Tanagers These Days...

Captain Sam's

We weren't sure how the day would turn out due storms north of us yesterday that seemed to have prevented migrating birds from reaching us, but we ended up having a fairly successful day regardless. We nearly broke 100 birds for the day with 94 birds total (85 new, 9 recaps). Our highest frequency species was a tie today between Gray Catbirds and Common Yellowthroats, with 32 new individuals banded of each species. My favorite bird of the day was a hatch-year female Summer Tanager. Joanne was excited to band this bird since she is from Ontario, Canada and had never seen one of them in the hand! She took the photo below.

Hatch-year Female Summer Tanager

-Danaé


Little Bear
It was a great start this morning! We had a total of 81 new birds and 8 recaptures. We had a new bird of the season Swainson's Thrush today!
We had a large amount of Gray Catbirds throughout the day, which totaled out to 42 birds. Even though it was busy, we did not have a huge variety of species today but hopefully tomorrow will be better!

-Kristin

Species	Captain Sam's		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Least Flycatcher	-	-	-	1
Traill's Flycatcher	-	-	1	-
White-eyed Vireo	4	-	-	-
Red-eyed Vireo	5	2	2	-
House Wren	1	-	2	1
Carolina Wren	-	1	1	1
Swainson's Thrush	1	-	1	-
Gray Catbird	32	2	42	1
Northern Mockingbird	1	-	-	-
Northern Waterthrush	1	-	1	-
Common Yellowthroat	32	1	22	1
American Redstart	1	-	1	-
Yellow Warbler	-	-	2	-
Black-throated Blue Warbler	1	-	-	-
Western Palm Warbler	-	-	2	-
Summer Tanager	1	-	-	-
Northern Cardinal	-	1	-	1
Painted Bunting	4	2	4	2

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sam's	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	85	81	166
# of Recaptures	9	8	17
# of Species	15	14	18
Effort (net-hours)	142.72	56.15	198.9
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	65.9	158.5	92.0
# of Nets	28	20	48

2018 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sam's	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	1086	789	1875
# of Recaptures	268	138	406
# of Species	45	39	54
Effort (net-hours)	4560.2	1801.9	6362.1
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	30.1	51.4	35.9
# of Days	39	32	-

Banding Staff
Aaron Given (CS)
Michael Gamble (LB)
Meredith Heather (LB)
Danaé Mouton (CS)
Kristin Attinger (LB)
Joanne Hamilton (CS)
Joel Throckmorton (CS)

FOS Least Flycatcher

Captain Sam's

Today we were greeted with temperamental thunderstorms just before dawn. The heavy rains caused us to open late, but despite the bad luck we were able to get out and band some birds. We had 22 birds banded of 7 species, and 2 recaptures of 2 species. Today we had a very pretty after hatch-year male American Redstart, and a pretty hatch-year female Black-throated Blue. Hopefully tomorrow we'll be able to open on time.

-Joanne

Little Bear

The radar looked pretty good last night but unfortunately we were delayed due to several thunderstorms and were not able to open until 9:00 AM. We were expecting a bigger push of birds but we only ended up with 19 new birds and 4 recaptures of 11 species. The highlight of the morning was our first and maybe our last Least Flycatcher. We only catch a couple a fall and they are early migrants so this could be the last one this season. We also caught our second hatch-year Indigo Bunting, which had splotches of blue coming in all over its body, signifying a male. The radar looks pretty good again tonight and hopefully storms will not affect us tomorrow morning.

