CAPTAIN SAMS
51 new and 3 recaps were our numbers over at ye ol captains today. The morning was pretty slow except for around 8:00 when a flock of Yellow-rumped Warblers found net 2 and 0. My dad who's also a bander would call that a warbler cannon, because as one might guess, it's like someone stuffed a cannon full of warblers and shot it at the net. Why he was thinking about warblers being stuffed into a cannon is beyond me, but maybe he's secretly a pirate or something. As far as exciting birds for today, we got Captain Sam's second Saltmarsh Sparrow for the season so that was just dandy. Aaron also notified Michael of an American Avocet that was chillin on the beach which was strange since they feed in mud flats. Michael went and snatched the fella who was pretty weak, slapped a good ol band on his leg, and released him in some more suitable habitat. Hopefully can eat up on some tasty snails. Other than that, it was a nice cool day out there.
Enjoy your weekend everybody! If you're birding the spit anytime soon and see an Avocet with a band let us know!
LITTLE BEAR
We started off with an exciting morning out at Little Bear! We caught a Saltmarsh Sparrow and Marsh Wren in the same net run, two species we don't see very often. I was surprised to see the Saltmarsh Sparrow in a net up on the dunes and not in one closer to the high salt marsh. We won't complain about getting a close look at this awesome sparrow. The very next net run we got a Cooper's Hawk! Last week's cold snap brought increased raptor activity and we were hoping to see a few in our nets. We could tell this young hawk is a male based on its small size (for a Cooper's Hawk).
-Liz
| Species | Captain Sam's | Little Bear | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New | Recaps | New | Recaps | |
Yellow-billed Cuckoo | 1 | - | - | - |
American Avocet | 1 | - | - | - |
Cooper's Hawk | - | - | 1 | - |
Downy Woodpecker | 1 | 1 | - | - |
Carolina Chickadee | - | - | - | 1 |
Ruby-crowned Kinglet | 2 | - | 1 | - |
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher | - | - | 1 | - |
Northern House Wren | 1 | - | 2 | - |
Marsh Wren | - | - | 1 | - |
Carolina Wren | - | - | - | 1 |
Gray Catbird | 4 | - | 2 | 2 |
Hermit Thrush | 3 | - | - | - |
Saltmarsh Sparrow | 1 | - | 1 | - |
Song Sparrow | 4 | - | - | - |
Swamp Sparrow | 2 | - | - | - |
Common Yellowthroat | 3 | - | 2 | 1 |
American Redstart | - | - | - | 2 |
Blackpoll Warbler | - | - | - | 1 |
Western Palm Warbler | 1 | - | 1 | - |
Myrtle (Yellow-rumped) Warbler | 26 | - | 8 | 1 |
Painted Bunting | 1 | - | 1 | 1 |
Northern Cardinal | - | 2 | - | - |
| Today's Banding Stats | Captain Sams | Little Bear | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| # Birds Banded | 51 | 21 | 72 |
| # of Recaptures | 3 | 10 | 13 |
| # of Species | 15 | 15 | 22 |
| Effort (net-hours) | 157.9 | 137 | 294.9 |
| Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours) | 34.2 | 22.6 | 28.8 |
| # of Nets | 33 | 28 | 61 |
| 2026 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats | Captain Sams | Little Bear | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| # Birds Banded | 4182 | 2,457 | 6639 |
| # of Recaptures | 594 | 372 | 966 |
| # of Species | 82 | 76 | 98 |
| Effort (net-hours) | 10154.9 | 7,090.4 | 17245.3 |
| Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours) | 47.0 | 39.9 | 44.1 |
| # of Days | 67 | 60 |
Banding Staff
