The Notorious RBGR

Captain Sam's:

Just like the Simon & Garfunkel song April Come She Will, the September winds blew chilly and cold last night, except for the chilly and cold part...okay, they just blew. But they brought with them a load of birds and me! That's right folks, your friendly neighborhood bird nerd is back at Cap'n Sammy's.

Yup, that's me...just as handsome as ever*

Alright, alright quit gawking, its time to get serious! So as I was saying - birds. Well, we went out for our first net run today, which included our amazingly helpful volunteers Bill Kee and Lydia Moore, and a few of us ran out of bird bags and had to run back to the station for more, that's about when we realized it was going to be a big day. We had flocks of Common Yellowthroats (97), Gray Catbirds (32), and Red-eyed Vireos (16) but that's not why you're here is it? You're here because we caught a Rose-Breasted Grosbeak! She was an absolute stunner and we all took turns getting bit by her "gros" (french for large) beak just so we could say we held her. Check her out!

Look at that chompin' beak! 

We can tell she's a female by the yellow "armpit" color (Photos by: Dave Sandahl)

We ended the day with, get this, 203 total birds at the station! The weather will slowly be changing as October ushers itself in, so keep an eye on the blog for some really good birds over the next few weeks.

- Dave Sandhill Crane

*not actually me - (Photo: standard.co.uk)

Little Bear:

Today was great! With some north west winds kicking in over the night into the morning, we had a great push of birds today! Setting our record of highest birds banded at little bear this season with 128 newly banded birds and two recaptured birds. Both recaptured birds were Gray Catbirds that were banded last year as a hatch year and they decided to come back for a visit to see everyone, how sweet of them! The highlight of the day would be our first for Little Bear is the Eastern Wood Pewee!
This photo below showed the amount of birds we had during our first run!

Photo Credits: Arcata Leavitt

-Kristin

Species	Captain Sam's		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Eastern Wood Pewee	2	-	1	-
Traill's Flycatcher	2	-	-	-
White-eyed Vireo	3	1	3	-
Red-eyed Vireo	16	-	17	-
House Wren	1	-	2	-
Carolina Chickadee	-	1	-	-
Gray Catbird	27	5	16	2
Brown Thrasher	2	-	-	-
Veery	3	-	-	-
Swainson's Thrush	2	-	-	-
Wood Thrush	2	-	-	-
Yellow-breasted Chat	1	-	-	-
Ovenbird	1	-	-	-
Northern Waterthrush	4	1	1	-
Common Yellowthroat	95	2	64	-
American Redstart	11	-	6	-
Magnolia Warbler	1	-	-	-
Yellow Warbler	2	-	2	-
Black-throated Blue Warbler	3	-	4	-
Western Palm Warbler	7	-	10	-
Prairie Warbler	2	-	1	-
Summer Tanager	1	-	-	-
Rose-breasted Grosbeak	1	-	-	-
Painted Bunting	1	2	1	-

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sam's	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	190	128	318
# of Recaptures	13	2	15
# of Species	23	11	24
Effort (net-hours)	147	72	219
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	138.1	180.6	152.1
# of Nets	28	20	48

2019 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sam's	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	1458	832	2290
# of Recaptures	332	153	485
# of Species	54	47	65
Effort (net-hours)	5,097.45	1,834.8	6,932.25
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	35.1	53.7	40.0
# of Days	40	31	-

Banding Staff
Aaron Given (CS)
Dan Errichetti (CS)
Dave Sandahl (CS) 
Bethany Darby (CS)
Bill Kee (CS)
Lydia Moore (CS)
Josh Lefever (LB)
Kristin Attinger (LB)
Arcata Leavitt (LB)

Squeaky Black-and-white Warblers

Captain Sam's- 

We had a bit more activity at Captain Sam's this morning, with a much more respectable 45 birds. Common Yellowthroats were our most abundant species; we processed 19. Gray Catbirds were our second most abundant species; we processed 10. Some of the highlights of the day included two Western Palm Warblers, an Ovenbird, and a very handsome hatch year, male Black-and-white Warbler.

HY, male Black-and-white Warbler

A2 with separation between white tipping

We identified this Black-and-white warbler as a hatch year because of its A1 molt limit. However, the separation in the white tipping on its A2 is another indicator that this bird is a hatch year. If he was an an after hatch year, the white tipping on the A2 would be continuous.

