Well unfortunately the title is misleading, we didn't actually have a pack of 101 Dalmatians at the banding station today. What we did have though is a bunch of cold hands and toes. Today was frigid by South Carolina standards and so we delayed banding until 9:00 this morning, when Aaron and Kristin - our experienced bander, went out to see what they could wrangle up in the nets and they pulled in 14 birds. Deciding to warm up a bit, they closed the nets down and we all returned around 13:30 and we are so happy we did! We grabbed 13 more birds in the afternoon session including a Field Sparrow!
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| *Not in a field* |
Then the rest of the day was pretty lackluster, we didn't get any new species or anything cool like that. OH WAIT, WE DID!!! Shootskis my dudeskis, we got another new species!! Check this out, Aaron was just minding his business walking the net lane and saw this bird sunning itself on a branch. He called us to come get pictures of it for documentation and lo and behold it flushed into net 27 and Arcata extracted the beaut and brought it back for Kristin to band! So without further ado, here it is: An Ash-Throated Flycather, our feathered friend from out west!
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| Happy Bird! (Photo By: Kristin Attinger) |
 |
| Look at the crest! (Photo by: Dave Sandahl) |
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| Dis birb is workin' it! (Photo by: Dave Sandahl) |
Also, just want to point out that my camera and bag were with me this afternoon, and this bird was likely there this morning and not caught. So if there's any more solid proof than this that my camera and bag bring us luck, I certainly don't know it!
Welp, that was pretty neat!
- Dave "Lenny Pepperbottom" Sandahl
Little Bear:
Josh and I had a splendid early day of bird watching that led into our nice afternoon banding session. We spent the morning sea bird watching where we managed to observe all three Scoter species (Black, Surf and White-winged), a Bonaparte's Gull, a Horned Grebe as well as some other wintering waterfowl like Red-Breasted Merganser and Bufflehead.
In the afternoon we banded 8 new birds including another Chipping Sparrow and Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. We also processed 6 recaptured individuals. A pleasant way to end our day.
This will be my last blog post I write, so I wanted to take the time to thank Aaron for the wonderful opportunity and for being a terrific teacher. I will carry the experience I've gained here with me for life. Thank you to Josh for your wisdom and leadership up at Little Bear. Thank you Kristin for your generosity and teaching as well. Thank you to the whole crew for one of the best field seasons I've experienced that was full of smiles, excitement, and laughter. Y'all were awesome and I hope to run into you guys in the future. Best of luck to everyone and your future endeavors.
- Dan
| Species | Captain Sam's | Little Bear | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New | Recaps | New | Recaps | |
Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker
|
-
|
-
|
1
|
-
|
Eastern Phoebe
|
-
|
1
|
-
|
-
|
Ash-Throated Flycatcher
|
1
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
House Wren
|
1
|
-
|
-
|
1
|
Carolina Wren
|
-
|
1
|
-
|
-
|
Blue-Headed Vireo
|
1
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
Carolina Chickadee
|
-
|
1
|
-
|
-
|
Ruby-Crowned Kinglet
|
-
|
1
|
-
|
2
|
Hermit Thrush
|
1
|
-
|
-
|
1
|
Gray Catbird
|
-
|
-
|
1
|
-
|
Northern Mockingbird
|
-
|
1
|
-
|
-
|
Chipping Sparrow
|
-
|
-
|
1
|
-
|
Field Sparrow
|
1
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
Song Sparrow
|
1
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
Orange-Crowned Warbler
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
-
|
Yellow-Rumped Warbler (Myrtle)
|
10
|
2
|
4
|
1
|
Northern Cardinal
|
-
|
2
|
-
|
1
|
| Today's Banding Stats | Captain Sam's | Little Bear | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| # Birds Banded |
17
|
8
|
25
|
| # of Recaptures |
10
|
6
|
16
|
| # of Species |
14
|
9
|
17
|
| Effort (net-hours) |
141.9
|
72.15
|
214.05
|
| Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours) |
19
|
19.4
|
19.2
|
| # of Nets |
28
|
20
|
48
|
| 2019 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats | Captain Sam's | Little Bear | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| # Birds Banded |
4,011
|
2,556
|
6,567
|
| # of Recaptures |
963
|
449
|
1,412
|
| # of Species |
84
|
79
|
101
|
| Effort (net-hours) |
10,750.2
|
5,212.55
|
15,962.75
|
| Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours) |
46.3
|
57.6
|
49.9
|
| # of Days | 80 | 70 | - |
Banding Staff
Aaron Given (CS)
Arcata Leavitt (CS)
Dave Sandahl (CS)
Kristin Attinger (CS)
Dan Errichetti (LB)
Josh Lefever (LB)
