Another dog with another blog

 CAPTAIN SAMS

It was a pretty good day out at Captain Sams and we ended the morning with 53 newly banded birds and 17 recaptures of 10 species. With the end of the season approaching, me and the crew are looking forward to the next cold front, which should be arriving on Friday. Hopefully it brings with it lots of Myrtles for our last couple days!

-Olivia

LITTLE BEAR

Today was a little busier than I expected after things were pretty slow yesterday. We had 41 total birds today, with 34 new and 7 recaptures of 9 species. It was a kinda chilly morning, starting out at 47 degrees, and bird activity started picking up a little later today, around 8:00/8:30. Our busiest net rounds today were actually at 9:00 and 10:20, which I thought was interesting. Our numbers were boosted by the 25 yellow-rumps we caught today (23 new, 2 recap). There were many small flocks foraging in low wax myrtle trees, which put them at a perfect height to end up in our nets. A few of our recaptures today were older birds, one Northern Cardinal banded in 2023, and a Carolina Wren and Gray Catbird banded in 2024. We love to see that the older birds are still thriving out here!

-Liz

Species	Captain Sams		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Downy Woodpecker	-	-	-	1
Golden-crowned Kinglet	-	-	1	-
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	1	2	3	-
Carolina Wren	-	2	-	1
Gray Catbird	-	3	4	2
Hermit Thrush	1	2	-	-
Swamp Sparrow	1	-	2	-
Orange-crowned Warbler	-	1	-	-
Common Yellowthroat	1	-	-	-
Western Palm Warbler	-	-	1	-
Myrtle (yellow-rumped) Warbler	48	6	23	2
Northern Cardinal	-	1	-	1
Painted Bunting	1	-	-	-
	-	-	-	-

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	53	34	87
# of Recaptures	17	7	24
# of Species	10	9	13
Effort (net-hours)	174.9	129.6	304.5
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	40.0	31.6	35.8
# of Nets	33	27	60

2026 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	4,919	2,807	7,726
# of Recaptures	765	493	1,258
# of Species	86	79	101
Effort (net-hours)	12,838.4	9,255.2	22,093.6
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	44.3	35.7	40.0
# of Days	85	78

Banding Staff

Aaron Given (CS)

Michael Gamble (CS)

Liz Held (LB)

Olivia DeMarchi (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.

We await another cold front

 CAPTAIN SAMS

After the cold front over the weekend and the increase in birds moving through, captures are beginning to decrease again. We captured 33 new birds and 18 recaptures of 9 species. We also recaptured a Ruby-crowned Kinglet and Yellow-rumped Warbler that we banded last fall.

-Michael

LITTLE BEAR

Captures continued to decrease out at Little Bear. We banded 23 new birds and processed 11 recaptures of 9 total species. Most of our captures were yellow-rumps (11 new, 1 recap) and catbirds (2 new, 8 recaps). We also had a few more Ruby-crowned Kinglets today, two more White-throated Sparrows, our second Yellow-bellied Sapsucker of the season, and a late American Redstart. It was a cool, sunny morning with a decent amount of bird activity around the station, but things quieted down after about 9am. 

-Liz

Species	Captain Sams		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker	-	-	1	-
Eastern Phoebe	-	-	1	-
White-eyed Vireo	-	1	-	-
Carolina Chickadee	-	1	-	-
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	4	1	4	-
Carolina Wren	-	1	-	1
Gray Catbird	1	4	2	8
Hermit Thrush	-	1	-	-
White-throated Sparrow	-	-	2	-
Song Sparrow	1	4	-	-
Swamp Sparrow	-	-	1	1
American Redstart	-	-	1	-
Palm Warbler (Western)	2	-	-	-
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)	25	5	11	1

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	33	23	56
# of Recaptures	18	11	29
# of Species	9	9	14
Effort (net-hours)	181.5	134.4	315.9
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	28.1	25.3	26.9
# of Nets	33	28	61

