Captain Sams:
Well, another chapter in the Kiawah Island Banding Station has come to a close. This has been a record breaking season at Captain Sams shattering the the 10 year average of total birds banded by 1,141 birds! But more of that in the upcoming season summary post.
After a very good day yesterday, today was pretty much a bust. The predicted rain arrived earlier than anticipated and I had to rush around to close down the nets before the downpour. I barely made it but got drenched trying to pack everything up. In the 2.5 hours that the nets were open, I only captured 3 new birds and 6 recaptures.
I recaptured the same Sharp-shinned Hawk that I recaptured yesterday. My net must have surprised her as she was cruising around carrying her latest meal - a Brown Thrasher. The headless thrasher carcass was laying in the net next to her. Over the years, we have found several potential meals of Sharp-shinned and Cooper's Hawks in our nets. Some examples that I can think of off the top of my head include Scarlet Tanager, Ovenbird, Black Rail, Common Ground Dove, and a rat. Most of the time, the hawk gets out of the net before we get there but they drop their prey in the net when they run into it.
It's been a great season, and I had an awesome crew and wonderful volunteers, all of whom, helped make this season a success! I will be preparing the season summary over the next several day and will post here when I get it finished. Thanks for following along with us all season long.
-Aaron
| Species | Captain Sam's | Little Bear | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New | Recaps | New | Recaps | |
Sharp-shinned Hawk | - | 1 | - | - |
Gray Catbird | - | 1 | - | - |
Swamp Sparrow | - | 1 | - | - |
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) | 3 | 3 | - | - |
| Today's Banding Stats | Captain Sam's | Little Bear | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| # Birds Banded | 3 | - | - |
| # of Recaptures | 6 | - | - |
| # of Species | 4 | - | - |
| Effort (net-hours) | 75.0 | - | - |
| Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours) | 12.0 | - | - |
| # of Nets | 30 | 23 | - |
| 2022 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats | Captain Sam's | Little Bear | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| # Birds Banded | 5,709 | 2,955 | 8,664 |
| # of Recaptures | 1,529 | 700 | 2,229 |
| # of Species | 86 | 83 | 100 |
| Effort (net-hours) | 15,292.6 | 6,985.05 | 22,277.65 |
| Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours) | 47.3 | 52.3 | 48.9 |
| # of Days | 101 | 76 | - |
Banding Staff
