Captain Sam's:
I am so excited to finally be here at Kiawah! It's been so long since I have seen other birds than sparrows. We captured a total of 44 new birds and 11 recaps. Among those adorable birds were our first of the season Worm-eating Warbler, Yellow-breasted Chat, Black-and-White Warbler and Ovenbird! All are warblers except for the chat, which used to be categorized as a warbler until 2017 and placed in its own family.
Below I have inserted a photo of the Yellow-breasted Chat. Looking at the image, you can see what we look at when aging birds. P1-P9 are labeled to indicate how the Primary (P) feathers are counted. You can see that P6-P9 are averaging a darker contrast compared to P1-P4. This type of molt is considered an eccentric molt. Check out our previous year post here to see some more comparisons of aging chats!
I'm super excited to see what this year will hold and hope it's spectacular!
-Kristin
Little Bear:
Today Josh and I were hoping for more first-of-season species at Little Bear, and we were treated to many! We caught an Eastern Kingbird, a Yellow Warbler, 3 (!) Worm-eating Warblers, a Black-and-white Warbler, and most notably, 6 Prothonotary Warblers! We were surprised to find 2 in a net, and then each round thereafter we kept coming across more in the nets. There was a weather system out over the ocean that was pushing closer as the morning went on, as well as some weather further inland. The warblers dropped in later on in the morning, and it seems it was a sort of mini Prothonotary Warbler fallout at Little Bear, to our delight.
I haven't seen many Prothonotary Warblers in the hand, so it was great practice to get a chance to band and look at so many, and try my best to age and sex them (with Josh's expert help). A nickname for the Prothonotary Warbler is the "Swamp Candle" because of their incredibly bright yellow plumage.
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| After hatch-year male Prothonotary Warbler Photo by Kandace Glanville |
-Kandace
| Species | Captain Sam's | Little Bear | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New | Recaps | New | Recaps | |
Morning Dove | 1 | - | - | - |
Eastern Kingbird | - | - | 1 | - |
White-eyed Vireo | - | 3 | - | - |
Red-eyed Vireo | 6 | - | 7 | - |
Carolina Chickadee | - | - | 1 | - |
Tufted Titmouse | - | - | 2 | - |
Carolina Wren | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Brown Thrasher | - | 2 | - | - |
Eastern Towhee | - | 1 | - | - |
Yellow-breasted Chat | 1 | - | - | - |
Ovenbird | 3 | - | - | - |
Worm-eating Warbler | 1 | - | 3 | - |
Northern Waterthrush | 18 | - | 3 | - |
Black-and-white Warbler | 1 | - | 1 | - |
Prothonotary Warbler | 2 | - | 6 | - |
American Redstart | 4 | - | 2 | - |
Common Yellowthroat | - | 1 | - | - |
Yellow Warbler | 1 | - | 1 | - |
Prairie Warbler | 2 | - | 1 | - |
Northern Cardinal | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
Painted Bunting | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Today's Banding Stats | Captain Sam's | Little Bear | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| # Birds Banded | 44 | 34 | 78 |
| # of Recaptures | 11 | 5 | 16 |
| # of Species | 17 | 14 | 20 |
| Effort (net-hours) | 159 | 140.3 | 299.3 |
| Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours) | 34.59 | 27.8 | 31.4 |
| # of Nets | 30 | 23 | 53 |
| 2021 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats | Captain Sam's | Little Bear | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| # Birds Banded | 163 | 53 | 216 |
| # of Recaptures | 45 | 5 | 50 |
| # of Species | 29 | 17 | 31 |
| Effort (net-hours) | 1,011 | 248.4 | 1259.4 |
| Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours) | 20.57 | 23.3 | 21.1 |
| # of Days | 8 | 2 | - |
Banding Staff
