Today at Captain Sam's was a bit of an interesting day. Before heading out for banding in the morning everyone checked the radar and it seemed like a fairly good number of birds might be coming our way. Once nets were open we started hearing a lot of chip notes and flight call notes above us zooming by over head. Usually when we hear these types of things before the first net run its a good indication that we might have a pretty busy day. However, the first net run turned out to be very disappointing. So with our fingers crossed, we processed all of our birds and then went on the second net run. Occasionally the second net run can actually be the largest net run of the day since birds are up and moving a little more. This, however, was not the case today. During the second net run it was much quieter in the trees and overhead. It appeared that all the (potential) birds we saw on the radar and heard flying over, did just that. They flew right over us and kept going. When conditions are right and these birds have another final destination in mind they may not stop by our site to enjoy our trees full of wax myrtle berries and bugs. It was very disappointing to hear all these birds early in the morning and not catch them later in the day.
Migration has a mind of its own in each little bird. Today we have ways of predicting previous patterns, but as climate change continues to shift weather patterns and recourse availability continues to diminish for these birds, we really have no way of predicting their behavior going forward. Long term data from banding stations like this one, along with improved technology of location devices to track birds, we can hopefully begin to understand a little more about what factors are directly effecting bird migration.
-Kristen
Little Bear
Gray Catbirds were "singing" throughout the morning and made up nearly 60% of our captures. Many of these birds were recaptures and it's likely that some of those individuals will winter here.
Overhead, we could hear and see dozens, if not hundreds, of migrating birds but few came down to rest.
Banding at this time of year, we expect to get late migrants, such as Kinglets, Hermit Thrushes, Orange-Crowned Warblers, several species of sparrows, and many Yellow-rumped Warblers.
It seems like these birds are currently on the move but we are not yet getting very impressive numbers, especially of Yellow-rumped Warblers, which have been one of our most common species in past years.
Little Bear's habitat is dominated by low, dense, shrubby vegetation. This type of habitat is ideal for our station's two most abundant Fall species, Gray Catbirds and Common Yellowthroats.
Like many shrub-dwelling birds, these two species are relatively strong-legged and short-winged. This allows them to easily navigate tight spaces, but prevents them from being particularly good aerialists.
Since the weather isn't supposed to shift for another week, it's likely that we'll continue to see similar numbers and similar species. However, migration is impossible to predict at times and I'd love to be wrong!
-Brandon
| Species | Captain Sam's | Little Bear | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New | Recaps | New | Recaps | |
Carolina Chickadee
|
1
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
House Wren
|
-
|
1
|
1
|
-
|
Carolina Wren
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
2
|
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
|
2
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
Hermit Thrush
|
1
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
Gray Catbird
|
4
|
5
|
10
|
14
|
Eastern Towhee
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
1
|
Song Sparrow
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
1
|
Swamp Sparrow
|
1
|
-
|
1
|
-
|
White-crowned Sparrow
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
1
|
Orange-crowned Warbler
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
1
|
Common Yellowthroat
|
2
|
1
|
-
|
-
|
Palm Warbler (Western)
|
-
|
-
|
1
|
-
|
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)
|
18
|
-
|
8
|
1
|
| Banding Stats | Captain Sam's | Little Bear | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| # Birds Banded |
29
|
21
|
50
|
| # of Recaptures |
7
|
21
|
28
|
| # of Species |
8
|
10
|
114
|
| Effort (net-hours) |
140.4
|
112
|
252.4
|
| Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours) |
25.6
|
37.5
|
30.9
|
| # of Nets |
27
|
20
|
47
|
Banding Staff
Aaron Given (CS)
Mattie VandenBoom (LB)
Michael Gamble (CS)
Kristen Oliver (CS)
Brandon Connare (LB)
Paul Carroll (CS)
Hannah Conley (LB)
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