Captain Sams:
The undisputed highlight of today came in the form of a Chuck-Will's-Widow that Aaron extracted during the first net round. Since I hadn't arrived at Kiawah yet when the first one was banded, this was a huge moment for me. Chuck-Will's-Widow was the bird I was most excited about banding this season and I was overjoyed that I finally got one. Many times birds appear in the hand as much larger than they look in the field, and this is one of the better examples I've seen. In the hand the Chuck looked absolutely massive (and a lot longer winged than I expected) with its big eyes and oversized muppet mouth. After we released it, it settled down to roost not far from the banding table where it remained for the rest of the morning.
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| The Chuck's tiny feet and huge head makes the whole bird appear out of proportion |
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| POV: you are an insect about to get eaten. |
A near miss on the second to last net round bookended the day with excitement. I turned a corner of a net lane to see a Black-billed Cuckoo stuck in the net. Sadly, before I even had time to take a step forward, it somehow managed to free itself (it likely had only hit the net recently and wasn't properly stuck) and fly off. Catching three Black-billed Cuckoos in a season seems almost too good to be true, but with little migration tonight, maybe it'll still be around to be caught tomorrow!
-Aidan
Little Bear:
Due to yesterday's rain, the water level was the deepest it's been this entire season. Wading around this morning was extra precarious, but luckily we didn't run into any gators this time. As Kristen and I were headed back to the station from opening, she spotted a Green Heron in the net and made a mad dash to capture it! She lost a boot in the process, but the Green Heron was totally worth it. It was another hatch year individual, and it was also Brendan and mine's first time seeing one in the hand!
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| Photos courtesy of Brendan Wang |
-Maia
| Species | Captain Sams | Little Bear | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New | Recaps | New | Recaps | |
Green Heron | - | - | 1 | - |
Chuck-Will's-Widow | 1 | - | - | - |
Traill's Flycatcher | - | - | 1 | - |
White-eyed Vireo | 2 | 1 | - | - |
Veery | 1 | - | - | - |
Ovenbird | 1 | - | - | - |
Northern Waterthrush | 9 | - | 3 | 1 |
Common Yellowthroat | 8 | 2 | 2 | - |
Yellow Warbler | - | - | 2 | - |
Prairie Warbler | 4 | - | 2 | - |
American Redstart | 3 | - | - | - |
Northern Cardinal | - | - | 1 | - |
Painted Bunting | 1 | - | 3 | - |
| Today's Banding Stats | Captain Sams | Little Bear | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| # Birds Banded | 31 | 15 | 46 |
| # of Recaptures | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| # of Species | 10 | 8 | 14 |
| Effort (net-hours) | 138.0 | 71.3 | 209.3 |
| Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours) | 21.7 | 22.4 | 23.9 |
| # of Nets | 30 | 23 | - |
| 2022 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats | Captain Sams | Little Bear | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| # Birds Banded | 559 | 391 | 950 |
| # of Recaptures | 154 | 93 | 247 |
| # of Species | 37 | 29 | 42 |
| Effort (net-hours) | 3430.17 | 1,559.75 | 4,989.92 |
| Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours) | 23 | 31.0 | 24.0 |
| # of Days | 25 | 17 | - |
Banding Staff
Brendan Wang (LB)
