It was a blustery day with winds reaching 15 mph (with gusts to 20) by mid-morning causing me to close down a little bit earlier that normal. The radar show decent movements of migrants across the Carolinas last night however, that did not reflect the number of birds that were banded today. I only only banded 15 new birds and had 14 recaptures of 10 different species. I suspect the wind hurt me some today.
The highlight of today was the capture of 3 Tree Swallows. I was quite surprised to see them in the net as I did not see any flocks of swallows flying around today. I guess a small flock must have landed to feed on wax myrtles while I was at the other end of the banding station. Another interesting bird was the recaptured Prairie Warbler. This bird was banded in the early November and has been recaptured a couple times since. Perhaps she is going to spend the winter at the banding station.
NEW BIRDS
1 Sharp-shinned Hawk
3 Tree Swallow
2 Ruby-crowned Kinglet
1 Gray Catbird
6 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)
1 Swamp Sparrow
1 White-throated Sparrow
RECAPTURES
1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet
1 Hermit Thrush
4 Gray Catbird
6 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)
1 Prairie Warbler
1 Eastern Towhee
BANDING STATS
# of Birds Banded: 15
# of Recaptures: 14
# of Species: 10
Effort: 111.4 net-hours
Capture Rate: 26.0 birds/100 net-hours
# of Nets: 23
BANDING STAFF
Aaron Given
