As we expected, it was another slow day at Captain Sam’s today with only 15 new birds and 14 recaptures, comprised of 10 species. We did a have an interesting recapture of a Northern Waterthrush today. The waterthrush was originally banded on October 17 and at that time appeared to have no fat and only weighed in at 14.9g. When the bird was recaptured this morning, it had put on plenty of fat and weighed in at 20.0g. In its short stay at Captain Sam’s, its was able to increase its body weight by 34%, which is the equivalent of a 180lbs person putting on 61lbs in just 5 days. The fat this waterthrush has put on will aid him on his journey south to either Central or South America.
-Mattie
Little Bear
We had another slow day out at Little Bear again, despite prevailing northeast winds. We captured 26 new birds and 18 recaptures of 15 species total. Highlights of the day included yet another new Common Ground-dove, and a new Orange-crowned Warbler, only the second of the season. Both of the Orange-crowned Warblers have been at Little Bear so far. This species is one of the few warbler species that is actually more common in the West than here in the East; in fact, they can be quite scarce here, except during migration or on the wintering grounds. We capture just a handful each season!
-Casey
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| Orange-crowned Warbler (hatch-year male) |
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| Orange-crowned Warblers have a concealed crown of orange feathers that is hidden unless lifted in display--or blown into view by us rude humans! (Hatch year male) Photos by Casey Weissburg |
| Species | Captain Sam's | Little Bear | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New | Recaps | New | Recaps | |
| Common Ground-Dove | - | - | 1 | - |
| Yellow-billed Cuckoo | 1 | - | - | - |
| Eastern Phoebe | 1 | - | - | - |
| Carolina Chickadee | - | 1 | - | 2 |
| Carolina Wren | - | - | - | 1 |
| House Wren | 1 | - | - | 1 |
| Ruby-crowned Kinglet | 4 | - | 1 | - |
| Gray Catbird | 6 | 8 | 9 | 8 |
| Northern Waterthrush | - | 1 | - | 1 |
| Orange-crowned Warbler | - | - | 1 | - |
| Common Yellowthroat | - | 1 | 3 | - |
| American Redstart | - | - | - | 1 |
| Palm Warbler (Western) | 1 | - | - | - |
| Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) | 1 | - | 5 | 1 |
| Eastern Towhee | - | - | - | 1 |
| Song Sparrow | - | - | 1 | - |
| Swamp Sparrow | - | - | 2 | - |
| Northern Cardinal | - | 3 | - | - |
| Painted Bunting | - | - | 3 | 1 |
| - | - | - | - | |
| Banding Stats | Captain Sam's | Little Bear | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| # Birds Banded | 15 | 26 | 41 |
| # of Recaptures | 14 | 18 | 32 |
| # of Species | 10 | 15 | 35 |
| Effort (net-hours) | 125.0 | 71.5 | 196.5 |
| Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours) | 23.2 | 61.5 | 37.2 |
| Nets | 25 | 16 | 41 |
Banding Staff
Aaron Given (LB)
Mattie VandenBoom (CS)
Chris Snook (LB)
Nancy Raginski (CS)
Sean McElaney (CS)
Casey Weissburg (LB)
Michael Gamble (CS)
Ryan Donnelly (LB)
