The fall banding season starts on August 15th so to count down to the start of the season, I thought I would take you on a virtual tour of the Captain Sam's and Little Bear banding sites. Each day I will highlight a group of nets beginning with Captains Sam's.
Captain Sam's has 30 nets scattered across 10 acres of habitat. Major habitat types include maritime scrub-shrub, high and low saltmarsh, and dunes. The area is dominated by low growing shrubs such as wax myrtles, yaupon hollies, and marsh elders. Trees such as loblolly pines, live oaks, red bays, and toothache trees are widely scattered across the landscape. Vines are very common growing among the shrubs. The most common include greenbriers (Smilax spp.), Carolina jessamine, and Virginia creeper.
Today I am going to highlight nets 7, 28, 27, 26, and 32. These are collectively known as the "dune nets" as they are situated on the on oceanside of the Captain Sam's. The mainly nets run along the edge of the open dunes but cut perpendicular into the scrub. These nets can be very productive during heavy migration as the birds move along the interface between the dunes and scrub.
Net 7
Net 7 has been in operation since 2010. It has captured 1,983 birds (1467 new birds, 516 recaptures). This net lane has seen some significant changes over the years. For the first few years, large wax myrtles created a canopy over the net keeping this net lanes mostly shaded. Many of the those large wax myrtles have either died back or been knocked over by tropical storms or hurricanes, leaving this net lanes much more open and exposed.
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| Net 7 |
Net 28
Net 28 was created in 2014 because we had no other nets along the dunes at that time. Given the large dune system that we have along the beach, this habitat was not well represented in comparison to the other habitat types. This net has captured 1,534 birds (1175 new birds, 359 recaptures) including some rare birds such as Bell's Vireo, Black-billed Cuckoo, and Mourning Warbler.
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| Net 28 |
Net 27
Net 27 was created in 2014. It located only about 100 feet from Net 28 and is situated in a similar orientation but the shrubs surrounding this net lane extend bump out closer to the ocean. This net has captured 1,520 birds (1135 new birds, 385 recaptures). This net captured an Ash-throated Flycatcher in 2019, a common bird out west but rare in the eastern US.
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| Net 27 |
Net 26
Net 26 was created in 2016 after it's original location (current Net 32) was damaged during Hurricane Matthew when a large cedar tree had fallen down in the net lane. The net was shifted about 50 feet towards the dunes to its current location. This net has captured 870 birds (584 new birds, 286 recaptures). Almost 30% of the birds captured in this net are Gray Catbirds.
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| Net 26 |
Net 32
Net 32 (formerly known as Net 26) was created in 2014 but had to be discontinued in 2016 after Hurricane Matthew knocked over a cedar tree. This net lane was resurrected in 2020, after most of the vegetation surrounding the net lane had recovered since the storm. Much of the "bones" of the cedar tree is still there but it is now covered in vines. Net 32 has captured a total of 380 birds (269 new, 111 recaptures) in its 4 years of operation.
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| Net 32 |
Aaron
