Captain Sams:
Yesterday's big day was followed up by another one today with 178 new birds and 39 recaptures. Nearly identical weather conditions (northwest winds) helped keep the flow of migrates to the coast. The biggest difference between today and tomorrow was that Gray Catbirds dominated the nets with 100 banded and another 20 recaptured. Gray Catbirds can be quite loud and obnoxious during the banding process and the noise can be deafening at times. I wish I had a decibel meter at the banding table.
The morning started off with a first-of-the-season Wood Thrush and was capped off in the afternoon with a first-of-the-season Least Flycatcher. And in between, and among a parade of Gray Catbirds, was a first-of-the-season Eastern Wood-Pewee and House Finch.
A wind shift to the south is forecasted for the next couple of days which will probably slow migration down a bit.
-Aaron
Little Bear:
Another excellent day of banding was had at Little Bear. The morning had a bit of a rough start when I came around a corner while opening nets and found that overnight a rutting deer had knocked over a net and bent one of the net poles at a 45 degree angle. Once the pole had been bent back and all the nets finally opened however, we had an excellent morning. The highlight of the busy morning was a Blue Grosbeak-- only the second we've banded this year. This species is one of a suite of species that are common breeders in mainland Charleston County, but are scarce to absent on Kiawah Island itself.
However, the best part of the morning came while we were closing nets when Kristin managed to walk a Great Egret into one of the nets. I had been at Captain Sam's earlier in the season when the first Great Egret had been found, so I was overjoyed to have caught a new one, having figured I had missed my chance. This is the biggest bird I have ever banded and it was a great experience.
-Aidan
| Species | Captain Sams | Little Bear | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New | Recaps | New | Recaps | |
Great Egret | - | - | 1 | - |
Yellow-billed Cuckoo | 1 | - | 1 | - |
Eastern Wood-Pewee | 1 | - | - | - |
Least Flycatcher | 1 | - | - | - |
Eastern Phoebe | 1 | - | 2 | - |
White-eyed Vireo | 3 | 2 | 2 | - |
Red-eyed Vireo | 2 | - | 3 | - |
House Wren | 5 | 1 | 3 | - |
Ruby-crowned Kinglet | - | 1 | 1 | - |
Grey Catbird | 100 | 20 | 76 | 5 |
Northern Mockingbird | 3 | - | - | - |
Swainson's Thrush | 5 | - | 2 | - |
Wood Thrush | 1 | - | - | - |
House Finch | 1 | - | - | - |
Yellow-breasted Chat | 1 | - | - | - |
Ovenbird | 1 | - | 1 | - |
Northern Waterthrush | - | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Black-and-white Warbler | 2 | - | 2 | - |
Common Yellowthroat | 25 | 5 | 22 | - |
American Redstart | 11 | 5 | 8 | 2 |
Cape May Warbler | - | - | 3 | - |
Yellow Warbler | - | - | 1 | - |
Northern Parula | 1 | - | - | - |
Black-throated Blue Warbler | 2 | - | 2 | - |
Palm Warbler (Western) | 3 | - | 4 | - |
Scarlet Tanager | 1 | - | - | - |
Northern Cardinal | 2 | - | 1 | - |
Blue Grosbeak | - | - | 1 | - |
Indigo Bunting | 1 | 1 | 1 | - |
Painted Bunting | 1 | - | 3 | - |
Prairie Warbler | - | - | 1 | - |
Downy Woodpecker | - | 2 | - | - |
Carolina Wren | - | - | - | 1 |
| Today's Banding Stats | Captain Sams | Little Bear | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| # Birds Banded | 178 | 143 | 321 |
| # of Recaptures | 38 | 10 | 48 |
| # of Species | 27 | 24 | 33 |
| Effort (net-hours) | 180.0 | 122.2 | 302.2 |
| Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours) | 120.6 | 125.2 | 122.1 |
| # of Nets | 30 | 23 |
| 2022 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats | Captain Sams | Little Bear | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| # Birds Banded | 2684 | 1,598 | 4282 |
| # of Recaptures | 490 | 296 | 786 |
| # of Species | 62 | 57 | 77 |
| Effort (net-hours) | 7014.87 | 3280.4 | 10295.27 |
| Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours) | 45.2 | 58.3 | 49.2 |
| # of Days | 48 | 39 | - |
Banding Staff
Brendan Wang (CS)
