Surprise visitors flock to Kiawah

 CAPTAIN SAMS

We followed up yesterday's big day with 199 new birds and 31 recaptures of 20 species. This might be the first time since August when Common Yellowthroats were not the most numerous species banded. They still were no slouch with 48 of them banded but Gray Catbirds surpasses them with with 62. 

And out of nowhere, Blackpoll Warblers came in third with 35! Just for some context, since 2009 when we started banding at Captain Sams we have banded a total of 71 Blackpolls.  Blackpolls have a somewhat unique migration strategy among warblers. Breeding populations from as far west as Alaska and throughout Canada migrate to northeastern US and Canadian Maritimes, where they stage and build enormous fat reserves nearly doubling their body weight. From there, many will launch themselves out over the open Atlantic Ocean where they eventually reach the Caribbean. This flight could take several days to complete depending on weather and flying conditions. If necessary, they will rest and refuel in the Caribbean before continuing their journey into northern South America where they will spend the winter.  

So why did we get so many Blackpoll Warblers today? The simple answer is weather. Large storms off the coast of the southeastern US likely forced these birds to the coast as they were unable to navigate through the storms. Additionally, the strong northeasterly winds helped push birds from the ocean to coast. Similar wind conditions exist again tonight but the rain is much further south off the coast of Florida so we will see if we get more Blackpolls tomorrow. 

Blackpoll Warbler

-Aaron 

LITTLE BEAR

We had another pretty busy day out at Little Bear with 147 new birds and 11 recaps of 21 species, a fairly high total considering we were dealing with quite windy conditions again. Even with the wind, the birds kept coming and the number of birds captured stayed steady throughout most of the morning. Just like Capn Sam's, we also saw an influx of Blackpoll Warblers and had a good amount of warbler diversity today. We captured not one, but two Connecticut Warblers, a first of the season and possibly the only ones we'll capture this fall. In addition to the fun warblers today, we also caught another Green Heron and a first of the season Eastern White-crowned Sparrow! 

Here's a breakdown of our top 5 birds caught today. 

Gray Catbird - 37 (+2 recap)

Common Yellowthroat - 32 (+1 recap)

Blackpoll Warbler - 26 

Western Palm Warbler - 15 

Painted Bunting - 6 (+ 3 recap)

Connecticut Warbler (After hatch year, female)

-Liz 

Species	Captain Sams		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Green Heron	-	-	1	-
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker	1	-	-	-
Least Flycatcher	-	-	-	1
Eastern Phoebe	2	1	-	-
White-eyed Vireo	-	5	-	-
Red-eyed Vireo	1	1	1	-
Carolina Chickadee	-	1	-	-
Tufted Titmouse	-	-	-	1
Northern House Wren	1	-	-	-
Carolina Wren	-	-	-	1
Gray Catbird	62	8	37	2
Eastern White-crowned Sparrow	-	-	1	-
Northern Waterthrush	2	1	1	-
Black-and-white Warbler	3	1	4	-
Connecticut Warbler	-	-	2	-
Common Yellowthroat	48	10	32	1
American Redstart	18	-	7	-
Cape May Warbler	3	-	5	-
Northern Parula	6	-	2	-
Northern Yellow Warbler	1	-	1	-
Blackpoll Warbler	35	1	26	-
Black-throated Blue Warbler	4	1	2	-
Western Palm Warbler	7	1	15	-
Pine Warbler	1	-	-	-
Prairie Warbler	1	-	-	-
Northern Cardinal	-	-	-	2
Indigo Bunting	2	-	4	-
Painted Bunting	1	-	6	3

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	199	147	346
# of Recaptures	31	11	42
# of Species	20	21	28
Effort (net-hours)	204.6	169.7	374.3
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	112.4	93.1	103.7
# of Nets	33	28	-

2026 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	3,131	1,678	4,809
# of Recaptures	412	181	593
# of Species	61	59	76
Effort (net-hours)	7,746.11	5,171.45	12,747.9
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	45.7	35.9	42.4
# of Days	52	45

Banding Staff

Aaron Given (CS)

Michael Gamble (CS)

Liz Held (LB)

Olivia DeMarchi (LB)

Jasmine Fu (LB)

Aiden Gifford (CS)

David McLean(CS)

Ann McLean (CS)

Katy Richardson (CS)

Van Truong (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.