FOS Baltimore Oriole

Captain Sam's:

We welcomed a new member to the team today- Dan Errichetti. Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate. We had to close the nets after our first net run. Before the rain started we managed to catch 3 birds- 2 Common Yellowthroats and 1 Northern Waterthrush.

-Beth

Little Bear:
Today was a dreary day, and due to the rain we shut down our station earlier.  We did however, have a bright colorful bird that brightened up our morning! We captured our first of the season Baltimore Oriole! Baltimore Orioles are pretty cool species. They create a hanging nest! Their main diet consist of insects, berries and nectar. So, if you are wanting to attract these beautiful birds, you can put out a feeder! Below is a photo of this young!

Hatch year Baltimore Oriole, unknown sex

-Kristin

Species	Captain Sam's		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Traill's Flycatcher	-	-	1	-
Baltimore Oriole	-	-	1	-
Eastern Towhee	-	-	-	1
Northern Waterthrush	1	-	2	2
Common Yellowthroat	2	-	-	-
Prairie Warbler	-	-	1	-
Northern Cardinal	-	-	2	1
Painted Bunting	-	-	1	-

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sam's	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	3	8	11
# of Recaptures	0	4	4
# of Species	2	7	8
Effort (net-hours)	21	22.4	43.4
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	14.3	53.6	82.7
# of Nets	28	16	34

2019 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sam's	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	368	209	577
# of Recaptures	143	54	197
# of Species	30	24	34
Effort (net-hours)	2,053.35	588.3	2,641.65
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	24.9	44.7	29.3
# of Days	17	10	-

Banding Staff
Aaron Given (CS) 
Bethany Darby (CS)
Dan Errichetti (CS)
Kristin Attinger (LB)
Josh Lefever (LB)

8/30/2019

CAPTAIN SAM'S

Continued northerly winds help to bring in new migrants to the banding station today with 32 new birds and 8 recaptures of 12 species.  The most common species banded today was Northern Waterthrush. Large tides over the last few days has deposited standing water into many of the net lanes which creates a situation that waterthrushes like.   

Our north winds have shifted to east which should slow migration in our area for tomorrow.  Rain is also predicted for the morning which means there is a chance we might all get a much needed day off.  

-Aaron

LITTLE BEAR




It was a windy morning at Little Bear, which likely contributed to it being a fairly slow day. The nets drifting to and fro in the wind makes it easier for birds to see and avoid them, but some Common Yellowthroats and Painted Buntings were still inattentive enough to end up at the banding station. We also caught a male Downy Woodpecker, which livened things up for a while, but I was too inattentive myself to snap pictures to share here.

--Josh

Species	Captain Sam's		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Downy Woodpecker	-	-	1	-
Traill's Flycatcher	-	-	-	1
Red-eyed Vireo	1	-	-	-
Carolina Chickadee	-	1	-	-
Northern Waterthrush	12	-	4	1
Black-and-white Warbler	1	-	-	-
Prothonotary Warbler	1	-	-	-
Common Yellowthroat	8	1	5	-
American Redstart	2	-	-	-
Northern Parula	1	-	-	-
Prairie Warbler	3	-	1	-
Summer Tanager	1	-	-	-
Northern Cardinal	-	2	-	1
Painted Bunting	2	4	3	2

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sam's	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	32	14	46
# of Recaptures	8	5	13
# of Species	12	7	14
Effort (net-hours)	138.3	84.4	224.4
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	28.9	22.5	26.3
# of Nets	28	20

2019 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sam's	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	365	201	566
# of Recaptures	143	50	193
# of Species	30	23	33
Effort (net-hours)	2,032.35	565.9	2,598.25
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	24.9	44.4	29.2
# of Days	16	9	-

Banding Staff
Aaron Given (CS) 
Bethany Darby (CS)
Kristin Attinger (LB)
Josh Lefever (LB)

Multiple FOS! Swainson's Warbler!

Captain Sam's:

We had a great day today at Captain Sam's! We had a total of 76 birds, including 4 first of season species! Yellow-breasted Chat, Northern Parula, Black-throated Blue Warbler, and Swainson's Warbler. The Swainson's Warbler was especially exciting because it is a rare visitor to the banding station!

