Bobolink, Blackpoll, & Tennessee

I took a gamble that the weather would cooperate despite a gloomy forecast.  It was barely drizzling when we opened nets at 6:45am and by the time we had all the nets open, it had almost completely stopped. I kept a close eye on the radar and could see that as soon as the rain from ocean hit the land it dissipated. Even with a radar full of green, it did not rain on us! We were forced to keep a few nets closed and close others early because the wind just got too strong to safely capture birds.  The cold front that moved through had pushed offshore and the temperature dropped about 7 degrees from the time we opened nets to the time we close the nets around 11:15am.  

Despite the wind and dreary conditions, we did okay with 24 new birds and 4 recaptures of 14 different species.  We banded two first-of-the-seasons (Tennessee Warbler and Blackpoll Warbler) and the first ever banding record for Bobolink at KIBS!  We hosted the Charleston County Park and Recreation Commission's Master Naturalist Class today and they got to share in our excitement of our "new species"!  It seems like every time they visit we get something good.  Last year it was Tree Swallows (another new species for KIBS)!       

- Aaron

Tennessee Warbler (HY, sex unknown)



Blackpoll Warbler (HY, sex unknown)

Bobolink (HY, female)

     

NEW BIRDS
1 Red-eyed Vireo
1 Swainson's Thrush
1 Gray Catbird
1 Northern Mockingbird
1 Tennessee Warbler
1 Cape May Warbler
2 Black-throated Blue Warbler
4 Palm Warbler (Western)
1 Blackpoll Warbler
1 American Redstart
8 Common Yellowthroat
1 Indigo Bunting
1 Bobolink

RECAPTURES
1 White-eyed Vireo
1 Red-eyed Vireo
2 Gray Catbird

BANDING STATS
# of Birds Banded:  24
# of Recaptures:  4
# of Species:  14
Effort:  69.0 net-hours
Capture Rate:  40.6 birds/100 net-hours
# of Nets:  17