2026 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	4,870	2,773	7,643
# of Recaptures	748	486	1,228
# of Species	86	78	101
Effort (net-hours)	12,838.4	9,125.6	21,964.0
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	43.8	35.7	40.4
# of Days	84	77

Banding Staff

Michael Gamble (CS)

Liz Held (LB)

Olivia DeMarchi (CS)

Aiden Gifford (LB)

Turning to winter

 CAPTAIN SAMS

We had another decent day today with 77 new birds and 8 recaptures of 14 species. We have officially transitioned into the late fall migration period as all of the birds we captured today are species that overwinter in the southeast. Leading the way, as per usual this time of year, were Yellow-rumped Warblers with 51. They will pretty much dominate our nets for the rest of the season now. 

The last two days we have had a unusual flurry of bird activity towards the end of the day. Today we captured 23 birds (over a quarter of all birds captured) on our last net run. This was made up of a variety of species and spread out across the banding station and wasn't just a net full of Yellow-rumped Warblers. Not really sure what is going on there but it had me questioning my choice to close the nets down at the normal time.

-Aaron

LITTLE BEAR

Today was a little slower than yesterday out at Little Bear. We ended the day with 37 new birds and 7 recaps of 9 species. One thing keeping our numbers a little higher were the small flocks of yellow-rumps flitting around. Most of our numbers came from one round when we had 13 myrtles in one net!  We're now up to over 200 Myrtles out at Little Bear. Compared to last year when we had just under 100, that's quite the difference. Aside from the yellow-rumps we caught our first Golden-crowned Kinglets of the season (!) and heard a few more throughout the day. We also had 5 Ruby-crowned Kinglets, our most in one day so far. Other highlights were a Yellow-billed Cuckoo, a couple of Painted Buntings and a late Prairie Warbler. Sparrow numbers have been a little low for us so far so I'm hoping we start to see some more in this last week. 

-Liz

Species	Captain Sams		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Yellow-billed Cuckoo	-	-	1	-
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker	2	-	-	-
Eastern Phoebe	1	-	-	-
Golden-crowned Kinglet	1	-	2	-
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	5	1	5	-
Carolina Chickadee	-	-	-	2
Gray Catbird	3	2	2	3
Hermit Thrush	2	-	1	-
House Finch	1	-	-	-
White-throated Sparrow	2	-	-	-
Song Sparrow	5	1	-	-
Swamp Sparrow	1	-	-	-
Orange-crowned Warbler	2	-	-	-
Pine Warbler	-	1	-	-
Western Palm Warbler	1	-	-	-
Prairie Warbler	-	-	1	-
Myrtle (yellow-rumped) Warbler	51	3	24	1
Painted Bunting	-	-	1	1
	-	-	-	-

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	77	37	114
# of Recaptures	8	7	15
# of Species	14	9	19
Effort (net-hours)	194.5	151.2	345.7
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	43.7	29.1	37.3
# of Nets	33	27	-

2026 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	4,837	2,750	7,587
# of Recaptures	730	469	1,199
# of Species	86	78	101
Effort (net-hours)	12,656.9	8,991.2	21,648.1
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	44.0	36.0	40.6
# of Days	83	76

Banding Staff

Aaron Given (CS)

Liz Held (LB)

Olivia DeMarchi (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.

Myrtle Madness

 CAPTAIN SAMS

By my troth, fair reader, this morn did begin with a fog most thick and heavy, and all the plants of the marsh were bedecked with dew as though adorned for a tourney. Though my breeches were well soaked in the early hours, the waters have since fled, and so my feet remained dry for once — a small mercy, yet one I shall not scorn. As the morn wore on, the skies did clear, and we ended the day with sunshine and a gentle breeze, as though the heavens themselves smiled upon our quest. This day hath been far busier than the fortnight past — and verily, 'twas a welcome turn! For a knight doth thrive upon labour and purpose, and idle days weigh heavier than any armour. Methinks the code itself doth counsel us to cherish each hour of honest toil, for duty is the marrow of honour. Upon mine honour, I am gladdened to hear thy day was thus filled. The sweltering heat of this past sennight hath at last departed, and methinks the days ahead shall prove cooler, so far as a knight may read the skies. Soothly, 'tis a mercy from the heavens, for even the stoutest vassal doth wilt beneath such a sun.

