August Slipped Away

 Captain Sams: 

I can't believe we are at the end of August already.  August was very wet and relatively slow bird-wise.  I was curious as if there was any correlation between the capture rate in August and the capture rate for the entire season.  Sure enough, it appears a slow August might be an indicator of a slower overall season.  I guess we will see in the end.   

After two days of not banding due to rain, we weren't sure what to expect today.  We were greeted with flooded net lanes and banding trails, and plenty of mosquitos.  We ended the day with 25 new birds and 3 recaptures which was better than I was expecting.  We got our first of the season "Traill's" Flycatcher and despite taking a series of detailed measurements to attempt to ID the bird to species, the formulas were not conclusive, which is the case for most "Traill's" Flycatchers.  Willow and Alder Flycatchers (collectively know as "Traill's") are notoriously difficult to identify to species because they look nearly identical.  Their calls/songs are the most reliable way to separate them in the field but unfortunately, they don't sing in the hand. 

-Aaron 

Little Bear:

After being rained out for the past 2 days, we were finally able to get back out and continue banding. The water was still very high, almost topping our rubber boots in places, but we walked the net lanes and trails strategically and made our way through. We thought things might be busier after the storms, but we ended up with only 10 new birds and 4 recaptures. Our main birds were Painted Buntings, Northern Waterthrushes, and Nothern Cardinals. However, we did at least get one White-eyed Vireo. Hopefully, with some calmer weather in the next few days, the site will dry out and more birds will be coming through. 👍

-Katie 

Species	Captain Sams		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Downy Woodpecker	1	-	-	-
Traill's Flycatcher	1	-	-	-
White-eyed Vireo	1	-	1	-
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher	1	-	-	-
Yellow-breasted Chat	1	-	-	-
Carolina Wren	-	1	1	1
Northern Cardinal	-	-	-	3
Northern Waterthrush	6	-	3	-
Common Yellowthroat	1	-	-	-
American Redstart	3	-	-	-
Prairie Warbler	5	1	-	-
Painted Bunting	5	1	5	-

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	25	10	35
# of Recaptures	3	4	7
# of Species	11	5	12
Effort (net-hours)	157.5	74.1	231.6
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	17.9	18.9	18.1
# of Nets	30	23	53

2022 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	269	178	447
# of Recaptures	103	48	151
# of Species	32	24	36
Effort (net-hours)	2120.7	774.5	2,895.2
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	17.6	28.6	20.7
# of Days	17	8	-

Banding Staff

Aaron Given (CS)

Kristin Attinger (LB)

Nate Watkins (CS)

Katie Serba (LB)
Brendan Wang (CS) 

Aidan Place (LB)

Maia Nguyen (CS)

Frog Songs

Another day spent inside due to the rain sadly. With these two days we've been able to proof all of our data for the season so far, albeit not that much, still good to have done! Today there looked like we'd have a brief time to band in-between the rain but the weather decided otherwise. With the current stats of this last week and the hassle of opening wet nets it likely wouldn't have been fruitful enough to attempt. I enjoyed listening to the rain and the frogs while drinking my coffee this morning however.

With looming forecasts

Rain sends frogs into revelry

Chorus continues

- Nate

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	-	-	-
# of Recaptures	-	-	-
# of Species	-	-	-
Effort (net-hours)	-	-	-
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	-	-	-
# of Nets	30	21	-

2022 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	244	167	411
# of Recaptures	101	44	145
# of Species	31	24	35
Effort (net-hours)	1963.17	700.35	2663.52
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	17.6	30.1	20.9
# of Days	16	9	-

Banding Staff

Aaron Given (CS)

Kristin Attinger (LB)

Nate Watkins (CS)

Katie Serba (LB)
Brendan Wang (CS) 

Aiden Place (LB)

Maia Nguyen (CS)

Rain Rain Go Away

Unfortunately we got rained out today. Tomorrow looks like it will be a better day with no rain! Hopefully we catch some good birds! We are well rested up and excited to see what is in store for us. 

