There's Gotta Be Land Somewhere

 Captain Sams:

Today was a slower day at Captain Sams with 25 birds total, of which 5 were recaptures. High tides and leftover water from Hurricane Idalia made for some pretty flooded net lanes and some very wet feet.

On our first net run we got a Black-and-white warbler, which is a FOS (first of the season). We hope to catch more of these cuties in the future!

One of our coolest birds of the day was a hatch-year White-eyed Vireo with some interesting molt patterns. This bird molted P3-10 and S6-9. What was particularly interesting about this bird was that it also replaced the outermost primary coverts, which is not typical for a hatch-year bird. Due to these non-typical molt patterns we also used skull pneumatization to ensure that this was truly a hatch-year individual. Seeing this bird's molt limits was a great learning opportunity for all of us, and it made for a great end to the day!

After hatch year White-eyed Vireo

Little Bear:

Compared to yesterday, today was slower with not much of a surprise. We still managed to get 26 birds with 12 recaptures with a great diversity. We had 12 species in total which includes a FOS hatch year female Black-and-white Warbler! With the water still rubber-boot-high, we were still hoping to get another Heron or a Kingfisher. Unfortunately, with the North wind, and low cloud cover later in the day, nets are more visible than usual and birds seem to dodge them better. 

Unlike today's Captain Sam, we did not capture our FOS Black-and-white Warbler until the last 2 net run. BAWW is actually an early migrant so we are happy that they finally find their way to our nets. To determine the age of a warbler, the first thing we look for is the alula feathers on the wing. And for BAWW, they have black alula feathers which make it extra easy to find the molt limit. This bird has a much darker A1 feather than A2 on both wings, so we concluded that it is a hatch year bird. And the less contrast streaking on the sides indicates that it is a female. 

Even though they are mostly likely to be found in the East, I also got a few glimpses of them in California too. They have quite a unique foraging behavior as a member of Parulidae. Unlike other warblers, they creep along tree trunks and branches to look for worms which reminds me of nuthatches.

hatch year Black-and-white Warbler

-Wentao

Note:  All banding, marking, and sampling is being conducted under a federally authorized Bird Banding Permit issued by the U.S. Geological Survey’s BBL

Species	Captain Sams		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Downy Woodpecker	-	1	1	-
White-eyed Vireo	1	-	-	-
Red-eyed Vireo	2	-	-	-
Carolina Chickadee	-	1	-	-
Carolina Wren	-	-	-	1
Eastern Towhee	-	-	1	-
Ovenbird	2	-	-	-
Northern Waterthrush	4	1	3	1
Black-and-white Warbler	1	-	1	-
Common Yellowthroat	2	-	1	-
American Redstart	3	-	2	-
Yellow Warbler	-	-	1	-
Prairie Warbler	3	1	4	-
Northern Cardinal	-	1	2	4
Painted Bunting	3	-	4	-

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	21	20	41
# of Recaptures	5	6	11
# of Species	12	11	23
Effort (net-hours)	137.3	131.2	268.5
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	19.1	19.8	19.4
# of Nets	32	23	55

2023 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	249	117	366
# of Recaptures	121	47	168
# of Species	26	23	49
Effort (net-hours)	2382	897.5	3279.5
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	15.5	18.3	-
# of Days	17	8	-

Banding Staff

Aaron Given (LB)

Kristin Attinger (CS)

Brittany Holliker (LB)

Matt Hixson (CS)

Camille Blose (CS)

Wentao Yang (LB)

Natalie Miller (CS)