Captain Sam's had yet another slow day with only 40 birds being caught. Out of these 40, we processed 30 new birds and 10 recaptured birds. It is interesting to note that Ruby-crowned Kinglets made up a quarter of our captured birds. These olive-green songbirds are extremely small and can be identified by their seemingly oversized head, and thin, constantly flicking tail. Males can also be identified by their "ruby crown", although it may not be easily visible. Despite their diminutive size, these kinglets winter in cooler climates like South Carolina. They are able to withstand these cooler temperatures by constantly keeping active. This is why on cold mornings we work to process and release kinglets first, in order to prevent them from becoming hypothermic. Our nets were also visited by a Sharp-shinned hawk today. These raptors are the smallest hawks in North America. Sharp-shinned Hawks primarily feed on songbirds, and we may have caught while he was hunting. As I found out the hard way today, these hawks use their long talons to hold and impale prey.
-Ryan
 |
| Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Hatch-year Male) |
 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk (Hatch-year Male) |
Little Bear
Thanks to much less wind and similar cool temperatures to yesterday, we were able to stay open at Little Bear for a full six hours for the first time since the last cold front came through a couple of weeks ago. The longer hours did not translate into many more birds however, with 38 new birds banded and 23 recaptures of 12 different species.
Today we had only one new Gray Catbird. The number of recaptured catbirds has slowly been dropping over the past few days as well, and many of the ones that we have repeatedly recaptured have been packing on fat and disappearing. Some will likely remain at Little Bear over the winter, but it seems like the overwhelming majority of this species has finished passing us by.
Also of note, a Song Sparrow and an Orange-crowned Warbler that were originally banded last year both returned to the site today. Several of our recent recaptures have been birds from last year that are coming back to spend the winter here again.
--Blaine
| Species | Captain Sam's | Little Bear | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New | Recaps | New | Recaps | |
Common Ground-Dove
|
-
|
-
|
1
|
-
|
Sharp-shinned Hawk
|
1
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
Eastern Phoebe
|
1
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
House Wren
|
-
|
-
|
1
|
-
|
Carolina Wren
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
1
|
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
|
10
|
-
|
6
|
-
|
Gray Catbird
|
1
|
4
|
1
|
14
|
Northern Mockingbird
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
1
|
Orange-crowned Warbler
|
-
|
-
|
3
|
1
|
Palm Warbler (Western)
|
-
|
-
|
1
|
-
|
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)
|
13
|
5
|
18
|
3
|
Eastern Towhee
|
1
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
Song Sparrow
|
1
|
-
|
2
|
1
|
Swamp Sparrow
|
1
|
-
|
5
|
1
|
Northern Cardinal
|
-
|
1
|
-
|
1
|
Painted Bunting
|
1
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
| Banding Stats | Captain Sam's | Little Bear | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| # Birds Banded |
30
|
38
|
68
|
| # of Recaptures |
10
|
23
|
33
|
| # of Species |
10
|
12
|
16
|
| Effort (net-hours) |
130.0
|
117.7
|
247.7
|
| Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours) |
30.8
|
51.8
|
40.8
|
| # of Nets |
26
|
20
|
26
|
Banding Staff
Aaron Given (CS)
Blaine Carnes (LB)
Mattie VandenBoom (CS)
Alison Nevins (LB)
Col Lauzau (LB)
Michael Gamble (CS)
Michael Rodgers (LB)
Ryan Donnelly (CS)
Nancy Raginski (CS)
