The morning started hot and remained hot with some wind gusts that caused us to close nets earlier than we like to. It was a pretty slow day with more recaptures than new birds. We had 26 recaptures (all but one were Gray Catbirds!) and 18 new birds of 6 species. Our most notable capture was a Gray Catbird with an interesting molt. Some catbirds can start their molt on their summer grounds and finish it on their wintering grounds. We suspect this is a second year bird that is doing just that and has retained some of it's juvenile feathers. This catbird possibly bred late, therefore beginning its molt late so it wasn't able to complete it before leaving its summer grounds. In the photo below you can see that it replaced its tertials, one secondary, and its greater coverts. The "adult" secondary feather it grew in is also longer than its remaining juvenile feathers. After-hatch-year catbirds typically have longer wings than hatch-years. We were able to identify this catbird as an after-hatch-year using other criteria besides the wing, such as a dark eye and a black roof of mouth. We're looking forward to the cold front tomorrow, but are hoping the winds stay down enough for us to keep nets open.
Gray Catbird (After-hatch-year, unknown sex)
-Meredith
Little Bear
It was a much slower morning out at Little Bear with only 11 new birds and 9 recaptures of 8 species. The highlight of the morning was another Blackpoll Warbler, making this our 4th one in the past 4 days. We have a cold front coming through tomorrow that will bring us cooler weather and some more birds to get us out of this lull. Unfortunately, the cold front will bring windy conditions which will limit the number of nets we are able to keep open, but I am ready to escape this heat!
 |
| Blackpoll Warbler (hatch-year, unknown sex) |
-Michael
| Species | Captain Sam's | Little Bear | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New | Recaps | New | Recaps | |
White-eyed Vireo
|
-
|
-
|
1
|
1
|
House Wren
|
2
|
-
|
1
|
-
|
Gray Catbird
|
13
|
25
|
6
|
5
|
Cape May Warbler
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
1
|
Northern Parula
|
1
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
Blackpoll Warbler
|
-
|
-
|
1
|
-
|
Palm Warbler
|
-
|
-
|
2
|
-
|
Prairie Warbler
|
1
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
Northern Cardinal
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
1
|
Indigo Bunting
|
1
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
Painted Bunting
|
-
|
1
|
-
|
1
|
| Today's Banding Stats | Captain Sam's | Little Bear | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| # Birds Banded |
18
|
11
|
29
|
| # of Recaptures |
26
|
9
|
35
|
| # of Species |
6
|
8
|
11
|
| Effort (net-hours) |
102.4
|
54.5
|
156.9
|
| Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours) |
43.0
|
36.7
|
40.8
|
| # of Nets |
28
|
20
|
48
|
| 2018 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats | Captain Sam's | Little Bear | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| # Birds Banded |
2,625
|
2,017
|
4,642
|
| # of Recaptures |
530
|
231
|
761
|
| # of Species |
63
|
60
|
75
|
| Effort (net-hours) |
6344.05
|
2609.5
|
8953.55
|
| Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours) |
49.8
|
86.1
|
60.3
|
| # of Days | 56 | 45 |
Banding Staff
Aaron Given (CS)
Michael Gamble (LB)
Meredith Heather (CS)
Danaé Mouton (CS)
Kristin Attinger (LB)
Joel Throckmorton (LB)