Least Flycatcher (hatch-year, unknown sex)

Indigo Bunting (hatch-year, male)

-Michael

Species	Captain Sam's		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
"Traill's" Flycatcher	-	-	1	-
Least Flycatcher	-	-	1	-
White-eyed Vireo	-	-	1	-
Red-eyed Vireo	3	-	2	1
Gray Catbird	7	1	8	1
Northern Mockingbird	1	-	2	-
Northern Waterthrush	1	-	-	-
Common Yellowthroat	5	-	1	-
American Redstart	4	-	-	-
Black-throated Blue Warbler	1	-	1	-
Indigo Bunting	-	-	1	-
Northern Cardinal	-	-	-	1
Painted Bunting	-	1	1	1

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sam's	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	22	19	41
# of Recaptures	2	4	6
# of Species	8	11	13
Effort (net-hours)	77.0	34.0	111.0
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	31.2	67.6	42.3
# of Nets	28	20	48

2018 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sam's	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	1001	708	1709
# of Recaptures	259	130	389
# of Species	45	38	54
Effort (net-hours)	4417.5	1745.75	6163.25
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	28.5	48.0	34.0
# of Days	38	31	-

Banding Staff
Aaron Given (CS)
Michael Gamble (LB)
Meredith Heather (LB)
Danaé Mouton (CS)
Kristin Attinger (LB)
Joanne Hamilton (CS)
Joel Throckmorton (CS)
Chris Snook (CS)

Using Radar to Predict Bird Movements

Captain Sam's

As predicted by radar, last night had little to no avian migration along the coast. With mainly south winds, birds found conditions unfavorable for migration. Thus, we only had 9 new birds and 4 recaps today. However, with coastal storms predicted and favorable wind conditions to our north, we should expect high numbers tomorrow. This depends on multiple factors such as when and where the storms hit. If storms hit just to our south or over Kiawah, we may have potential for fallouts, causing birds to land along the coast. If storms form to our north, we may have little movement around Kiawah, as most birds could be stopped before reaching our sites. Overall, we should see some movement tonight and an increase in numbers due to westerly winds. To see how radar and weather patterns are used to model bird migration, check this link.

-Joel

Little Bear

The day started out windy causing us to close the exposed nets. When the wind calmed and we re-opened those nets, the clouds dissipated and the sun came. Heating up quickly, we had to close all the nets. We ended the morning with a total of 12 new birds and 6 recaptured of 11 species. We heard a flock of Bobolinks flying over and were hopeful they'd come down to our nets, but it didn't happen today. While leaving the site, there were about 40 hanging out in the grassy areas. Our most exciting capture today was the first Brown Thrasher for Little Bear! It was nice and calm allowing us to photograph it. I also finally got to see a Yellow Warbler with a little bit of orange streaking on the breast. Hatch-year males or older females will both show slight orange streaking. The one today was a hatch-year male.

Hatch-year Brown Thrasher

-Meredith

Species	Captain Sam's		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
White-eyed Vireo	-	1	1	-
Red-eyed Vireo	-	-	1	-
Gray Catbird	3	1	2	1
Brown Thrasher	-	-	1	-
Northern Waterthrush	-	-	-	1
Common Yellowthroat	3	1	2	1
American Redstart	-	-	1	1
Yellow Warbler	2	-	1	-
Palm Warbler (Western)	1	-	1	-
Prairie Warbler	-	-	2	-
Northern Cardinal	-	1	-	2

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sam's	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	9	12	21
# of Recaptures	4	6	10
# of Species	6	11	11
Effort (net-hours)	102.8	47.45	150.25
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	12.6	37.9	20.6
# of Nets	28	20	48

2018 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sam's	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	979	689	1668
# of Recaptures	257	126	383
# of Species	45	37	53
Effort (net-hours)	4340.5	1711.75	6052.25
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	28.5	47.6	33.9
# of Days	37	30	-

Banding Staff
Aaron Given (CS)
Michael Gamble (LB)
Meredith Heather (LB)
Danaé Mouton (CS)
Kristin Attinger (LB)
Joanne Hamilton (CS)
Joel Throckmorton (CS)
Ryan Donnelly (LB)

Time Flies "Wren" You're Having Fun

Captain Sam's:

Although today was a bit slower than yesterday, this allowed us plenty of time to complete some much needed repairs on our mist nets. In total, we caught 22 new birds and had 9 recaps for a total of 10 species. Our frequent flyer of the day was the Gray Catbird, with 12 new individuals banded and 3 recaptured. Little Bear also caught quite a few Catbirds today, as well as many Common Yellowthroats. One of the characteristics that can be used to age Gray Catbirds is the color of the inside of their mouths, with hatch-year birds typically having white on the roof of the mouth while after-hatch-year birds have a completely black mouth. The inside of a Catbird's mouth is usually pretty easy to see as they are a very vocal species. We heard quite a few of them today around the site and weren't surprised to see so many show up in our nets.