Black-and-white warblers are unique compared to other warblers because they feed more like nuthatches- climbing up and down the trunks of trees searching for insects. Their song is frequently described as a squeaky wheel. To learn more about Black-and-white Warblers click here.

--Beth

Little Bear- 

The past couple days were highlighted by some resident species that are unusual captures, and with poor migration conditions again last night, we were unsure of what to expect this morning. Turned out that our run of surprising species in the nets came to an end, but we were a bit busier than I predicted. Over half of our 39 captures were Common Yellowthroats, and we enjoyed some diversity with 13 different species overall. The forecast for the next few nights looks much better for migration along the southeastern coast, so hopefully we have some exciting new birds to share over the course of the week.

--Josh

Species	Captain Sam's		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Downy Woodpecker	-	1	-	-
Red-eyed Vireo	4	-	1	-
House Wren	-	-	2	-
Carolina Wren	-	-	-	1
Gray Catbird	8	2	2	-
Eastern Towhee	-	1	-	1
Ovenbird	1	-	1	-
Northern Waterthrush	2	-	1	-
Black-and-White Warbler	1	-	-	-
Common Yellowthroat	17	2	19	1
Yellow Warbler	1	-	3	-
Western Palm Warbler	2	-	1	-
Prairie Warbler	-	-	1	-
Northern Cardinal	-	2	-	3
Painted Bunting	1	-	2	-

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sam's	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	37	33	70
# of Recaptures	8	6	14
# of Species	12	13	15
Effort (net-hours)	137.2	68	205.2
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	32.8	57.4	90.2
# of Nets	28	20	48

2019 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sam's	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	1,268	704	1,972
# of Recaptures	319	151	470
# of Species	53	46	65
Effort (net-hours)	4,950.45	1762.8	6,713.25
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	32.1	48.5	36.4
# of Days	39	30	-

Banding Staff
Aaron Given (CS)
Bethany Darby (CS)
Dan Errichetti (CS)
Arcata Leavitt (LB)
Dave Sandahl (LB) 
Josh Lefever (LB)

Little Bear First: Loggerhead Shrike!

Captain Sam's:

The Carolina Bird Club came out to visit us at Captain Sam's this morning. Unfortunately, it was very windy and also very slow. We caught a total of 16 birds, 4 of which were recaps. My favorite birds of the day included a female, after hatch year Cape May Warbler and a hatch year Veery.

-Beth

Little Bear:

Well folks, if you recall my post from two days ago, I talked about a certain little bird we've been trying to catch out at Little Bear. I've got good news for you, after two weeks of waking up at 4:45 in the morning to get out to the station and set up the nets in the cover of darkness, we finally caught an Eastern Screech Owl!

Such a cutie! Eastern Screech Owl in Red Morph (Photo by: Dave Sandahl)

Dave with his first owl! (Photo by: Josh Lefever)

This was the first owl I've ever held and it was just a thrill for me because for a birder that primarily identifies birds by ear, the Eastern Screech Owl was the first bird I ever identified by sound!

We didn't get a ton more birds after the owl, but Arcata did extract and band a beautiful Black-Throated Blue Warbler today too!

Hatch Year Male Black-Throated Blue Warbler

Look at that male model! (Photos by: Dave Sandahl)

We can't wait for what the weekend holds, maybe we'll get a shrike?!

- Dave

Species	Captain Sam's		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Eastern Screech Owl	-	-	1	-
Red-eyed Vireo	1	-	-	-
Carolina Chickadee	-	1	-	-
House Wren	1	-	-	-
Veery	1	-	-	-
Gray Catbird	-	-	1	-
Northern Waterthrush	1	1	1	-
Common Yellowthroat	6	1	5	-
American Redstart	-	-	1	-
Cape May Warbler	1	-	-	-
Yellow Warbler	1	-	4	-
Black-throated Blue Warbler	-	-	1	-
Western Palm Warbler	-	-	3	-
Prairie Warbler	-	-	1	-
Eastern Towhee	-	1	-	-
Northern Cardinal	-	-	1	-
Painted Bunting	-	-	-	2

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sam's	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	12	19	31
# of Recaptures	4	2	6
# of Species	9	10	19
Effort (net-hours)	122.8	47.5	170.3
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	13	44.2	57.2
# of Nets	28	19	47

2019 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sam's	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	1,223	651	1,874
# of Recaptures	304	140	444
# of Species	53	44	63
Effort (net-hours)	4,813.25	1,622.8	6,436.05
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	31.7	48.7	36.0
# of Days	37	28	-

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

I Screech, You Screech, We All Screech for Screech Owls!

