Mr. President, the Lincoln's Sparrow has the Floor

 Captain Sams:

Well, I do declare, today was a busy day indeed. With a total of 232 birds (7 of which were recaptures) we were kept on our feet all day long. We met many wonderful individuals today, including the first Yellow-bellied Sapsucker of the season, a Summer Tanager, a Gray-cheeked Thrush, two Eastern Wood-pewees, and two lovely Bay-Breasted Warblers. Familiar faces greeted us once again. We were visited by 71 Gray Catbirds (meow!), 60 Palm Warblers (western subspecies), and 29 Common Yellowthroats.

Our absolute favorite bird of the day was the one and the only Lincoln's Sparrow! These little cuties are differentiated from Song Sparrows by their lighter and buffier streaking on the chest. This hatch-year was delightful surprise during our last net run, making a great end to a busy day!

hatch-year Lincoln's Sparrow, sex unknown (photo credit to Natalie)

Little Bear: 

We had a really busy day on the north side of the island. This morning, as we walked towards the banding table before opening nets, we already heard a lot of nocturnal flight calls above us. After opening, we went to the ocean to feel the cool pleasant air brought by the October cold front, and as sun started to rise, we kept seeing songbirds flying in from the ocean! Even though it's cool to know that some birds migrate across the ocean, but actually seeing them to find place to rest and restore their fat after a whole night flying is even cooler. 

So, no doubt! The cold front today brought us 208 new birds and 19 recaptures. We had some really cool species today. A Bay-breasted Warbler, two Marsh Wrens, and the first Tennessee Warbler for little bear. After so long that Little Bear had caught two Tufted Titmice, I finally got to band one today. These guys are common around the area, and we can usually hear them at the station, but we barely catch them here. 

hatch year male Bay-breasted Warbler (picture by Kristin)

hatch year Tennessee Warbler (picture by Kristin)

And the biggest highlight from today is a Yellow-green Vireo. The bird is overall duller than the similar Red-eyed Vireo. I pulled it out from net 20 and checked it for Black-whiskered, and it was not a match, so I just thought it was a duller young Red-eyed Vireo. After getting back to the table, we all looked at the bird and saw the overall lighter color on the cap and the lighter eye line, and stripe above the eye. We also put a hatch year Red-eyed Vireo next to the bird and noticed the distinct difference of the color on flank, breast, and of the overall size. Kristin took a lot of pictures of the bird just in case we misidentified the bird. 

hatch year Red-eyed Vireo(left), Yellow-green Vireo(right)

hatch year Red-eyed Vireo(left), Yellow-green Vireo(right)

-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
Yellow-billed Cuckoo	-	-	3	-
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker	1	-	-	-
Eastern Wood-pewee	2	-	-	-
Eastern Phoebe	9	-	11	-
White-eyed Vireo	1	1	2	1
Blue-headed Vireo	-	-	1	-
Red-eyed Vireo	2	-	6	-
Yellow-green Vireo	-	-	1	-
Tufted Titmouse	-	-	1	-
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	2	-	3	-
House Wren	-	-	7	-
Marsh Wren	1	-	2	-
Gray Catbird	67	4	65	7
Brown Thrasher	-	-	-	1
Veery	1	-	-	-
Gray-cheeked Thrush	1	-	-	-
Swainson's Thrush	7	-	4	-
Lincoln's Sparrow	1	-	-	-
Yellow-breasted Chat	1	-	-	-
Ovenbird	1	1	-	-
Worm-eating Warbler	1	-	-	-
Northern Waterthrush	-	-	2	-
Black-and-White Warbler	2	-	-	-
Tennessee Warbler	-	-	1	-
Common Yellowthroat	29	-	25	2
Hooded Warbler	-	-	1	-
American Redstart	12	1	21	2
Northern Parula	1	-	8	-
Magnolia Warbler	2	-	1	-
Bay-breasted Warbler	2	-	1	-
Yellow Warbler	-	-	2	-
Black-throated Blue Warbler	10	-	8	-
Palm Warbler (western subspecies)	60	-	26	-
Pine Warbler	1	-	-	-
Summer Tanager	1	-	-	-
Northern Cardinal	1	-	-	2

Indigo Bunting	6	-	6	-
Painted Bunting	-	-	-	4

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	225	208	433
# of Recaptures	7	19	26
# of Species	27	27	38
Effort (net-hours)	219.2	170	387.6
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	105.8	132.9	119.2
# of Nets	32	25	57

2023 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	3048	2265	5313
# of Recaptures	685	354	1039
# of Species	65	75	83
Effort (net-hours)	9648.2	5846.85	15495.05
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	38.7	44.8	41.75
# of Days	59	49	-

Banding Staff

Aaron Given (CS)

Kristin Attinger (LB)

Brittany Holliker (CS)

Matt Hixson (CS)

Camille Blose (LB)

Wentao Yang (LB)

Natalie Miller (CS)