By Jove, fair friends, I do pray that every soul who readeth these words may find favour in the weather — that the air be cool and gentle as the morn after a summer tourney — and that ye may venture forth to walk upon this goodly earth — for verily, we are but humble vassals of this realm, and 'tis by fortune's grace alone that we were born unto it. For a knight knoweth well that honour is not won by sitting idle by the hearth, but by riding forth and breathing deep of the open sky. Upon mine honour, I wish ye all fair winds and pleasant wandering.

Anywho, as far as banding for the day, we got a total of 166 new birds and 9 recaps. 133 of our new birds were Yellow-rumped warblers. It's exciting to get so many of these guys after not seeing them for so long, and it makes me excited for winter! Hopefully there's some decent snow this year in the Northeast.

- Sir Aiden The Yellow


LITTLE BEAR

Yellow-rumps abound at Little Bear this morning, although not as abundant as Captain Sams. We ended the morning with 47 newly banded birds and 7 recaptures of 13 species. Some highlights were Little Bear's first White-throated Sparrow and Clay-colored Sparrow of the season. According to Cornell's Birds of the World, Clay-colored Sparrow is a widespread breeder in prairie-brush habitats of the Northern Great Plains. The Great Plains is the most endangered ecosystem in the United States due to habitat fragmentation, livestock grazing, and fire suppression causing woody plant encroachment. The birds that utilize grassland and prairie habitats are among the bird populations experiencing the most severe declines in North America, which includes Clay-colored Sparrow. The bulk of these sparrows migrate through the central U.S. and winter in Arizona, Texas, and Mexico, but small numbers are reported throughout the eastern seaboard every year and some even spend the winter in coastal South Carolina, although they're pretty uncommon, making this fella an exciting capture.  

Clay-colored Sparrow (hatch year, sex unknown)

Liz, Aiden, and I are on our last week at KIBS and I'm looking forward to seeing more sparrows before the season is up.

-Olivia

Species	Captain Sams		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Yellow-billed Cuckoo	1	-	-	-
Eastern Phoebe	-	-	1	-
Golden-crowned Kinglet	2	-	-	-
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	8	3	3	-
Carolina Chickadee	-	1	-	-
Northern House Wren	1	-	-	-
Carolina Wren	-	-	-	1
Gray Catbird	-	2	1	2
Hermit Thrush	1	-	-	-
Clay-colored Sparrow	-	-	1	-
White-throated Sparrow	7	-	2	-
Song Sparrow	3	-	-	1
Swamp Sparrow	3	-	1	-
Orange-crowned Warbler	2	-	2	-
Northern Parula	1	-	-	-
Common Yellowthroat	-	-	1	-
Black-throated Blue Warbler	1	-	-	-
Western Palm Warbler	3	-	1	-
Myrtle (yellow-rumped) Warbler	133	2	34	2
Northern Cardinal	-	1	-	1

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	166	47	213
# of Recaptures	9	7	16
# of Species	16	13	19
Effort (net-hours)	223.9	156.8	380.7
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	78.2	34.4	60.2
# of Nets	33	28	61

2026 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	4,790	2,713	7,503
# of Recaptures	722	469	1,191
# of Species	86	78	101
Effort (net-hours)	12,462.4	8,840	21,302.4
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	44	36	40.8
# of Days	82	75

Banding Staff

Aaron Given (CS)

Liz Held (LB)

Olivia DeMarchi (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.

