Happy Halloween fellow bird nerds! What are y'all dressing up as today? I hope its something creative and you leave us a comment. Bird-themed costumes are unusually easy to create, like I saved a bunch of butter boxes and then put it on my butt. Can you guess what I was? That's right, a yellow-rumped warbler, fondly known as a "butter butt". Which is also fitting because that's what we are primarily catching this time of year:
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| I can't believe its not butter! |
I've also pulled off Bilbo Baggins before, because to be a real wildlife biologist you have to live like a hobbit:
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| This will be a night to remember |
And a couple of years ago, I went as a haunted mist-net:
 |
| Look I caught a King Rail and a Red-winged Blackbird! |
Well on to the meat and potatoes of today...as I said before, we did catch primarily butter-butts, but we only caught a total of 21 birds. That's a big scary nightmare of a number. Just as the title suggests, we got the trick this Halloween and really just suffered through the heat and mosquitoes so few birds. BUT, and I do mean but, we got treated with an Orange-crowned warbler as the last bird of the day which was my first!
And obviously, what color do you associate most with Halloween? Orange!!
Hope your kiddos, your friends, and you have a fun night out there!
- Dave Butter-Butt Sandahl
Little Beareaper
Today was an extremely slow day! We had a total of 14 birds, 10 newly banded birds and 4 recaptured. Our trick or treat of the day is a bird that came in a little late. Whether you think it is a photo from earlier this season, this fellow was quite a catch. So, you tell me, is this a trick or a treat?
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| After-hatch year male Prothonotary Warbler |
Protonotary Warblers are one of the warblers that migrate quite early in the fall. We usually capture them during the start of fall banding till about mid to late September. This bird must have gotten its invitation to migration a little late. Hopefully he makes it to his destination with ease!
-Kristin
| Species | Captain Sam's | Little Bear | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New | Recaps | New | Recaps | |
Carolina Wren
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
1
|
Gray Catbird
|
2
|
6
|
-
|
1
|
Prothonotary Warbler
|
-
|
-
|
1
|
-
|
Orange-Crowned Warbler
|
1
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
Common Yellowthroat
|
2
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
Western Palm Warbler
|
-
|
-
|
1
|
-
|
Myrtle Warbler
|
7
|
2
|
7
|
-
|
Northern Cardinal
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
1
|
| Today's Banding Stats | Captain Sam's | Little Bear | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| # Birds Banded |
12
|
10
|
22
|
| # of Recaptures |
9
|
4
|
13
|
| # of Species |
4
|
7
|
8
|
| Effort (net-hours) |
119.0
|
90.0
|
209.0
|
| Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours) |
17.6
|
15.6
|
16.7
|
| # of Nets |
28
|
20
|
48
|
| 2019 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats | Captain Sam's | Little Bear | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| # Birds Banded |
3,670
|
2,355
|
6,025
|
| # of Recaptures |
827
|
373
|
1,200
|
| # of Species |
80
|
71
|
95
|
| Effort (net-hours) |
9,016.4
|
4,219.2
|
13,235.6
|
| Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours) |
49.9
|
64.7
|
54.6
|
| # of Days | 69 | 58 | - |
Banding Staff
Aaron Given (CS)
Dave Sandahl (CS)
Dan Errichetti (LB)
Kristin Attinger (LB)