- Danaé



Little Bear:

Today was a great day where we had 44 newly banded birds and 8 recaptured birds! The weather was nicely overcast throughout most of the day with a little rain showing in the mix. This overcast weather kept our nets open a little longer than most days so far.

We also got our first of the season House Wren today! We started to close our nets for the day and right on the last net run, this little guy was hanging out! He was extremely cute! House Wrens are cavity nesters who will readily nest in nest boxes or homes that are set up for them. Their nest contains mostly sticks and a soft layer on which to place their eggs to keep them safe. They can evict other species that have made a home in a cavity that they would want to nest in, especially species like Tree Swallows and Bluebirds, where people set up boxes to promote more nesting grounds. To maintain and control which bird gets which nest box, here is a link on how to build a guard for bluebird boxes. Make sure to always make an extra box for the wrens! They are pretty and have an extremely fun call!

Hatch year House Wren (unknown sex)

- Kristin

Species	Captain Sam's		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Downy Woodpecker	-	-	-	1
"Traill's" Flycatcher	1	-	-	-
White-eyed Vireo	1	1	1	-
Red-eyed Vireo	2	-	1	-
House Wren	-	-	1	-
Carolina Wren	-	1	-	-
Veery	-	-	1	-
Gray Catbird	12	3	14	2
Northern Mockingbird	1	-	-	-
Northern Waterthrush	-	-	-	1
Common Yellowthroat	2	1	15	3
American Redstart	2	-	2	-
Northern Parula	1	-	-	-
Yellow Warbler	-	-	2	-
Western Palm Warbler	-	-	6	-
Painted Bunting	-	3	1	1

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sam's	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	22	44	66
# of Recaptures	9	8	17
# of Species	10	12	16
Effort (net-hours)	101.8	68	169.8
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	30.7	76.5	48.9
# of Nets	28	20	48

2018 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sam's	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	970	677	1,647
# of Recaptures	253	120	373
# of Species	45	36	53
Effort (net-hours)	4,237.7	1,664.3	5,902.0
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	28.9	47.9	34.2
# of Days	36	29	-

Banding Staff
Aaron Given (CS)
Michael Gamble (LB)
Meredith Heather (LB)
Danaé Mouton (CS)
Kristin Attinger (LB)
Joanne Hamilton (CS)

Catbirds on the Move

Captain Sam's 

With the Southwest winds last night, we were unsure of how today would go. We ended up having a decent day with 67 new birds and 4 recaptures. It was the biggest day yet for Catbirds as we had 19 new individuals. You could hear them throughout the day making their "mew" call. The main excitement was a collared bobcat that was spotted on our first net check. I spent an hour today just patrolling net lanes to prevent her from "stealing" our birds. I did spot her a second time and noticed she had a smaller bobcat with her, likely a kitten from this breeding season. It was enjoyable to see one so close. The other neat wildlife observation was an Eastern Kingsnake, who Danaé came across, that was in the process of eating a glass lizard. See the video below for this "Steve Irwin moment."

-Joel

Little Bear

We ended up having a surprisingly good day with 77 new birds and 5 recaptures of 15 different species. We had a decent push of gray catbirds this morning with a total of 26 captured, which even beat out common yellowthroats for top species of the day. The highlight of the morning was an Acadian Flycatcher, which is one of our rarer flycatchers caught during the fall. We also have had a Merlin show up at the banding station so hopefully it finds one of our nets!

