Windy Day With Very Little Birds

With the cold front that passed through early this morning, I thought we were going to have a good day.  Unfortunately, it was surprisingly slow with only 10 new birds banded and 5 recaptures of 9 different species.  Wind was a problem all morning.  Several nets were closed after a couple hours and we ended up closing down everything at 10:30 am.  The windy conditions are supposed to persist throughout the night and continue into tomorrow which could affect our banding effort in the morning. 

Highlights of the day included a handsome adult male American Redstart and an "old timer" male Painted Bunting.  The bunting was a recapture of a bird that was banded as an adult on Seabrook Island in 2009.   

American Redstart (AHY, male)

Just because this guy is at least 6 years old he is not going gray.  He is in the process of replacing the feathers on his head.  The white areas on the head and neck are the feather sheaths as the brilliant blue feathers have not emerged yet. 

- Aaron

Painted Bunting (ASY, male)

Painted Buting (ASY, male)

  

NEW BIRDS
2 White-eyed Vireo
1 Red-eyed Vireo
1 Northern Mockingbird
2 Black-throated Blue Warbler
3 Common Yellowthroat
1 American Redstart

RECAPTURES
1 Red-eyed Vireo
2 Carolina Chickadee
1 Painted Bunting
1 Northern Cardinal

BANDING STATS
# of Birds Banded:  10
# of Recaptures:  5
# of Species:  9
Effort:  72.6 net-hours
Capture Rate:  20.7 birds/100 net-hours
# of Nets:  20