Captain Sam's
It's continuing to be an exceptionally slow October. We had a total of 12 new birds and 17 recaps of 11 different species, including a handful of new Myrtle Warblers and two handfuls of recap Gray Catbirds. We also recaptured a Yellow-billed Cuckoo that was banded earlier this week.
The good news is that we have another cold front approaching! There are plenty of birds to the north of us and plenty of late fall species we have yet to catch. They are bound to get here soon.
-Brandon
Little Bear
Today was another extremely slow day, and for the most part quite uneventful, with just 20 new birds and 10 recaptures of 13 species. Cloudy skies and light-moderate winds gave us a break from the hot sunny days we've been having lately, and just as we were about to close, those clouds gave way to a few rain showers.
However, we did get a nice surprise on our last net run: our first raptor of the season, an immature male Cooper's Hawk! Sharp-shinned and Cooper's Hawks are fairly common by-catch in songbird nets, usually coinciding with the migration of Yellow-rumped Warblers later in the season. While Captain Sam's has caught Cooper's Hawks in the past, this was the first for Little Bear! Both Cooper's and Sharp-shinneds are easily aged by plumage: this hatch-year has brown plumage with brown vertical breast streaking and a yellow eye. Adults will have striking blue-gray plumage with horizontal reddish barring on the breast and an orange-to-red eye.
 |
| Cooper's Hawk, hatch-year, male. |
Additionally, we can sex Cooper's (and most other hawks) by wing chord, as males are smaller than females.
 |
| Cooper's Hawk, hatch-year, male. |
-Hannah
| Species | Captain Sam's | Little Bear | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New | Recaps | New | Recaps | |
Yellow-Billed Cuckoo
|
-
|
1
|
1
|
-
|
Cooper's Hawk
|
-
|
-
|
1
|
-
|
Carolina Chickadee
|
1
|
-
|
-
|
1
|
Tufted Titmouse
|
-
|
-
|
3
|
-
|
House Wren
|
1
|
-
|
1
|
-
|
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
|
-
|
-
|
1
|
-
|
Gray Catbird
|
3
|
10
|
6
|
8
|
Northern Mockingbird
|
-
|
1
|
-
|
1
|
Eastern Towhee
|
1
|
1
|
-
|
-
|
Song Sparrow
|
-
|
1
|
-
|
-
|
Swamp Sparrow
|
-
|
1
|
2
|
-
|
Common Yellowthroat
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
-
|
Palm Warbler (Western)
|
-
|
-
|
2
|
-
|
Myrtle Warbler
|
5
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
Prairie Warbler
|
-
|
-
|
1
|
-
|
Northern Cardinal
|
-
|
1
|
-
|
-
|
Painted Bunting
|
-
|
-
|
1
|
-
|
| Banding Stats | Captain Sam's | Little Bear | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| # Birds Banded |
12
|
20
|
32
|
| # of Recaptures |
17
|
10
|
27
|
| # of Species |
11
|
13
|
17
|
| Effort (net-hours) |
124.9
|
100.9
|
225.8
|
| Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours) |
23.2
|
27.1
|
50.3
|
| # of Nets |
26
|
20
|
46
|
Banding Staff
Aaron Given (CS)
Mattie VandenBoom (LB)
Michael Gamble (CS)
Kristen Oliver (LB)
Brandon Connare (CS)
Paul Carroll (CS)
Hannah Conley (LB)