After Hatch Year Swainson's Warbler

Special thanks to Bette Popillo for helping out today!

-Beth


Little Bear:

Today was a great day! We had some wonderful movement on the radar making today a great day to band birds. If you are curious on watching bird migration or wanting to see if birds are moving around in your area, check out Bird Cast. This map shows how birds move overnight and during the day.
We did not have a huge amount of birds during the day but we did catch some new species for Little Bear. I posted some pictures below of some species that were captured today!

Hatching year male Black-throated Blue Warbler

Female Summer Tanager

Yellow-throated Warbler

-Kristin

Species	Captain Sam's		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Yellow-billed Cuckoo	-	1	-	-
Downy Woodpecker	1	-	-	-
Traill's Flycatcher	2	-	3	-
Red-eyed Vireo	3	-	-	-
Carolina Chickadee	-	-	1	-
Northern Mockingbird	-	-	1	-
Yellow-breasted Chat	1	-	-	-
Northern Waterthrush	7	-	7	-
Black-and-white Warbler	2	-	2	-
Prothonotary Warbler	1	-	-	-
Swainson's Warbler	1	-	-	-
Common Yellowthroat	30	2	4	-
American Redstart	11	-	2	-
Northern Parula	1	-	-	-
Yellow Warbler	-	-	1	-
Black-throated Blue Warbler	1	-	1	-
Yellow-throated Warbler	-	-	1	-
Prairie Warbler	8	-	-	-
Summer Tanager	-	-	1	-
Northern Cardinal	-	-	-	2
Painted Bunting	-	4	1	1

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sam's	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	69	25	94
# of Recaptures	7	3	10
# of Species	15	13	20
Effort (net-hours)	163.4	86.11	249.7
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	46.5	32.5	41.6
# of Nets	28	20	48

2019 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sam's	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	333	187	520
# of Recaptures	135	45	180
# of Species	30	23	33
Effort (net-hours)	1,894.05	481.5	2,375.55
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	24.7	48.2	29.5
# of Days	24	9	-

Banding Staff
Aaron Given (CS) 
Bethany Darby (CS)
Kristin Attinger (LB)
Josh Lefever (LB)

Slow Day of Banding: 8/28/2019

CAPTAIN SAM'S

It was a slow day out on the spit with only 5 new bird and 5 recaptures of 6 different species.

There was plenty of time between net runs to take care of some maintenance issues.  We fixed a side trammel that broke on net 22, and replaced net 7 and 27 that have become brittle with age and sunlight. 

I heard my first Common Ground-Dove on site in almost 2 years.  This species has been declining rapidly on Kiawah over the last 5 years so it was nice to see there is at least one still hanging on.  

Another "cold" front is supposed to move through tonight bringing with it northwest winds.  Usually these are the ideal conditions for bringing migrants to the coast.   

-Aaron     


LITTLE BEAR

One of the great things about banding on Kiawah is that even on 'slow' days (like today was), there are always a few eye-catching birds around to keep the mornings enjoyable. While our multitude of Painted Buntings get most of the attention this time of year, we also reliably catch a few Prairie Warblers most sessions. These bright yellow warblers have distinctive face markings and a red streaked back, and are widespread in scrubby areas across the eastern United States. Today I had time to takes some photographs of a boldly marked adult male that we captured, and was reminded to never take our common birds for granted.

You can also check out all the great photos, audio, and videos of these birds that have been uploaded to eBird at ebird.org/species/prawar

--Josh

Species	Captain Sam's		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Red-eyed Vireo	2	-	-	-
Eastern Towhee	-	1	-	-
Northern Waterthrush	-	-	2	1
American Redstart	2	-	1	-
Prairie Warbler	-	-	4	1
Common Yellowthroat	-	2	3	-
Northern Cardinal	1	1	-	1
Painted Bunting	-	1	5	3

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sam's	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	5	15	20
# of Recaptures	5	5	10
# of Species	6	6	8
Effort (net-hours)	123.5	74	197.5
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	8.1	28.4	15.2
# of Nets	28	20	48

2019 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sam's	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	264	162	426
# of Recaptures	128	42	170
# of Species	26	19	29
Effort (net-hours)	1730.65	394.4	2125.05
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	22.6	51.7	28.0
# of Days	23	8	-

Banding Staff
Aaron Given (CS) 
Bethany Darby (CS)
Josh Lefever (LB)
Kristin Attinger (LB)

FOS Eastern Kingbird

Captain Sam's:

Today we banded 15 new birds and processed 9 recaps, for a total of 24 birds. Six of those were Prairie Warblers, increasing our total number of Prairies so far this season to 43. We also caught another Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, for a total of 6 so far this season.

