Captain Sam's:
Today began under a total lunar eclipse, the first in five years and the last for three years. The dunes of the spit provided an ideal setting to view the eclipse, the pre-dawn yellows and oranges lit the east while the blood moon set in the west. Aidan, Nate, and I sat on the river pine and watched a group of dolphins with a young calf swim by, as dawn faded into day.
A steady wind cut the humidity and dismissed the mosquitos, leaving us feeling in bliss. Although the nets were billowing, we still caught several exciting species. Today brought another new Common Ground Dove, our third for the season. The possibility of a resurgence of these little doves excites us. We also caught our first-of-season Red-Shouldered Hawk, one of the biggest surprises of my season so far. To be in the presence of this awesome bird was something I won't soon forget.
Little Bear:
The Little Bear crew also got to enjoy the lunar eclipse! We stopped the Argo and watched the orange-red moon as it peaked over the clouds. Katie and I sat out on the beach and were joined by a curious Herring Gull. It even tried to snatch a bird bag from my belt thinking it was food scraps.
Steady winds meant a lot of closed nets at our site, but we did catch a good variety of birds. One major milestone we hit today was this season's 200th Painted Bunting!
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| Painted Bunting #200 |
| Species | Captain Sams | Little Bear | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New | Recaps | New | Recaps | |
Common Ground-Dove | 1 | - | - | - |
Red-shouldered Hawk | 1 | - | - | - |
Eastern Phoebe | - | - | 1 | - |
Downy Woodpecker | - | 1 | - | - |
White-eyed Vireo | - | 1 | - | - |
Ruby-crowned Kinglet | 8 | - | 2 | - |
Golden-crowned Kinglet | - | - | 1 | - |
Gray Catbird | 1 | 6 | - | 1 |
Hermit Thrush | 1 | - | - | - |
Swamp Sparrow | 4 | 2 | 1 | - |
Song Sparrow | 1 | - | - | - |
Common Yellowthroat | - | - | 3 | - |
Palm Warbler (Western) | - | - | 1 | - |
Black-throated Blue Warbler | 1 | - | - | - |
Myrtle Warbler | 24 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
Northern Cardinal | - | - | - | 1 |
Painted Bunting | 3 | - | 4 | 1 |
| Today's Banding Stats | Captain Sams | Little Bear | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| # Birds Banded | 45 | 15 | 60 |
| # of Recaptures | 11 | 4 | 15 |
| # of Species | 12 | 10 | 17 |
| Effort (net-hours) | 138.3 | 62.9 | 201.2 |
| Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours) | 40.5 | 30.2 | 37.3 |
| # of Nets | 30 | 23 | - |
| 2022 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats | Captain Sams | Little Bear | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| # Birds Banded | 4958 | 2926 | 7884 |
| # of Recaptures | 1208 | 686 | 1894 |
| # of Species | 85 | 83 | 98 |
| Effort (net-hours) | 12247.87 | 6,685.95 | 18933.82 |
| Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours) | 50.3 | 54.0 | 51.6 |
| # of Days | 81 | 72 | - |
Banding Staff
Brendan Wang (CS)