100th Species of the Season

 CAPTAIN SAMS

It was a humid and foggy morning at Captain Sams and our nets were covered with dew. After shaking them off and opening for the day, we managed to capture 36 birds in total, 7 of which were recaps. Yellow-rumped Warblers continue to make up the majority of our captures with 20 banded today. Although it was slightly slower than yesterday, we had a couple interesting birds. First was a hatch year male Ruby-throated Hummingbird. Ruby-throated Hummingbirds winter in coastal South Carolina in small numbers, but November 6th marks the latest date one has been captured at KIBS. We're unable to band hummingbirds because we don't have the special permit and equipment, so we took some measurements and set this guy free.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird (hatch year male)

Another exciting bird was a hatch year male Sharp-shinned Hawk. We can tell this bird is young because it is especially bug-eyed and adorable... just kidding. It has a brown back with rusty-tipped feathers and brown streaking to the breast instead of the dusky blue-gray upperparts and orange breast of adult Sharp-shinned Hawks. It also has a yellow eye instead of the deep red eye that adults have. We can tell its a male because of its small size. Don't be fooled by its dainty nature, however- this bird is a certified bird murderer. This young fella is extra exciting because he is the 100th species of the season captured between both stations. 

Sharp-shinned Hawk (hatch year male)

-Olivia

LITTLE BEAR

Today was slightly slower out at Little Bear. We caught a total of 18 birds with 16 new birds and 2 recaps of 8 species. Most of our captures were also Yellow-rumps, just not quite as many as Captain Sams. We also banded 3 Eastern Phoebes and saw a few more hanging around the station and actually heard them singing. It was pretty hot and humid out in the dunes, but a few clouds and a cool breeze helped for some of the morning. Despite it being pretty slow lately, the Yellow-rumps are starting to add up. Last year we ended with 98 for the season, and so far we're up to 147. With a couple of small cold fronts coming up I'm hoping we'll get a small push of birds in our last week and a half maybe with some more yellow-rumps, kinglets, and sparrows. 

-Liz

Species	Captain Sams		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Sharp-shinned Hawk	1	-	-	-
Eastern Phoebe	3	-	3	-
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	1	1	-	-
Gray Catbird	1	1	-	-
Northern House Wren	-	-	-	1
House Finch	2	-	-	-
Song Sparrow	1	1	1	-
Swamp Sparrow	-	-	2	-
Common Yellowthroat	-	1	1	-
Blackpoll Warbler	-	-	-	1
Western Palm Warbler	-	-	1	-
Yellow Palm Warbler	-	-	1	-
Myrtle (yellow-rumped) Warbler	20	2	7	-
Northern Cardinal	-	1	-	-
	-	-	-	-

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	29	16	45
# of Recaptures	7	2	9
# of Species	9	8	14
Effort (net-hours)	167.9	134.4	302.3
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	19.7	13.4	17.9
# of Nets	33	28	-

2026 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	4,594	2,666	7,260
# of Recaptures	713	462	1,175
# of Species	86	76	100
Effort (net-hours)	12,238.5	8,683.2	20,921.7
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	43.4	36.0	40.3
# of Days	81	74

Banding Staff

Michael Gamble (CS)

Liz Held (LB)

Olivia DeMarchi (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.

Old faces

 CAPTAIN SAMS

For the last 6 years we have been in a cycle of high Yellow-rumped Warbler numbers in even years. Last year we only banded 540 of them but so far this year we have banded 345 and we still have 25 days left in the season. In 2022 and 2024, 1047 and 1013, were banded, respectively, while in 2021 and 2023 only 688 and 525 were banded. If this trend continues, 2026 should be a good fall for Yellow-rumped Warblers.

-Aaron

LITTLE BEAR

Still slow going out at Little Bear. There was more bird activity in general with flocks of blackbirds, grackles, and yellow-rumps flying back and forth. At times it sounded like there was quite a lot of yellow-rump chipping throughout the right side of the station. Groups of 2-3 of the warblers would occasionally find our nets today and we were surprised to catch a handful of new catbirds as well. We ended up with 18 new birds and 6 recaps of just 6 species. We captured a couple of notable recaps today; a Swamp Sparrow banded as an after hatch year in 2024 and a yellow-rump banded as a hatch year in 2023. 

