Captain Sam's:
Today was a very very slow day. We had a total of 6 birds making it an early closing time for us.
During our departure for the day we got to see a female jumping spider having a wonderful feast with this cicada!
Jumping spiders are basically the only spiders that I consider "cute." Being little and fuzzy gives them a nice welcoming look.
Check out this link on treehugger.com to see some unique facts about jumping spiders.
Hopefully tomorrow we'll see an increase, but based on our weather conditions we are looking at yet another slow day.
-Kristin
Little Bear:
Today was my first day out at Little Bear after spending the first bit of the season at Captain Sam's. This meant that I inevitably took a few wrong turns, stumbled into unknown obstacles, and checked my map like a lost tourist on a roadtrip. However, by the end of the day I started to understand where the roots that liked to trip me jut out from the ground and began to appreciate the beauty of the Little Bear site. It is different in that many of the nets are more exposed to wind and sun. This forced us to close down nets sporadically throughout the day as some were heating up disproportionately fast.
Josh and I made the most of our day out there, but that yielded very little as far as birds go. We caught 8 birds in our nets, including a few after-hatch-year female painted buntings. These birds had extremely worn feathers that made it difficult to spot the molt strategy. They were growing in bright green greater coverts and as Josh pointed out to me, they were molting their flight feathers in a definitive and symmetrical pattern opposed to the eccentric strategy of hatch-year birds.
We caught one Traill's Flycatcher and while Josh banded it, I raced around making sure I hadn't left any nets unfurled while I was closing. I am really excited to see what the next few days have in store. Even if the bird numbers aren't great, I can never complain about a day spent outside.
-Ben
| Species | Captain Sam's | Little Bear | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New | Recaps | New | Recaps | |
Traill's Flycatcher | - | - | 1 | - |
White-eyed Vireo | - | 1 | - | - |
Red-eyed Vireo | - | 1 | - | - |
Carolina Wren | - | - | - | 1 |
American Redstart | 1 | - | - | - |
Prairie Warbler | 1 | - | 1 | - |
Northern Cardinal | - | - | 1 | 1 |
Painted Bunting | 1 | 1 | 3 | - |
| Today's Banding Stats | Captain Sam's | Little Bear | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| # Birds Banded | 3 | 6 | 9 |
| # of Recaptures | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| # of Species | 5 | 5 | 8 |
| Effort (net-hours) | 99 | 87.6 | 186.6 |
| Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours) | 6.06 | 9.1 | 7.5 |
| # of Nets | 30 | 23 | 53 |
| 2021 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats | Captain Sam's | Little Bear | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| # Birds Banded | 243 | 127 | 370 |
| # of Recaptures | 75 | 22 | 97 |
| # of Species | 34 | 24 | 38 |
| Effort (net-hours) | 1,678.5 | 750 | 2428.5 |
| Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours) | 18.9 | 19.9 | 19.2 |
| # of Days | 13 | 7 | - |
Banding Staff