Acadian Flycatcher (hatch-year, sex unknown)

-Michael

Species	Captain Sam's		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Downy Woodpecker	-	1	-	-
Acadian Flycatcher	-	-	1	-
"Traill's" Flycatcher	1	-	1	-
White-eyed Vireo	10	-	1	-
Red-eyed Vireo	3	-	1	-
House Wren	2	-	-	-
Carolina Wren	-	-	-	1
Gray Catbird	19	1	26	-
Northern Mockingbird	1	-	1	-
Yellow-breasted Chat	1	-	-	-
Northern Waterthrush	-	-	1	-
Common Yellowthroat	24	2	19	-
American Redstart	2	-	2	-
Yellow Warbler	1	-	2	-
Black-throated Blue Warbler	-	-	1	-
Palm Warbler (Western)	-	-	16	-
Prairie Warbler	1	-	1	-
Northern Cardinal	1	-	-	-
Painted Bunting	1	-	4	4

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sam's	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	67	77	144
# of Recaptures	4	5	9
# of Species	14	15	19
Effort (net-hours)	114.8	55.8	170.6
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	61.8	146.9	89.7
# of Nets	28	20	48

2018 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sam's	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	948	633	1581
# of Recaptures	244	112	356
# of Species	45	35	53
Effort (net-hours)	4135.9	1596.3	5732.2
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	28.8	46.7	33.8
# of Days	35	28	-

Banding Staff
Aaron Given (CS)
Michael Gamble (LB)
Meredith Heather (LB)
Danaé Mouton (CS)
Kristin Attinger (CS)
Joanne Hamilton (LB)
Joel Throckmorton (CS)
Chris Snook (CS)
Jake Zadik (LB)

FOS Blue Grosbeak

Captain Sam's

We started off with a foggy morning today, but this didn't seem to deter the birds. In total, 58 new birds were banded, with 11 recaptures and 12 total species. We had a new species today, the Blue Grosbeak, which was an exciting capture here on Kiawah since we usually only catch one or two per season! Not only did we get to band a stunning after-hatch-year male, but we also had a hatch year Blue Grosbeak on our last net run of the day. Having only seen a Blue Grosbeak once before in the hand, getting to see two in one day was quite a thrill for me, especially the bright blue adult male. Another highlight for the day was a hatch-year Northern Parula, our second Parula of the season. Here's hoping the good birds continue over the days to come!

After-hatch-year male Blue Grosbeak

Hatch-year female Northern Parula

- Danaé

Little Bear

Today was another steady day with 38 birds banded of 8 species, and 8 recaptures of 6 species. The Grey Catbirds have started to arrive en masse, with 7 in one net! I love how animated these birds are, but they rarely stay still for pictures. Here's hoping to another cool start to the day tomorrow and more birds!

-Joanne

Species	Captain Sam's		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
"Traill's" Flycatcher	-	-	1	1
White-eyed Vireo	2	-	3	1
Red-eyed Vireo	3	1	1	-
Carolina Wren	-	1	-	1
Gray Catbird	5	1	10	2
Eastern Towhee	-	1	-	-
Black-and-white Warbler	1	-	-	-
Common Yellowthroat	36	3	17	2
American Redstart	1	-	-	-
Northern Parula	1	-	-	-
Yellow Warbler	-	-	1	-
Palm Warbler (Western)	-	-	4	-
Northern Cardinal	1	1	-	-
Blue Grosbeak	2	-	-	-
Painted Bunting	6	3	1	1

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sam's	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	58	38	96
# of Recaptures	11	8	19
# of Species	12	9	15
Effort (net-hours)	114.8	62.0	176.8
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	60.1	74.2	65.0
# of Nets	28	20	48

2018 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sam's	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	881	556	1437
# of Recaptures	240	107	347
# of Species	45	34	53
Effort (net-hours)	4021.1	1540.5	5561.6
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	27.9	43.0	32.1
# of Days	34	27	-

Banding Staff
Aaron Given (CS)
Michael Gamble (LB)
Meredith Heather (LB)
Danaé Mouton (CS)
Kristin Attinger (CS)
Joanne Hamilton (LB)
Joel Throckmorton (CS)

The Tradition Continues!