Featured below is our recaptured Swamp Sparrow, which is at least 3 years old, compared to a hatch year Swamp Sparrow banded this year. Hatch years tend to have buffier coloring around the face and eye stripe, compared to the solid, bright gray coloring of after hatch years. Our older bird from today also had a very red crown and fairly bright white throat, which really stood out. 

-Liz

Swamp Sparrow (after hatch year, unknown sex)

Swamp Sparrow (left: after hatch year, right: hatch year)

Species	Captain Sams		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Eastern Phoebe	-	-	1	-
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	1	1	-	-
Northern House Wren	-	1	-	-
Carolina Wren	-	-	-	1
Hermit Thrush	-	1	-	-
Gray Catbird	-	2	6	1
Eastern Towhee	1	-	-	-
Song Sparrow	1	1	-	-
Swamp Sparrow	-	-	1	1
House Finch	3	-	-	-
Common Yellowthroat	-	1	-	-
Myrtle (yellow-rumped) Warbler	41	7	10	1
Northern Cardinal	-	1	-	2
	-	-	-	-

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	47	18	65
# of Recaptures	15	6	21
# of Species	10	6	13
Effort (net-hours)	170.6	119	289.6
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	36.3	20.2	29.7
# of Nets	33	28	-

2026 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	4,565	2,650	7,215
# of Recaptures	706	459	1,165
# of Species	85	76	99
Effort (net-hours)	12,070.6	8,548.8	20,619.4
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	43.7	36.4	40.6
# of Days	80	73

Banding Staff

Aaron Given (CS)

Liz Held (LB)

Olivia DeMarchi (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.

 CAPTAIN SAMS

The morning started off rainy and slow but then it cleared up and the Yellow-rumped Warblers started finding our nets. We ended the morning with 43 new birds and 11 recaptures of 9 species. Of the 54 total birds captured, 44 were Yellow-rumped Warblers! We also captured a late Black-throated Blue Warbler.

-Michael

LITTLE BEAR

Slow. Hot. So. Many. Mosquitos. The Myrtle warblers were chirping all around the station, but we did not have the same luck as Captain Sams. We managed to capture 17 total birds, 9 of which were Yellow-rumped Warblers. The highlight of the day was capturing Little Bear's 20th Yellow-billed Cuckoo of the season. Only 5 were caught last year, so the uptick in numbers is great to see! Prior to this season I had never banded one and it's been a treat to band several. These birds are one of my favorites to see in hand and they make the most grumpy grumbling noises while being processed.

Yellow-billed Cuckoo (hatch year, unknown sex)

-Olivia

Species	Captain Sams		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Yellow-billed Cuckoo	-	-	1	-
Downy Woodpecker	-	-	-	1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	-	1	1	-
Northern House Wren	-	1	-	-
Carolina Wren	-	1	-	1
Gray Catbird	-	1	2	-
Song Sparrow	-	1	-	-
Common Yellowthroat	1	1	-	-
Black-throated Blue Warbler	1	-	-	-
Western Palm Warbler	-	-	1	-
Myrtle (Yellow-rumped) Warbler	51	4	8	1
Northern Cardinal	-	1	-	1

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	53	13	66
# of Recaptures	11	4	15
# of Species	9	8	12
Effort (net-hours)	174.9	108.35	283.25
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	36.6	15.7	28.6
# of Nets	33	28	61

2026 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	4508	2632	7140
# of Recaptures	656	453	1109
# of Species	84	76	99
Effort (net-hours)	11469.5	8429.8	19899.3
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	45.0	36.6	41.5
# of Days	79	72

Banding Staff

Michael Gamble (CS)

Liz Held (LB)

Olivia DeMarchi (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.