-Kristin

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sam's	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	-	-	-
# of Recaptures	-	-	-
# of Species	-	-	-
Effort (net-hours)	-	-	-
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	-	-	-
# of Nets	-	-	-

2022 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	244	167	411
# of Recaptures	101	44	145
# of Species	31	24	35
Effort (net-hours)	1963.17	700.35	2,663.52
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	17.6	30.1	20.9
# of Days	15	8	-

Banding Staff

Aaron Given (CS)

Kristin Attinger (LB)

Nate Watkins (CS)

Katie Serba (LB)
Brendan Wang (CS) 

Aiden Place (CS)

Maia Nguyen (CS)

I wonder if he had any "Egrets" after he got stuck in a net.

 Captain Sams: 

Today started with Aidan, Maia, and myself watching the sunrise by the river after we opened our nets. Whilst counting the shorebirds and enjoying the morning sky we were greeted by a bonnethead shark. This species of shark (Sphyrna tiburo) is the only known shark species to display sexual dimorphism and the only known omnivorous shark species. They are quite common in the shallows around Kiawah Island, so keep an eye out!

Now, back to birds.

It was another slow, muggy morning out on the spit. Our highlight bird of the day was a worm-eating warbler (Helmitheros vermivorum). These warblers sport a dashing head pattern and get their somewhat inaccurate name from their diet, consisting not of worms, but caterpillars.  

-Brendan

Little Bear:

Today was definitely a slower day than we have typically been having. We ended our day with a total of 23 birds and out of those 23, 14 were newly banded and 9 were recaptured. We added 2 new species to KIBS total and 3 species to Little Bear's total count for the season. 

One of our species added to KIBS is a first ever in the net! Little Bear has been open for 1 whole week and has captured some great birds. Our amazing bird we captured was no other than a Great Egret! How awesome is that?! A large wading bird that has managed to find itself in a net. Over the week, there has been a Great Egret walking around one side of our station. I thought it would be fun to try to walk it into a net but it just flew off instead. I kept thinking to myself, man that would be a cool bird to catch if it would just go into a net. I was also thinking it would a pain to catch with that large bill that is as sharp as a knife. 

As we started our first net run, I told Katie to catch something good today and continued to my first net. As I got close to the first net I hear a loud grunt and I kicked into action thinking there was something good there! As I came into view I saw the Great Egret trying to fly away. I quickly and safely grab the bird by the bill and body. I didn't want it to try to hurt me or itself with that bill. Once I got the bird safely out of the net, I instantly radio Katie and said I got the largest bird KIBS might be able to catch at a station. 

We both got back and quickly processed this bird so that it can go on it's way. Of course we took a bunch of photos to show off how big they are and how cool they look. I am still shocked that it even stayed in the net but glad to add it to our list.

Great Egrets can stand about 3 feet tall. Looking that the photos below, you can see how large that bird is in the hand. This bird is also the main logo for the Audubon Society as well. Check out their page to learn more about Great Egrets with this link here https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/great-egret. 

Kristin holding the Great Egret

Look at how large their bill is! Absolutely stunning!

Check out the toes on this bird! They also have combs on their nails to help with preening their feathers. 

-Kristin

Species	Captain Sams		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Great Egret	-	-	1	-
White-eyed Vireo	-	-	-	1
Carolina Wren	-	-	1	2
Brown Thrasher	-	-	1	-
Eastern Towhee	-	-	1	-
Northern Waterthrush	-	-	1	1
Worm-eating Warbler	1	-	-	-
American Redstart	2	-	-	-
Common Yellowthroat	-	-	1	-
Yellow Warbler	-	-	1	-
Prairie Warbler	1	-	1	-
Northern Cardinal	-	3	1	3
Painted Bunting	-	-	5	3

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	4	14	18
# of Recaptures	3	9	12
# of Species	4	11	13
Effort (net-hours)	129	87.4	216.4
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	5.4	26.3	13.9
# of Nets	30	23	-

