Monday, August 23, 2021

A great day for both sites!

 Captain Sam's:


Hello! I'm back again for another great day! We had a total of  26 newly banded birds and 6 recaptures. A few of our highlights today were first of the season Hooded Warbler, Chucks-wills-widow, and a recapture of an old male painted bunting. 

The Painted Bunting was a unique catch of the day because unlike every typical recaptured bird, this male was still sporting a color band along with its aluminum band. With further digging, Aaron has informed us that this bird was banded at Mingo Point on 07/10/2017 as a ASY. This makes that bird roughly 5+ years old! 

Another great bird for the day is the Chucks-wills-widow! Pictured below is this magnificent beast. This bird here has been my nemesis since my first year at Kiawah 4 years ago. Every year I seem to have missed the opportunity to get to hold/band this bird. They are a lot larger than I expected compared to Eastern Whip-poor-will. The way we aged this bird was based how the tail looks. If the barring within the tail is defined and complete then it is an after-hatch year bird just as the bird in the photo below. If the barring is not defined then the bird would be a hatch year bird.


After-hatch year female

-Kristin

Little Bear:

This morning we had 2 exciting surprises in our nets at Little Bear. On our first net run, we captured a very unassuming little gray warbler, one of the classic 'confusing fall warblers' that give birdwatchers angst every autumn. Not only does this bird's plumage create confusion, but its a species not expected to be migrating through South Carolina until early September at the earliest. Our bird's greenish rump, faint side streaking, and white wing bar, along with its overall drab color, were conclusive plumage traits to identify it as a female Cape May Warbler. This species breeds in the Spruce forests of central Canada, and are currently on migration to their wintering grounds, primarily on the Caribbean islands. Most Cape May warblers are still working their way down through New England and the Great Lakes region this time of year, so it was a real treat to see one today! Based on Ebird data, it seems like this individual will be the first verified record of a Cape May Warbler in South Carolina for the month of August. This is one of my favorite warblers, and has created some premature excitement for the many more that will be arriving here next month.

Cape May Warbler, female

A couple net checks after the Cape May Warbler, we ended up with an even bigger thrill in our nets, a Cooper's Hawk!

Immature Cooper's Hawk

Cooper's Hawks are year-round birds on Kiawah Island (and across most of the country), but are difficult to catch in our songbird nets. Because of how big they are, most raptors either bounce off of our mist nets or are able to quickly escape with a few strong wingbeats. It's always a treat to get to handle a bird of prey; they're rambunctious personalities liven up the station and provide some fun photo opportunities.

Immature Cooper's Hawk
-Josh


  Species  Captain Sam'sLittle Bear
NewRecapsNewRecaps
Chuck-will's-widow
1---
Cooper's Hawk
--1-
Downy Woodpecker
1-1-
Great Crested Flycatcher
-1--
Red-eyed Vireo
3-4-
Carolina Chickadee
--1-
Carolina Wren
2-1-
Ovenbird
2-4-
Worm-eating Warbler
1---
Northern Waterthrush
315-
Black-and-white Warbler
1---
Prothonotary Warbler
1-1-
Common Yellowthroat
-1--
Hooded Warbler
1---
American Redstart
2-3-
Cape May Warbler
--1-
Yellow Warbler
--1-
Prairie Warbler
5-3-
Northern Cardinal
-222
Painted Bunting
31--



Today's Banding StatsCaptain Sam'sLittle BearTOTAL
# Birds Banded
26
27
53
# of Recaptures
6
3
9
# of Species
16
13
20
Effort (net-hours)
153
132.25
285.25
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)
20.9
22.7
21.7
# of Nets
30
23
-


2021 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats Captain Sam'sLittle BearTOTAL
# Birds Banded
189
80
269
# of Recaptures
51
8
59
# of Species
31
21
35
Effort (net-hours)
1,164
380.65
1,544.65
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)
20.6
23.7
21.2
# of Days93-

Banding Staff

Aaron Given (CS)
Kristin Attinger (CS)
Ben Stalheim (CS)
Nate Watkins (CS)
Kandace Glanville (LB)
Josh Lefever (LB)



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