HY Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, 5.8 grams

Blue-gray Gnatcatchers are tiny birds and typically weigh only 5-7 grams. Ironically, their alpha numeric code is BGGN, which I like to pronounce as "big'n". They don't sit still for very long and can be seen hopping around in the treetops. Blue-gray gnatcatchers are constantly flicking their tails, which help them to flush out insects hiding in the foliage. When they catch larger insects, they beat them against a branch before eating them. More information about Blue-gray Gnatcatchers can be found here and here.

-Beth


Little Bear:

Today was a pretty slow day. With very little cloud cover today, we had to shut down our station quite sooner than we had hoped for. We did however capture our first of the season Eastern Kingbird! These guys are very cool to see up close as they are shy birds to see.  When looking at kingbirds, they have a really cool feature that most people do not know about. This feature is the crown patch on top of their heads. It is usually bright orange to red color and very little is known as what they use it for, except for potential aggression.  You can see the orange cap on this kingbird located in the photo below!

After hatch year male Eastern Kingbird

Below you can see the wing on the Eastern Kingbird. To determine age on this species, we have to look at the flight feathers. When looking at the flight feathers, we are narrowed down to the last primary feather (where the red arrow points to). Using the Pyle guide, we can determine if the age and sex of the bird. We determined, since this is a well narrow and pointed feather, this was an after hatch year male! How cool are birds?!

After hatch year male Eastern Kingbird

-Kristin

Species	Captain Sam's		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Yellow-billed Cuckoo	-	-	1	-
Downy Woodpecker	-	-	1	-
Eastern Kingbird	-	-	1	-
Red-eyed Vireo	-	-	2	-
Carolina Chickadee	-	3	-	2
Carolina Wren	-	1	-	1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher	1	-	-	-
Eastern Towhee	-	-	1	1
Ovenbird	-	-	1	-
Northern Waterthrush	3	-	1	-
Black-and-white Warbler	1	-	-	-
Prothonotary Warbler	-	-	1	-
Common Yellowthroat	1	2	1	-
American Redstart	3	-	1	-
Prairie Warbler	6	-	1	-
Northern Cardinal	-	-	-	1
Painted Bunting	-	3	2	1

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sam's	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	15	14	29
# of Recaptures	9	6	15
# of Species	9	15	17
Effort (net-hours)	135	82	217
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	17.8	24.4	20.3
# of Nets	28	20	48

2019 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sam's	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	259	147	406
# of Recaptures	123	37	160
# of Species	26	19	29
Effort (net-hours)	1,607.15	320.4	1927.55
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	23.8	57.4	29.4
# of Days	12	7	-

Banding Staff
Aaron Given (CS) 
Bethany Darby (CS)
Josh Lefever (LB)
Kristin Attinger (LB)

An August Cold Front

CAPTAIN SAM'S

A rare August cold front gave us a brief reprieve from the heat and humidity that we have been experiencing.  Unfortunately, the winds associated with the cold front were from the northeast which limited the number of birds that reached us on the coast. We get really excited when west or northwest winds are predicted!  It looks like the heat and humidity be will returning tomorrow.  On another weather related note, we are watching what is now Tropical Storm Dorian which is heading toward the Caribbean.   It is predicted to strengthen into a hurricane tomorrow and could affect south Florida by Saturday.  It's still too early to tell if this storm will affect us here in South Carolina.  Now back to the birds...

Today we banded 32 new species and had 7 recaptures of 13 species.  Common Yellowthroats , which are the most commonly banded species at KIBS, started making their presence known with 11 banded.  

-Aaron       


LITTLE BEAR

We had a sunny and brief banding session at Little Bear this morning. Yesterday's overcast skies and high bird activity were gone, but we managed 15 captures before closing early due to the heat. There were still some highlights- a very approachable Chuck-wills-widow that we found before opening nets, and another handsome young Black-and-white Warbler. I also photographed a vivacious young male Eastern Towhee, beginning to get some of its black and rufous body feathers.