2022 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	244	168	412
# of Recaptures	101	44	145
# of Species	31	24	35
Effort (net-hours)	1,963.2	700.4	2,663.6
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	17.6	30.1	20.9
# of Days	14	7	-

Banding Staff

Aaron Given (CS)

Kristin Attinger (LB)

Nate Watkins (CS)

Katie Serba (LB)
Brendan Wang (CS) 

Aidan Place (CS)

Maia Nguyen (CS)

Black-billed Cu-Two: Electric Boogaloo

 Captain Sams: 

    Captains Sams was a steamy humid day like most in August with a few things here and there to shake things up. We’ve had a Chuck-wills-widow hanging out on one of our net poles these last few days which has been a treat, sadly they were missing this morning. We had quite the beautiful sunrise this morning on the Kiawah river which everyone was able to enjoy while we were waiting for our feathered friends to find their way to our nets. As an added bonus for the day my friend Alayna got to join us at the station, she handled her first wild bird today! We were able to spend some time talking about molt limits, extracting, and just fun general bird talk!

    As far as net runs go today we’ve continued the August trend of few birds but fun individuals. Today we saw nearly every plumage type for Prairie Warblers with an after-hatch year male showing up right at the end of the day. Now the grand capture for the day is our second Black-billed Cuckoo for the season! Last year when I was here I was fortunate enough to band the only one of the season so I was pretty astonished when Maia came back with our second one for August! I feel like this one will probably be our last but I sure would love to be proven wrong. 

    During our net runs today we were able to set up our NFC tower and get everything ready to go! So starting tomorrow we’ll be collecting flyover data for the station that we can hopefully share with you all!

Me examining the Black-billed Cuckoo with the Optivisors!

A nice looking Yellow Warbler from today.

        Optivisors on

        Crazy eyes for cuckoo thighs

        Size two band attached

- Nate

Little Bear:

We ended our day with a total of 31 birds with 9 of them being recaptures. Surprisingly we are still kicking it with catching a bunch of Northern Waterthrush and Painted Buntings. Each day the species count for the 2 are our top birds. I never would have thought to catch so many for our first week but I am not complaining because it is so much fun seeing them all! Little Bear finally caught its first Carolina Chickadee this morning. I'm hoping during these slow days ahead of us we caught something cool. There has been a few herons hanging around our station, so maybe one might find our nets.

-Kristin

Species	Captain Sams		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Black-billed Cuckoo	1	-	-	-
Downy Woodpecker	-	-	1	-
White-eyed Vireo	-	-	-	2
Red-eyed Vireo	-	-	1	-
Carolina Chickadee	-	-	1	-
Carolina Wren	-	2	-	1
Northern Mockingbird	-	1	-	-
Northern Waterthrush	4	1	5	1
Black-and-white Warbler	1	-	-	-
American Redstart	-	-	2	-
Yellow Warbler	2	-	-	-
Prairie Warbler	3	1	1	-
Northern Cardinal	-	1	1	1
Painted Bunting	4	-	10	4

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	15	22	37
# of Recaptures	6	9	15
# of Species	9	10	14
Effort (net-hours)	138	103.5	241.5
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	15.2	30.0	21.5
# of Nets	30	23	53

2022 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	240	154	394
# of Recaptures	98	35	133
# of Species	31	21	33
Effort (net-hours)	1,834.2	613.0	2,447.12
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	18.4	30.8	21.5
# of Days	13	6	-

Banding Staff

Aaron Given (CS)

Kristin Attinger (LB)

Nate Watkins (CS)

Katie Serba (LB)
Brendan Wang (CS) 

Aidan Place (CS)

Maia Nguyen (CS)

Alayna Robertson (CS)

A Slow Day All Around

 Captain Sam's: 

Today was on the slower side with 17 birds netted in total. Because the lack of birds meant that the net rounds went by quickly, we made use of the downtime by doing some much needed net repairs. A mist net undergoes a lot of wear and tear over the course of a season and it was good to have the time today to stitch back together some of the rips and holes from last year. Now the nets will be better prepared for the busier days which are hopefully right around the corner!

