20 October 2020

Captain Sam’s

Things have calmed down at the site since our resident bobcat was captured and radio-collared. Since the first sighting we have been running a constant effort net check system (aka walking for 4-6 hours straight). We are all so grateful to be able to track this feline’s movements with radio telemetry now. So far we’ve learned that she likes to take naps, lots and lots of naps. This is good for us because it’s easy to track a stationary target. The high tides have also begun to subside and shift to later in the day, so we won’t have to walk knee deep in water anymore. I’m not sure if you’ve ever walked 5 miles through shin/knee deep water, but it’s one heck of a workout. Even the birds have calmed down. Weather hasn’t been favorable for any major influx of migrants. Today we caught 36 birds total. It appears that, according to the weather outlook, we will be having slow days until at least the Thursday after next…

Captain Sam’s did get a first of season today, however. Yesterday, I detected Ruby-crowned Kinglets giving their quintessential ratcheting calls. Today we caught two! Little Bear has already caught some, but this now puts Captain Sam’s in the species lead by one.

-Vincent

Little Bear

As the month progresses, we are seeing our winter species trickling in. We caught more Myrtle Warblers, another Song Sparrow and another Ruby-crowned Kinglet! We expect many more of these species to keep showing up in our nets as we move closer to November. Our numbers have been fairly consistent for the week. We are having a steady flow of a handful of birds with each net check, which keeps us busy enough. Thankfully, we didn’t have to deal with an extreme high tide flooding our nets today so we managed to run all of our nets for our entire session. We are still anxious for a rarity to pop up sooner rather than later! Keep your eyes peeled.

— Dan E.

Species	Captain Sam's		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Red-eyed Vireo	2	0	0	0
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher	0	0	0	1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	2	0	1	0
House Wren	0	0	2	0
Gray Catbird	7	5	4	10
Northern Mockingbird	0	0	1	0
Swamp Sparrow	3	0	0	0
Song Sparrow	0	0	1	0
Ovenbird	1	0	0	0
Common Yellowthroat	3	2	3	2
Western Palm Warbler	6	0	5	0
Myrtle Warbler	0	0	2	0
Prairie Warbler	0	0	2	0
Northern Cardinal	0	4	0	0
Painted Bunting	1	0	3	0

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sam's	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	25	24	49
# of Recaptures	11	13	24
# of Species	9	11	15
Effort (net-hours)	112.5	132.25	144.75
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	32	28	50.4
# of Nets	30	23	-

2020 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sam's	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	3,571	2,069	5,640
# of Recaptures	710	320	1,030
# of Species	67	66	80
Effort (net-hours)	8,015.86	5,179.65	13,195.51
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	53.4	46.1	50.55
# of Days	65	54	-

 

Banding Staff

Aaron Given (CS)
Vincent Weber (CS)
Dan Errichetti (LB)

Sarah Stewart (CS)
Josh Lefever (LB)

 

A Green Noodle Was The Catch Of The Day

October 19, 2020

Captain Sam's:

Today was a lot slower than normal. We had a total of 37 birds, with only 13 of them being recaptures. We enjoyed watching a pair of Kingfishers fly around our station. They got super close to our nets but yet not in them. My favorite catch of the day was this Rough Green Snake pictured below. Being from the northern states (Pennsylvania) we have a similar species called the Smooth Green Snake. One of the differences is that the Rough Green Snake can be longer and can get up to 2 feet in length. Another difference is that the Rough Green Snake has raised keels (Scale) where they get that rough feeling, while Smooth Green Snake do not have raised keels, making them have a smooth feeling. 

Rough Green Snake Captured at CS

As you can see above, the upper snake is the Rough Green Snake and the lower snake is the Smooth Green Snake. Corresponding with the image beside it, you can see how the upper image is keeled, meaning it will have rough scales and the lower image is smooth.

I'm hoping tomorrow will at least get a few good birds! 

-Kristin

Little Bear:

Today was another overall slow day at Little Bear- although it started out strong, with our first few nets runs feeling a little busier than usual. We caught our first-of-season Song Sparrow (Captain Sams had their first a few days ago), and another Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (the fourth this season, making it four more than how many were banded here either of the past two years). But by 10 o'clock, the sun was beating down and the King Tide was rushing back in, causing thigh-high water levels for the second day in a row. We ended up catching nothing over our last 90 minutes of banding, and ended the day with 42 captures of 12 species. 

-Josh

Species	Captain Sam's		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Yellow-billed Cuckoo	-	-	1	-
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker	-	-	-	1
Downy Woodpecker	-	-	1	-
Eastern Phoebe	-	2	-	-
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher	-	-	1	-
House Wren	-	-	2	-
Carolina Wren	-	1	-	-
Gray Catbird	11	5	14	6
Northern Mockingbird	1	-	-	-
Song Sparrow	-	-	1	-
Swamp Sparrow	-	-	2	-
Eastern Towhee	-	1	-	-
Northern Waterthrush	-	-	-	1
Common Yellowthroat	6	-	8	2
Northern Parula	1	-	-	-
'Western' Palm Warbler	2	1	-	-
'Myrtle' Yellow-rumped Warbler	1	-	1	-
Prairie Warbler	2	1	-	-
Indigo Bunting	-	1	-	-
Painted Bunting	-	1	1	-

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sam's	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	24	32	56
# of Recaptures	13	10	23
# of Species	12	12	20
Effort (net-hours)	130.7	110.9	241.6
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	28.3	37.9	32.7
# of Nets	30	23	-

2020 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sam's	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	3,545	2,045	5,590
# of Recaptures	698	307	1,005
# of Species	66	66	80
Effort (net-hours)	7,903.3	5,047.4	12,950.7
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	53.7	46.6	50.9
# of Days	64	53	-

 

Banding Staff

Aaron Given (CS)
Vincent Weber (CS)
Dan Errichetti (LB)
Kristin Attinger (CS)

Sarah Stewart (CS)
Josh Lefever (LB)