Captain Sam's:

The Carolina Bird Club came out to visit us at Captain Sam's this morning. Unfortunately, it was very windy and also very slow. We caught a total of 16 birds, 4 of which were recaps. My favorite birds of the day included a female, after hatch year Cape May Warbler and a hatch year Veery.

-Beth

Little Bear:

Well folks, if you recall my post from two days ago, I talked about a certain little bird we've been trying to catch out at Little Bear. I've got good news for you, after two weeks of waking up at 4:45 in the morning to get out to the station and set up the nets in the cover of darkness, we finally caught an Eastern Screech Owl!

Such a cutie! Eastern Screech Owl in Red Morph (Photo by: Dave Sandahl)

Dave with his first owl! (Photo by: Josh Lefever)

This was the first owl I've ever held and it was just a thrill for me because for a birder that primarily identifies birds by ear, the Eastern Screech Owl was the first bird I ever identified by sound!

We didn't get a ton more birds after the owl, but Arcata did extract and band a beautiful Black-Throated Blue Warbler today too!

Hatch Year Male Black-Throated Blue Warbler

Look at that male model! (Photos by: Dave Sandahl)

We can't wait for what the weekend holds, maybe we'll get a shrike?!

- Dave

Species	Captain Sam's		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Eastern Screech Owl	-	-	1	-
Red-eyed Vireo	1	-	-	-
Carolina Chickadee	-	1	-	-
House Wren	1	-	-	-
Veery	1	-	-	-
Gray Catbird	-	-	1	-
Northern Waterthrush	1	1	1	-
Common Yellowthroat	6	1	5	-
American Redstart	-	-	1	-
Cape May Warbler	1	-	-	-
Yellow Warbler	1	-	4	-
Black-throated Blue Warbler	-	-	1	-
Western Palm Warbler	-	-	3	-
Prairie Warbler	-	-	1	-
Eastern Towhee	-	1	-	-
Northern Cardinal	-	-	1	-
Painted Bunting	-	-	-	2

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sam's	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	12	19	31
# of Recaptures	4	2	6
# of Species	9	10	19
Effort (net-hours)	122.8	47.5	170.3
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	13	44.2	57.2
# of Nets	28	19	47

2019 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sam's	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	1,223	651	1,874
# of Recaptures	304	140	444
# of Species	53	44	63
Effort (net-hours)	4,813.25	1,622.8	6,436.05
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	31.7	48.7	36.0
# of Days	37	28	-

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

FOS Nashville Warbler

Captain Sammi's:

Today was a little slow with some south winds making it a hot one today. We did get our first of the season Nashville Warbler! Given their name, Nashville Warblers do not breed in Tennessee, but were first observed there.

Hatch year Male Nashville Warbler

The hardest part of banding birds in the fall is warbler identification. With lots of practice and studying it does become easier with time! A good way to understand a lot of fall warblers, not in their breeding plumage, is using the Warbler Guide. This guide helps you better understand certain characteristics that some warblers have and can distinguish species apart. Check out the image below, This is a glimpse on how this guide can help find key characteristics for certain warblers. The Warbler Guide

A quick over view of what's in the app

-Kristin


Little Bear:

Last night’s south wind continued into the morning, creating far from ideal banding conditions up at Little Bear. Gust were strong enough that we were not able to open all of the nets, and the warm humid air kept bird activity low. We ended up closing relatively early, with only 14 birds captured, all of species that have been our most common for past few days.