Little Bear:

Little Bear was also very laid-back today, with 15 birds banded and 6 recaptures of 11 different species. We also captured our first Yellow Warbler for this site. 

Our highlight of the day was the Yellow-breasted Chat which had three different molt limits within its wing. The chat, as shown below, is a hatch year bird based off of limits that we can see in three places: the primaries, the primary coverts, and the secondaries. Adult, "after hatch year", birds start their molt from their innermost feathers and grow outwards (from P1 to P9), but this individual started replacing feathers from P4 instead. By looking for these examples of "eccentric molt" we can determine if birds were born this year and can therefore be aged as "hatch year" birds. 

Yellow Breasted Chat wing: Red indicates new feathers that grew in recently, while blue indicates old, "retained" feathers. Because this individual did not replace its innermost feathers first, it is a hatch year bird.

- Maia

Species	Captain Sam's		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Downy Woodpecker	-	1	1	1
Red-eyed Vireo	2	-	1	-
White-eyed Vireo	-	-	-	1
Yellow-breasted Chat	-	-	1	-
Northern Waterthrush	1	-	1	1
American Redstart	2	-	1	-
Prothonotary Warbler	-	-	1	-
Yellow Warbler	1	-	1	-
Prairie Warbler	3	-	1	-
Northern Cardinal	-	1	2	2
Painted Bunting	1	2	5	1
Black-and-white Warbler	1	-	-	-
Carolina Wren	-	1	-	-
Northern Mockingbird	-	1	-	-

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sam's	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	11	15	26
# of Recaptures	6	6	12
# of Species	11	11	14
Effort (net-hours)	168.0	97.75	265.75
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	10.1	21.5	14.3
# of Nets	30	21	51

2022 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sam's	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	225	132	357
# of Recaptures	92	26	118
# of Species	31	20	33
Effort (net-hours)	1696.2	509.5	2205.7
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	18.7	31.0	21.5
# of Days	12	5	-

Banding Staff

Aaron Given (CS)

Kristin Attinger (LB)

Nate Watkins (CS)

Katie Serba (LB)
Brendan Wang (CS) 

Aidan Place (CS)

Maia Nguyen (LB)

No one but NOWAs

 Captain Sam's: 

Today was also a bit slower over at Captain Sam's with a total of 23 birds with 5 being recaptures. However, we still had some really fun birds to look at and band. We had two stunning after hatch year male American Redstarts which are always a treat with their striking colors, an intensely yellow adult male Prothonotary Warbler, and our second Yellow-breasted Chat of the season. Some other notable species for the day were a Black-and-white Warbler and an Eastern Kingbird that had a well-hidden orange crown, indicating that it was an adult. When things were calm though, we were all able to either get some reading in or head down to the river to look for shorebirds. 

Hatch year Yellow-breasted Chat

After hatch year male American Redstart

-Katie 

Little Bear:

Today we finished out with a total of 32 birds and only 5 of them being recaptures. We added our first of the season Tufted Titmouse to our list. It was a slower day compared to yesterday but we are still catching birds. During our first net run, we ran into a nice alligator. He was chilling on our paths, but once he saw me, he starting to high-tail out of the banding station. He made his way to the tidal pool and was not seen again. I was glad it was not being lazy and wanted nothing to do with us or the birds. We also captured this nice looking adult male American Redstart. I am a huge fan of these bird, because they are always so cute and such a sweet bird in the hand. Never to feisty and always posing.