Captain Sam's

It was an unexpectedly busy day out at Captain Sam's with 77 new birds and 18 recaptures of 15 species. Common yellowthroats made up about 70 percent of the new birds with 52 being captured this morning.

The highlight of the morning was a Common Yellowthroat that was banded on the left leg with what looked like an older band. I was not at Captain Sam's this morning but Aaron sent me the band number thinking we may have caught another Common Yellowthroat from Forman's Branch Bird Observatory at the Chester River Field Research Station in Chestertown, Maryland. I volunteered up there this past spring and the band number sounded familiar from all the recaptured yellowthroats I processed while there. We got in touch with Maren Gimpel, who is a field ecologist and bird bander with Washington College at FBBO, and she confirmed that it was one of their yellowthroats! This makes it the 3rd migration season in a row that we/they have caught a Common Yellowthroat from their/our banding station. The yellowthroat caught today was banded there as an after-second-year male on 5/5/2016, making him over 4 years old. Another interesting fact is it has not be recaptured since it was banded until today at Captain Sam's.

This is a similar story to the Common Yellowthroat that FBBO caught this past spring on May 12th, which was banded at the Captain Sam's banding station on 9/30/2014 as a hatch-year. This bird was also never recaptured again since it was banded until landing in a net at FBBO this year.

This trade of yellowthroats all started last fall when we captured one of their yellowthroats on 9/21/2017 (below). My girlfriend Nancy, who is a former KIBS assistant, was working there at the time and I sent her the band number to confirm that it was one of their birds. Not only was it one of their birds, but my girlfriend had actually banded it 13 days prior on 9/8/2017. It was an incredible moment when I realized I was holding a yellowthroat that had just been banded by my girlfriend 2 weeks before in Chestertown, Maryland!

Common Yellowthroat banded in Chestertown,

Maryland on 9/8/2017

Check out our blog post from that day last fall and learn why banding data like this is so important at http://kiawahislandbanding.blogspot.com/2017_09_21_archive.html. You can check out the Chester River Field Research Station on Facebook at https://facebook.com/CRFRC/ or Instagram at http://instagram.com/chesterriverfieldresearch. You can also visit their website at http://www.washcoll.edu/centers/ces/crfrs/. 

-Michael

Little Bear

It was a relatively busy day today at Little Bear. In the 3 hours we had the nets open, we caught 45 new birds and 5 recaptured of 12 species. The common yellowthroats are continuing to be a high capture and the Painted Bunting numbers are dropping. Birds are moving, but we're still waiting for that big migration push. Today, I got to band my first Nashville Warbler. This was especially exciting for me because it's not only the first one I've seen in the hand, but the first one I've ever seen! We were able to sex it as a male because of the chestnut in the crown usually not visible if seen while birding (and not visible in the photo).

Nashville Warbler (hatch-year, male)

-Meredith

Species	Captain Sam's		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Mourning Dove	-	1	-	-
"Traill's" Flycatcher	1	-	1	1
White-eyed Vireo	-	1	-	-
Red-eyed Vireo	5	3	2	2
Carolina Chickadee	-	2	-	-
Veery	1	-	-	-
Gray Catbird	7	-	1	-
Northern Mockingbird	-	1	-	-
Yellow-breasted Chat	-	1	-	-
Northern Waterthrush	1	-	-	1
Nashville Warbler	-	-	1	-
Common Yellowthroat	52	2	27	-
American Redstart	3	-	3	-
Yellow Warbler	-	-	3	-
Palm Warbler (Western)	2	-	5	-
Prairie Warbler	2	-	1	-
Northern Cardinal	-	-	1	-
Painted Bunting	3	7	-	1

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sam's	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	77	45	122
# of Recaptures	18	5	23
# of Species	15	12	18
Effort (net-hours)	119.7	60.0	179.7
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	79.4	83.3	80.7
# of Nets	28	20	48