—Josh

Species	Captain Sam's		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
White-eyed Vireo	1	1	-	-
Red-eyed Vireo	2	-	-	-
Carolina Chickadee	-	-	-	1
Carolina Wren	-	1	-	-
Swainson's Thrush	1	-	-	-
Gray Catbird	1	-	1	-
Yellow-breasted Chat	-	-	1	-
Northern Waterthrush	1	-	-	-
Nashville Warbler	1	-	-	-
Common Yellowthroat	17	2	7	-
American Redstart	1	-	2	-
Cape May Warbler	1	-	-	-
Northern Parula	1	-	-	-
Yellow Warbler	2	-	2	-
Prairie Warbler	2	-	-	-
Painted Bunting	1	-	-	-

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sam's	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	32	13	45
# of Recaptures	4	1	8
# of Species	14	6	16
Effort (net-hours)	126.5	34.4	160.9
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	28.5	40.7	32.9
# of Nets	28	15	43

2019 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sam's	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	1,211	632	1,843
# of Recaptures	300	138	438
# of Species	53	43	62
Effort (net-hours)	4,570.05	1575.3	6,145.35
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	33.1	48.9	37.1
# of Days	36	27	-

Banding Staff
Aaron Given (CS)
Kristin Attinger (CS)
Bethany Darby (CS)
Josh Lefever (LB)
Dave Sandahl (LB) 
Melissa Macdougall (CS)
Cyndie Mynatt (CS)

Got a little captain in you?

El Capitan's:

Back at it once again! We had relatively good numbers today, but they were lower than expected based on weather and migration predictions. Overall we processed 72 individuals today, which was exciting nonetheless. We did get two new species for all of KIBS and one new station for Captain Sam's site. These included a Western Palm Warbler (previously caught at Little Bear), an Eastern Wood-Pewee, and a Least Flycathcer.

A suprised hatch year Least Flycather

Least Flycatchers are the smallest Empidonax species in the Eastern United States. Empidonax is the genus that this guy belongs to along with other difficult species to identify like the Willow and Alder Flycatcher, which are a familiar captures for us. They are so difficult to distinguish by sight alone that we have to label them both as "Trail's" Flycatchers.

Osito:

Hi hidley ho neighborino! Oooh weee we had a good day today! We got up early hoping we could finally catch that cute little Screech Owl we've seen perched out by net 6, but alas we were unsuccessful in our quest. But like any good story, it starts with some disappointment and ends with an unforeseen happy ending.

Despite the lack of owl, our happy ending came at the hands of 63 new birds, a few of which were real gems!

Gem #1: Chestnut-Sided Warbler named Chester (Photo: Josh Lefever)

Gem #1: Arcata and Dave admiring Chester (Photo by: Josh Lefever)

Gem #2: Marsh Wren looking shabby-chic (Photo by: Dave Sandahl)

Gem #3: Clay-colored sparrow making clay look good again (Photo by: Josh Lefever)

- Dave S

Species	Captain Sam's		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Downy Woodpecker	-	-	-	1
Eastern Wood-Pewee	1	-	-	-
Least Flycatcher	1	-	-	-
White-eyed Vireo	1	-	2	-
Red-eyed Vireo	9	-	8	-
Carolina Chickadee	-	-	-	1
House Wren	2	-	2	-
Marsh Wren	-	-	1	-
Carolina Wren	-	-	-	1
Veery	2	-	-	-
Swainson's Thrush	2	-	-	-
Gray Catbird	5	1	8	-
Northern Mockingbird	2	-	-	-
Clay-colored Sparrow	-	-	1	-
Yellow-breasted Chat	2	-	2	-
Northern Waterthrush	3	-	3	-
Black-and-white Warbler	1	-	-	-
Common Yellowthroat	31	2	26	-
American Redstart	1	-	1	-
Magnolia Warbler	-	-	1	-
Yellow Warbler	2	-	1	-
Chestnut-sided Warbler	-	-	1	-
Western Palm Warbler	2	-	2	-
Prairie Warbler	-	-	1	-
Northern Cardinal	-	1	-	-
Painted Bunting	1	-	3	1

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sam's	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	68	63	131
# of Recaptures	4	4	8
# of Species	18	16	26
Effort (net-hours)	137.2	90	227.2
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	52.5	74.4	61.2
# of Nets	28	20	48

2019 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sam's	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	1179	618	1797
# of Recaptures	296	137	433
# of Species	52	43	61
Effort (net-hours)	4,443.55	1540.9	5984.45
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	33.2	49.0	37.3
# of Days	35	26	-

Banding Staff
Aaron Given (CS)
Dan Errichetti (CS)
Arcata Leavitt (LB)
Dave Sandahl (LB) 
Josh Lefever (LB)
Kristin Attinger (CS)
Bethany Darby (CS)
Bill Kee (CS)