Banding Wars Episode III: Revenge of the GRCA

 Captain Sam's:

While we didn't catch nearly as many birds as yesterday, we appreciated the cooler, foggy weather at Captain's Sam's. With ideal conditions again, we were hoping that the gulp of Tree Swallows would once again go into our nets, but they were foraging elsewhere today. We're definitely catching less and less Gray Catbirds as October comes to a close, going from 100 a day to now under 10 a day. The other day, I thought we had the high ground over the catbirds, but we seemed to have underestimated their power (we only caught seven today, but still).  

Some other highlights from today: it was Katie and I's first time seeing a Yellow Palm Warbler in the hand! We also heard and saw a Sedge Wren hanging out around the station. The bird was too sneaky to get into our nets today, but hopefully tomorrow that individual sticks around. 

- Maia

Little Bear:

    I don't usually get the opportunity to come out to Little Bear but this is the second time in a row I've come out and been gifted with good birds. Today I banded my second Belted Kingfisher making this the 6th one of the season! Mirroring my last stint at Little Bear, when I banded my first Swainson's Warbler, we recaught the one that has continued to hang around Little Bear for some time. Today we caught this individual for the seventh time, its slowly increasing it's weight while still being able to keep some fat but it's certainly going to get tougher and tougher for this bird to find ample food. Hopefully this is the last time we catch it and is safely makes it down to the wintering grounds. The day itself was overcast with slight mist, not necessarily the perfect storm for a perfect banding day but it turned out to be a decent day. 

Waves tearing the shore,

moving the sand like sawdust,

Laughing Gulls fly low

- Nate

Species	Captain Sams		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Yellow-billed Cuckoo		-	1	-
Downy Woodpecker	-	1	-	-
Belted Kingfisher	-	1	-	-
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	1	1	1	-
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher	-	-	1	-
Gray Catbird	5	7	4	6
Hermit Thrush	1	-	-	-
Swamp Sparrow	-	-	2	-
Savannah Sparrow	1	-	-	-
Common Yellowthroat	8	1	8	-
Blackpoll Warbler	-	-	1	-
Palm Warbler (Yellow)	1	-	2	-
Myrtle Warbler	15	6	3	-
Swainson's Warbler	-	-	-	1
Painted Bunting	-	1	-	-
Indigo Bunting	1	-	-	-
Carolina Chickadee	-	1	-	-

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	33	24	57
# of Recaptures	13	7	20
# of Species	11	11	17
Effort (net-hours)	156	74.75	230.75
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	29.5	41.5	33.4
# of Nets	30	23	-

2022 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	4517	2,732	7,249
# of Recaptures	1079	624	1,703
# of Species	79	76	93
Effort (net-hours)	10734.4	5,530.65	16,265.05
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	52.1	60.7	55.0
# of Days	71	62	-

Banding Staff

Aaron Given (CS)

Kristin Attinger 

Nate Watkins (LB)

Katie Serba (CS)
Brendan Wang (LB) 

Aidan Place (CS)

Maia Nguyen (CS)