After hatch year male American Redstart

Alligator walking away

-Kristin

Species	Captain Sam's		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Eastern Kingbird	1	-	-	-
Red-eyed Vireo	1	-	1	-
Carolina Wren	-	3	-	2
Tufted Titmouse	-	-	1	-
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher	1	-	-	-
Northern Mockingbird	1	-	-	-
Yellow-breasted Chat	1	-	-	-
Northern Waterthrush	4	-	13	-
Black-and-white Warbler	1	-	-	-
American Redstart	4	-	1	-
Common Yellowthroat	1	-	-	-
Prothonotary Warbler	1	-	1	-
Prairie Warbler	1	1	-	-
Painted Bunting	1	1	10	3

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sam's	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	18	27	45
# of Recaptures	5	5	10
# of Species	13	7	14
Effort (net-hours)	150	92	242
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	15.3	34.8	22.7
# of Nets	30	23	53

2022 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sam's	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	214	117	331
# of Recaptures	86	20	106
# of Species	30	18	33
Effort (net-hours)	1528.2	411.7	1939.9
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	19.6	33.3	22.5
# of Days	11	4	-

Banding Staff

Aaron Given (CS)

Kristin Attinger (LB)

Nate Watkins (CS)

Katie Serba (CS)
Brendan Wang (CS) 

Aidan Place (CS)

Maia Nguyen (LB)

Waterthrush Comparison and Prothonotary Sex Differences

 Captain Sam's: 

It was yet another humid and cloudy morning out at Captain Sam's spit. After opening our nets, we enjoyed a lovely sunrise while watching the flocks of shorebirds cruise along the river. Hues of peach and lavender adorned the overcast sky.

The flow of birds was slow and steady while the buzz and bite of mosquitoes were constant and irritating.

The highlight of the day came in the form of a Louisiana Waterthrush. We band this species much less than Northern Waterthrush, its close relative (Genus Parkesia) and doppelganger. Having these two species side-by-side, however, really sheds light on their morphological differences.

The Northern Waterthrush (right) is noticeably smaller and has more buffy coloring in its supercilium and flanks than the Louisiana Waterthrush (left). Lousiana's also have bright pink legs, more vibrant than those of the Northern's. Look out for these warblers along streams or within wetlands; both species constantly bob their tails while foraging along the ground, which is unique among warblers.

-Brendan

Little Bear:

Today was a good day at Little Bear, with 38 new birds and 11 recaps of 12 species! Lots of Northern Waterthrush (16) today, but no Louisiana. We also had our first Common Yellowthroats, Prairie Warbler, American Redstart, and Prothonotary Warblers for Little Bear. 

The two Prothonotary Warblers were caught in the same net run and allowed us to see the side-by-side difference between male and female. The male on the left is much more bright and orangey-yellow in comparison to the female on the right. The female also has more olive-green on the crown and back. 

- Maia

Species	Captain Sam's		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
White-eyed Vireo	-	1	1	-
Red-eyed Vireo	2	1	1	-
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher	1	-	-	-
Brown Thrasher	-	1	-	-
Prairie Warbler	7	-	-	-
American Redstart	2	-	3	-
Worm-eating Warbler	1	-	-	-
Louisiana Waterthrush	1	-	-	-
Northern Waterthrush	3	-	16	-
Painted Bunting	2	2	10	2
Carolina Wren	-	-	1	2
Prothonotary Warbler	-	-	2	-
Ovenbird	-	-	1	-
Northern Cardinal	-	-	-	1
Common Yellowthroat	-	-	2	-
Black-and-white Warbler	-	-	1	-
Prairie Warbler	7	-	1	-

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sam's	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	19	39	58
# of Recaptures	5	5	10
# of Species	10	12	17
Effort (net-hours)	159	103.5	262.5
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	15.1	42.5	25.9
# of Nets	30	21	51

2022 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sam's	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	196	90	286
# of Recaptures	81	15	96
# of Species	31	17	32
Effort (net-hours)	1378.2	319.7	1697.7
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	20.1	32.8	22.5
# of Days	10	3	-

Banding Staff

Aaron Given (CS)

Kristin Attinger (LB)

Nate Watkins (CS)

Katie Serba
Brendan Wang (CS) 

Aidan Place (CS)

Maia Nguyen (LB)