	2	-	1	-
Carolina Chickadee	-	1	-	-
Northern House Wren	1	-	1	-
Carolina Wren	-	-	-	2
Gray Catbird	4	2	4	5
Hermit Thrush	1	-	-	-
Seaside Sparrow	2	-	-	-
Saltmarsh Sparrow	1	-	-	-
Savannah Sparrow	1	-	-	-
Song Sparrow	1	-	-	-
Swamp Sparrow	-	-	2	-
Eastern Towhee	-	-	1	-
Orange-crowned Warbler	-	-	1	-
Black-and-white Warbler	-	-	-	1
Common Yellowthroat	3	1	2	-
Cape May Warbler	1	-	-	-
Western Palm Warbler	-	-	3	-
Myrtle (yellow-rumped) Warbler	10	-	4	-
Prairie Warbler	-	-	1	-
Northern Cardinal	-	1	-	-
Indigo Bunting	1	-	-	-
Painted Bunting	-	1	4	-

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	30	29	59
# of Recaptures	6	8	14
# of Species	17	14	24
Effort (net-hours)	172.25	120.4	292.7
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	20.9	30.7	24.9
# of Nets	33	28	61

2026 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	4,267	2,511	6,778
# of Recaptures	623	404	1,027
# of Species	83	76	98
Effort (net-hours)	10,751.4	7,567.8	18,319.2
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	45.5	38.5	42.6
# of Days	71	64

Banding Staff

Aaron Given (CS)

Michael Gamble (CS)

Liz Held (LB)

Olivia DeMarchi (LB)

Jasmine Fu (CS)

Aiden Gifford (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.

Late Season Doldrums

 CAPTAIN SAMS

Despite having northerly winds for the last several days, bird migration up and down the east coast is very low, and as a result, we only banded 10 birds and had 11 recaptures. This is not an uncommon occurrence as we usually see a significant drop off in numbers at the end of October. I do not think this will be pattern for the rest of the season though, as we usually get a couple surges of migrants in early November.

-Aaron   

LITTLE BEAR

Alas, fair friend, our capture this day was meagre indeed, with but 8 freshly banded avines, and 9 of previous capture. Verily, the tide came in with great vigour, rising above my very knees, as though the sea itself did seek to test the mettle of a knight! Upon my oath, I endured it as duty demands, though I confess the waters were most impertinent. Never in all my years of service have I beheld the sea so swollen with wrath. Methinks the very ocean doth test our courage, as the lists test a knight's mettle. By my troth, fair reader, I am sore troubled in mine heart, for I fear that this swelling of the waters shall grant the mosquitoes free dominion to breed and multiply, and we shall once more be beset by their grievous numbers, as a castle besieged by a countless host. Forsooth, 'tis a trial sent to test our patience, and we must bear it as befits knights of honour. I do pray that the words of Sir Aaron prove true, and that more birds doth appear within the next fortnight or so. Such tidings would gladden the heart of any loyal vassal, for hope is the companion of duty, and I shall await the fulfilment of this promise as a knight awaits the tourney.

I pray thee, good travelers, keep thee safe upon thy road, and let not the high tides sweep thee away — for a true knight doth guard his fellows as he would his own honour. I charge thee: take heed, and fare well.

- Sir Aiden The Yellow

Species	Captain Sams		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Yellow-billed Cuckoo	1	-	-	-
Eastern Phoebe	-	-	1	-
Red-eyed Vireo	-	1	-	-
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	2	1	-	-
Northern House Wren	-	1	-	-
Carolina Wren	-	-	-	1
Gray Catbird	4	5	2	6
Song Sparrow	-	1	-	-
Common Yellowthroat	1	1	1	-
American Redstart	-	-	2	-
Myrtle Yellow-rumped Warbler	2	-	2	1
Northern Cardinal	-	1	-	1

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	10	8	18
# of Recaptures	11	9	20
# of Species	9	7	12
Effort (net-hours)	168.2	132.3	300.5
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	12.5	12.9	12.6
# of Nets	33	27	60

2026 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	4,237	2482	6719
# of Recaptures	617	396	1013
# of Species	83	76	98
Effort (net-hours)	10,579.1	7447.4	18,026.5
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	45.9	38.6	42.9
# of Days	70	63

Banding Staff

Aaron Given (CS)
Michael Gamble (CS)
Liz Held (LB)
Olivia DeMarchi (CS)
Jasmine Fu (LB)
Aiden Gifford (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.