Today was a bit better than it has been over the past few
days with 25 new birds and 2 recaptures, comprised of 8 species. Highlight of the day included our first of
the season Summer Tanager but the most interesting capture of the day was not a
bird though. After 3 nights of trapping,
we finally captured a bobcat.
Fall migration banding is only one of a handful of research
projects being conducted by the wildlife biologist of Kiawah Island. Since the early 2000’s, the town has been
radio collaring Bobcats to get a better understand their habitat use,
reproductive success, home range size, and response to development. Today we had the opportunity to participate in
this project when a bobcat wandered into a trap overnight. This particular bobcat was tagged as a kitten in 2013 and has been collared every year since 2014. Her GPS collar over the years has revealed that her
range extends from Captain Sam’s down to Night Heron Park. Today we replaced her collar and took several
measurements including body length and weight and let her return to the
wild. For more information on the bobcat research being conducted on Kiawah Island, check out https://www.kiawahisland.org/wildlife/bobcat-research/
 |
| Aaron collaring a bobcat |
Little Bear
It was a surprisingly slow at Little
Bear today with 9 new birds and 8 recaptures, made up of 10 species. The wind was likely the one to blame for
lower number of birds. North east winds
overnight caused the east coast to light up with migrants on radar but the
easterly component likely kept birds inland.
The wind also picked up throughout the morning, making our nets more
visible. We decided to end a little
early to observe the bobcat “banding” at Captain Sam’s.
| Species | Captain Sam's | Little Bear | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New | Recaps | New | Recaps | |
Red-eyed Vireo
|
1
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
Yellow-breasted Chat
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
1
|
Carolina Wren
|
-
|
-
|
1
|
4
|
Ovenbird
|
-
|
1
|
1
|
-
|
Northern Waterthrush
|
10
|
1
|
2
|
-
|
Prothonotary Warbler
|
1
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
Common Yellowthroat
|
2
|
-
|
1
|
-
|
American Redstart
|
4
|
-
|
2
|
-
|
| Yellow Warbler |
-
|
-
|
1
|
-
|
Prairie Warbler
|
-
|
-
|
1
|
1
|
Summer Tanager
|
1
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
Northern Cardinal
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
1
|
Painted Bunting
|
6
|
-
|
-
|
1
|
| Banding Stats | Captain Sam's | Little Bear | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| # Birds Banded |
25
|
9
|
34
|
| # of Recaptures |
2
|
8
|
10
|
| # of Species |
8
|
10
|
13
|
| Effort (net-hours) |
128.3
|
65.4
|
193.7
|
| Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours) |
21.0
|
26.0
|
22.7
|
| # of Nets |
26
|
20
|
46
|
Banding Staff
Aaron Given (CS)
Mattie VandenBoom (LB)
Michael Gamble (LB)
Kristen Oliver (CS)
Paul Carroll (CS)