--Josh

Species	Captain Sam's		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Yellow-billed Cuckoo	1	-	-	-
White-eyed Vireo	-	1	-	-
Red-eyed Vireo	3	-	-	-
Carolina Chickadee	-	1	-	-
Carolina Wren	-	1	-	1
Brown Thrasher	1	-	-	-
Eastern Towhee Northern Waterthrush	- 4	- 1	1 3	- -
Black-and-White Warbler	1	-	1	-
Common Yellowthroat	11	-	-	-
American Redstart	3	-	-	-
Yellow Warbler	-	-	1	-
Prairie Warbler	6	-	2	-
Northern Cardinal	1	-	1	2
Painted Bunting	1	3	2	1

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sam's	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	32	11	43
# of Recaptures	7	4	11
# of Species	15	8	15
Effort (net-hours)	161.5	62.7	224.2
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	24.2	23.9	24.1
# of Nets	28	20	48

2019 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sam's	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	244	133	377
# of Recaptures	114	31	145
# of Species	26	15	28
Effort (net-hours)	1472.15	296	1768.15
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	24.3	55.4	29.5
# of Days	11	6	-

Banding Staff
Aaron Given (CS) 
Bethany Darby (CS)
Kristin Attinger (LB)
Josh Lefever (LB)

Three new FOS!

Captain Sam's:

We caught over twice as many birds today (34) as we did yesterday (16). Ten of which were Northern Waterthrush and nine American Redstarts. We also had 2 new first of season birds: an Ovenbird and a female Common Yellowthroat. We are expecting many more Common Yellowthroats throughout the season. Ovenbirds are chunkier than most warblers and are often found foraging on the forest floor.  They are one of the few species of songbirds that continue to sing into the summer afternoon, and their song is commonly known as "teacher, teacher, teacher." Learn more about Ovenbirds here.

Below is one of the 8 male American Redstarts that we caught today:

After hatch year, male American Redstart

Thanks to Chris Snook for helping us out today!

-Beth


Little Bear:

Today was a great day! with some great winds last night we caught our most birds for the season so far! With a total of 47 birds! My favorite for the day was a nice hatch-year male Black-and-white Warbler. These species are unique, because they act more like nuthatches. They forage more on tree sides than gleaning leaves for bugs like most warblers do. For more information on Black-and-white Warblers check out this link.
The Worm-eating Warbler is another warbler that has a unique foraging technique. They forage mainly on the ground, digging through leaf litter.
For more information on Worm-eating Warbler check out this link.
Both of these warblers are ground nesters making dome shape nest using grasses or leaf litter to create their nest. Below are both pictures of the species captured today.

Hatch-year Male Black-and-white Warbler

Worm-eating Warbler

-Kristin

Species	Captain Sam's		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Downy Woodpecker	1	-	-	-
Traill's Flycatcher	1	-	1	-
Great Crested Flycatcher	1	-	-	-
White-eyed Vireo	1	-	-	-
Red-eyed Vireo	2	-	2	-
Eastern Towhee	1	-	1	1
Ovenbird	1	-	-	-
Worm-eating Warbler	-	-	1	-
Northern Waterthrush	10	-	17	1
Black-and-white Warbler	1	-	1	-
Prothonotary Warbler	-	-	1	-
Common Yellowthroat	1	-	1	-
American Redstart	9	-	4
Yellow Warbler	-	-	1	-
Prairie Warbler	2	-	2	-
Northern Cardinal	-	-	2	3
Painted Bunting	1	2	3	5

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sam's	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	32	37	69
# of Recaptures	2	10	12
# of Species	13	13	26
Effort (net-hours)	157.25	78	235.25
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	21.6	60.3	81.9
# of Nets	28	17	45

2019 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sam's	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	212	122	334
# of Recaptures	107	27	134
# of Species	26	15	28
Effort (net-hours)	1,310.65	272.1	1,582.75
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	24.3	54.75	29.6
# of Days	10	5	-

Banding Staff
Aaron Given (CS) 
Bethany Darby (CS)
Chris Snook (CS)
Kristin Attinger (LB)
Josh Lefever (LB)