24th of October

 Captain Sam's:

Today at Captain Sam’s we had a pretty eventful first run, filling up almost an entire data sheet with catbirds. Today’s totals were mostly catbirds but we had a few really good species for the day. It’s always a treat to see Black-throated Blue Warblers in the hand, Ruby-crowned Kinglets also are just so tiny and cute, but our best bird by far was a Scarlet Tanager! This individual makes our third for the season. Also around the banding station there were lots of birds that we definitely didn’t catch. While opening we had so many Yellow-rumped Warblers calling and surprisingly caught few for the numbers we heard. A few tricky individuals to age here and there also. 

Constant net repairs

How even was the net torn

Swapped for another

- Nate

Little Bear:

Little Bear had another good day, filled with birds new and old. Exciting captures for the day included the season's second Lincoln's and Savannah Sparrows. Each of these were hatch-years, and really beautiful birds to have in the hand. The Lincoln's Sparrow was the first one I've seen in this county so far, so having the banding station up goes to show just how important it can be for catching somewhat reclusive species. However, Savannah Sparrows have flooded the grasslands around Little Bear in great numbers. Fortunately, we were able to get one in the nets, and hopefully can continue that luck as we head into November. Pictured below is our locally rare Lincoln's Sparrow.

Lincoln's Sparrow, hatch-year
Photo by Josh Lefever

A recaptured adult male Yellow-rumped Warbler was an exciting event on the day as well. This bird was banded as a hatch-year by 2019's crew, and catching it again is something incredible. These kind of recaptures are always the most interesting for the data and the banders. We get to see an individual who chooses to use the same migratory/wintering areas year in and year out, while surviving to tell the tale.

Lastly, another hatch-year male Pine Warbler was caught today. This little bird was wet with morning dew and confusing to identify when I first found it in the net. All I could tell was it was yellow-ish with a greenish rump, maybe? I put it in one of our cloth bags and kept moving, knowing it would quickly dry off and be figured out. Kandace was the lucky individual to band it and solve the mystery. This Pine Warbler was the 2nd of the year for Little Bear, and makes the 4th on the season. Generally a rare catch, it has been a great surprise to have so many this year.

Pine Warbler, hatch-year male
photo by Josh Lefever

-Ben

Species	Captain Sam's		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Yellow-billed Cuckoo	-	1	-	-
Eastern Phoebe	2	-	1	-
Red-eyed Vireo	1	-	-	-
Carolina Chickadee	-	-	-	1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	3	-	2	-
Golden-crowned Kinglet	-	-	1	-
House Wren	2	-	2	1
Carolina Wren	-	1	-	-
Gray Catbird	39	4	20	7
Hermit Thrush	3	-	-	-
Savannah Sparrow	-	-	1	-
Song Sparrow	-	-	1	-
Lincoln's Sparrow	-	-	1	-
Swamp Sparrow	2	-	1	-
Eastern Towhee	-	-	1	-
Ovenbird	-	-	-	1
Common Yellowthroat	9	2	6	2
Northern Parula	1	-	-	-
Black-throated Blue Warbler	4	-	-	-
Palm Warbler	1	-	1	-
Pine Warbler	-	-	1	-
Yellow-rumped Warbler	7	1	10	1
Prairie Warbler	-	-	1	-
Scarlet Tanager	1	-	-	-
Northern Cardinal	1	1	-	2
Indigo Bunting	-	-	1	-
Painted Bunting	-	-	4	-

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sam's	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	76	55	131
# of Recaptures	10	15	25
# of Species	16	20	27
Effort (net-hours)	142.5	124.2	266.7
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	60.4	56.4	58.5
# of Nets	30	23	53

2021 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sam's	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	3528	2637	6165
# of Recaptures	679	404	1083
# of Species	78	73	91
Effort (net-hours)	9413.45	6549.15	15962.6
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	44.7	46.4	45.4
# of Days	67	62	-

Banding Staff

Aaron Given (CS)

Kristin Attinger (CS)

Kandace Glanville (LB)

Ben Stalheim (LB)

Nate Watkins (CS)

Josh Lefever (LB)