2018 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sam's	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	823	518	1341
# of Recaptures	229	99	328
# of Species	44	34	52
Effort (net-hours)	3906.3	1478.5	5384.8
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	26.9	41.7	31.0
# of Days	33	26	-

Banding Staff
Aaron Given (CS)
Michael Gamble (LB)
Meredith Heather (LB)
Danaé Mouton (CS)
Kristin Attinger (CS)
Joanne Hamilton (LB)
Joel Throckmorton (CS)

FOS House Finch, Pine Warbler, and House Wren

Captain Sam's

Today was a little slower than yesterday with 11 new birds and 14 recaptures of 10 different species. We are stuck in a period where our recapture numbers are overtaking our new birds banded, which means the conditions for migration are poor, keeping birds from leaving and preventing any new birds from arriving. Hopefully this pattern is broken and we get a new push of migrants sometime this week. The highlight of the morning was a first-of-the-season House Wren on the first net run. This felt a little early to be catching a House Wren but we caught our first one even earlier last fall at the Little Bear site on September 15th.

House Wren (hatch-year, sex unknown)

-Michael

Little Bear

Today was a little busier than yesterday despite the persistent heat. We banded 21 new birds of 10 species, and had 5 recaptures of 4 species. Luckily for us we were treated with two uncommon birds for our banding station, a Pine Warbler and a House Finch. It was really exciting to see these two birds in hand, here's hoping for more rarities.

-Joanne

House Finch (Hatch Year, Female)

Pine Warbler (Hatch Year, Male)

Species	Captain Sam's		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
"Traill's" Flycatcher	-	-	1	-
Red-eyed Vireo	3	2	1	1
House Wren	1	-	-	-
Carolina Wren	-	5	-	-
Gray Catbird	1	1	1	-
Northern Mockingbird	1	-	-	-
House Finch	-	-	1	-
Common Yellowthroat	1	3	8	1
American Redstart	1	-	1	-
Palm Warbler (Western)	-	-	2	-
Pine Warbler	-	-	1	-
Prairie Warbler	1	-	1	-
Northern Cardinal	1	1	-	1
Painted Bunting	1	2	4	2

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sam's	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	11	21	32
# of Recaptures	14	5	19
# of Species	10	11	14
Effort (net-hours)	117.6	53.4	171.0
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	21.3	48.7	29.8
# of Nets	28	20	48

2018 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sam's	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	746	473	1219
# of Recaptures	211	94	305
# of Species	44	34	52
Effort (net-hours)	3786.6	1418.5	5205.1
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	25.3	40.0	29.3
# of Days	32	25	-

Banding Staff
Michael Gamble (CS)
Meredith Heather (LB)
Danaé Mouton (LB)
Kristin Attinger (CS)
Joanne Hamilton (LB)
Joel Throckmorton (CS)

Day of Recaptures

Captain Sam's

It was a slow day at Captain Sam's today but we sure did a lot of recaptures. With a total of 17 new birds and 13 recaptures. We had the most recaptures of Painted Buntings that were after-hatch years. It was really cool seeing the unique coloration of the males once they are finished molting!
Check out the bold contrast of colors on this male below!

After-hatch year male Painted Bunting

-Kristin



Little Bear

It was a day full of recaptured birds at Little Bear with more recaptured than newly banded. We had a total of 12 new birds and 14 recaptures. It was a decently diverse day with 11 species. The continuing heat shut us down just before 10 this morning. Our most interesting catch today was a Yellow Warbler (photo below) with a duller, more olive coloration than most that we see. According to The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, there is extensive morphological variation within Yellow Warblers, more so than other wood-warblers. To learn more about Yellow Warblers and their various subspecies, check out this link.

