Another good day out on the spit with 248 new bird and 24 recaptures of 23 different species. As we have probably mentioned several times before on this blog, winds with a westerly component tend to push more birds to the coast while winds with an easterly direction forces birds more inland. A shift in the wind from northwest on Friday night to northeast last night made a big difference in the amount of birds that were captured today. Species diversity was much lower than yesterday too with Gray Catbirds and Common Yellowthroats making up over 81% of the total number of birds banded today. Gray Catbirds outnumbered Common Yellowthroats nearly 3:1, which if you know anything about KIBS, you know Common Yellowthroats usually rule.
The highlight of the day was a Swainson's Warbler. Swainson' Warblers are a species that breeds in strictly in the southeastern US and is one of the earlier migrants. Most of these birds are moving through in late August and early September so today's bird is a little late. Oddly enough, we banded one last year on 13 October at Little Bear and 14 October at Captain Sam's so maybe not so late afterall...
The last few days I have noticed a lot of adults birds moving through. Today I was able to capture a few of the more colorful species.
-Aaron
 |
| Yellow Warbler (after hatch-year, male) |
 |
| Cape May Warbler (after hatch-year, male) |
 |
| Northern Parula (after hatch-year, male) |
LITTLE BEAR
Today was still fairly busy compared to the rest of the season, but seemed relaxing after the hectic pace of yesterday. Overall we caught 145 birds (95 of which were Gray Catbirds!) of 15 species, and 13 recaptures of 6 species.
Our notable species today was a Blackpoll Warbler. These migrants leave the upper east coast and head south across the Atlantic Ocean until they reach their wintering grounds in Puerto Rico, Lesser Antilles, or northern South America. These industrious birds may fly continuously for up to three days across the ocean until they reach Columbia or Venezuela. It's an amazing migration for such a small warbler.
- Joanne
| Species | Captain Sam's | Little Bear | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New | Recaps | New | Recaps | |
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
|
-
|
-
|
2
|
-
|
Downy Woodpecker
|
-
|
1
|
-
|
-
|
"Traill's" Flycatcher
|
1
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
White-eyed Vireo
|
2
|
-
|
3
|
-
|
Red-eyed Vireo
|
5
|
-
|
2
|
-
|
Carolina Chickadee
|
1
|
-
|
-
|
1
|
House Wren
|
2
|
-
|
-
|
1
|
Carolina Wren
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
2
|
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
|
1
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
Swainson's Thrush
|
3
|
-
|
1
|
-
|
Wood Thrush
|
-
|
-
|
1
|
-
|
Gray Catbird
|
143
|
19
|
95
|
5
|
Eastern Towhee
|
1
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
Ovenbird
|
-
|
-
|
1
|
-
|
Northern Waterthrush
|
4
|
-
|
2
|
-
|
Swainson's Warbler
|
1
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
Black-and-White Warbler
|
5
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
Common Yellowthroat
|
59
|
1
|
26
|
-
|
American Redstart
|
4
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
| Cape May Warbler | 4 | - | - | - |
| Northern Parula | 4 | - | - | - |
| Magnolia Warbler | - | - | 1 | - |
| Blackpoll Warbler | - | - | 1 | - |
| Black-throated Blue Warbler | 4 | - | 1 | - |
| Palm Warbler (Western) | - | - | 4 | - |
| Yellow Warbler | 2 | - | - | - |
| Northern Cardinal | - | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Blue Grosbeak | 1 | - | - | - |
| Indigo Bunting | 1 | - | 3 | - |
| Painted Bunting | - | 1 | - | 3 |
| Today's Banding Stats | Captain Sam's | Little Bear | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| # Birds Banded |
248
|
145
|
393
|
| # of Recaptures |
24
|
13
|
37
|
| # of Species |
23
|
19
|
30
|
| Effort (net-hours) |
134.2
|
70.2
|
204.4
|
| Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours) |
202.7
|
225.1
|
210.4
|
| # of Nets |
28
|
20
|
48
|
| 2018 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats | Captain Sam's | Little Bear | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| # Birds Banded |
2512
|
1941
|
4453
|
| # of Recaptures |
441
|
196
|
637
|
| # of Species |
62
|
59
|
74
|
| Effort (net-hours) |
6022.6
|
2438.0
|
8460.6
|
| Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours) |
49.0
|
87.7
|
60.2
|
| # of Days | 53 | 43 | - |
Banding Staff
Aaron Given (CS)
Michael Gamble (LB)
Meredith Heather (CS)
Danaé Mouton (LB)
Kristin Attinger (CS)
Joanne Hamilton (LB)
Joel Throckmorton (CS)
Chris Snook (CS)
Nancy Raginski (LB)
