Captain Sam's:
We experienced some residual effects from Hurricane Delta which made landfall yesterday along the Gulf Coast of Louisiana. Some of the outer rain bands brought us heavy rain over night flooding the banding trails with a few inches of water. Migration was shut down last night in the southeastern US due to extensive rain from the hurricane to our west and north. Expectedly, it was slow with only 13 new birds and 13 recaptures. Most of the rain should clear out tonight but the predicted southwest winds will probably keep bird migration at a minimum. A wind shift is expected for tomorrow evening and we are ready for migration to pick up again on Tuesday and Wednesday.
-Aaron
Little Bear:
Just like the past few days, it was another warm morning with low expectations for catching very many birds. We ended up netting exactly 30 birds (one more than yesterday) and a first-of-season, though not as rare as yesterday's Lincoln's Sparrow. About a week ago, we noticed that a common wintering sparrow had started returning to the grassy edges of the golf courses here, known as the Savannah Sparrow. This morning we got one in our nets, and we were happy to add it to our species list for the season. Savannah Sparrows can be a little tricky to identify in the hand, since their tan/brown coloration and side-streaking make them similar to a few other species like Lincoln's and Song Sparrows. Unfortunately, our bird today was not in the mood to pose for a picture, so instead here's a previously unreleased picture of one of the 3 Savannah Sparrows that we caught here last year. Today's bird looked pretty much the same.
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| Savannah Sparrow, circa 2019 (photo DE) |
| Species | Captain Sam's | Little Bear | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New | Recaps | New | Recaps | |
Yellow-billed Cuckoo | 1 | - | - | - |
White-eyed Vireo | 1 | - | 1 | - |
House Wren | 1 | - | 2 | 1 |
Carolina Wren | - | 1 | - | 1 |
Gray Catbird | 7 | 9 | 5 | 5 |
Northern Mockingbird | - | - | 1 | - |
Savannah Sparrow | - | - | 1 | - |
Ovenbird | - | - | 1 | - |
Common Yellowthroat | 3 | 1 | 3 | 3 |
American Redstart | - | - | 1 | - |
'Western' Palm Warbler | - | - | 1 | - |
Northern Cardinal | - | 1 | 2 | - |
| Painted Bunting | 1 | - | 1 | - |
| Today's Banding Stats | Captain Sam's | Little Bear | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| # Birds Banded | 13 | 21 | 34 |
| # of Recaptures | 13 | 9 | 22 |
| # of Species | 8 | 12 | 13 |
| Effort (net-hours) | 105 | 108.1 | 213.1 |
| Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours) | 24.8 | 27.8 | 26.3 |
| # of Nets | 30 | 23 | - |
| 2020 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats | Captain Sam's | Little Bear | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| # Birds Banded | 3,071 | 1,695 | 4,766 |
| # of Recaptures | 606 | 243 | 849 |
| # of Species | 58 | 62 | 74 |
| Effort (net-hours) | 6,997.56 | 4,255.9 | 11,253.46 |
| Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours) | 52.5 | 45.5 | 49.9 |
| # of Days | 56 | 45 | - |
Banding Staff
Kristin Attinger (CS)
Josh Lefever (LB)
Vincent Weber (LB)