Hatch-year Yellow Warbler

-Meredith

Species	Captain Sam's		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
White-eyed Vireo	1	-	-	1
Red-eyed Vireo	3	3	3	-
Carolina Chickadee	-	-	1	-
Carolina Wren	1	1	-	3
Veery	1	-	-	-
Gray Catbird	2	1	-	-
Brown Thrasher	1	-	-	-
Northern Mockingbird	-	-	1	-
Ovenbird	1	-	-	-
Northern Waterthrush	-	-	1	-
Common Yellowthroat	4	1	2	1
Yellow Warbler	-	-	1	1
Prairie Warbler	-	-	1	-
Northern Cardinal	-	1	-	2
Painted Bunting	3	6	2	6

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sam's	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	17	12	29
# of Recaptures	13	14	27
# of Species	10	11	15
Effort (net-hours)	105	60	165
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	28.6	43.3	35.9
# of Nets	28	20	48

2018 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sam's	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	735	452	1,187
# of Recaptures	197	89	286
# of Species	43	32	49
Effort (net-hours)	3,669.0	1,365.1	5,034.1
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	25.4	39.6	29.3
# of Days	31	24	-

Banding Staff
Michael Gamble (CS)
Meredith Heather (LB)
Danaé Mouton (LB)
Kristin Attinger (CS)
Joanne Hamilton (LB)
Joel Throckmorton (CS)
Ryan Donnelley (CS)

FOS Mourning Dove

CAPTAIN SAM'S

Because of some rain just offshore, we delayed our opening this morning.  As the cell came ashore it only produced a light sprinkle for a few minutes, so we were only about 20 minutes later than normal getting the nets open.  Northeast winds tempered the extreme humidity that we have been experiencing which made it quite comfortable outside for a change.

We banded 48 new birds and had 11 recaptures of 16 different species.  Common Yellowthroats and Red-eyed Vireos made up over 60% of the birds we banded today which is fairly normal for late September.

It's been a good year for Painted Buntings.   In fact, we have captured at least one Painted Bunting every day this fall for a total of 133 banded and 57 recaptures.  Last year we only banded 127 of them all season.

The highlight of the day was a juvenile Mourning Dove that we captured later in the morning.  We don't get many Mourning Doves as they are relatively large and don't get caught in our nets.  Today's bird was the 18th Mourning Dove that we have banded in last 10 years of banding at Captain Sam's.

Mourning Dove (hatch-year, sex unknown)

-Aaron

LITTLE BEAR

We did not have nearly as good of a day as Captain Sam's with only 19 new birds and 10 recaptures of 9 different species. Red-eyed vireos won out the day with 7, and we continue to catch more yellow warblers. They love shrubby habitats so the scrub habitat of Little Bear is very appealing to them and we expect to catch many more as we've done in previous years.

Yellow Warbler (hatch-year, unknown sex)

-Michael

Species	Captain Sam's		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Mourning Dove	1	-	-	-
Downy Woodpecker	-	2	-	-
"Traill's" Flycatcher	1	-	-	-
White-eyed Vireo	-	1	-	-
Red-eyed Vireo	10	-	7	-
Carolina Chickadee	-	1	-	1
Carolina Wren	-	2	-	2
Veery	1	-	-	-
Gray Catbird	3	-	1	-
Northern Mockingbird	-	1	1	-
Common Yellowthroat	20	1	4	-
American Redstart	2	-	-	-
Yellow Warbler	2	-	4	-
Prairie Warbler	3	-	-	-
Northern Cardinal	-	1	-	2
Painted Bunting	5	2	2	5

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sam's	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	48	19	67
# of Recaptures	11	10	21
# of Species	16	9	16
Effort (net-hours)	114.8	65.45	180.25
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	51.4	44.3	48.8
# of Nets	28	20	48

2018 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sam's	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	718	440	1158
# of Recaptures	181	75	256
# of Species	43	32	49
Effort (net-hours)	3564.0	1305.1	4869.1
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	25.2	39.5	29.0
# of Days	30	23	-

Banding Staff
Aaron Given (CS)
Michael Gamble (LB)
Meredith Heather (CS)
Danaé Mouton (LB)
Kristin Attinger (CS)
Joanne Hamilton (LB)
Joel Throckmorton (CS)