Old Friends and New Faces

 Captain Sams:

Things have slowed down drastically here at the station. Those cool fall temperatures are setting in and the wind was not favorable for us last night. New birds and recaptures were neck-and-neck with 26 and 24 individuals, respectively. There were 12 total species, which is low compared to our previous days, but there were plenty specialties to show the Master Naturalists class that was kind enough to come out and observed the process. There was an adult female Ruby-crowned Kinglet, a recaptured adult male Black-throated Blue Warbler, and a first of the season hatch year Marsh Wren. The group was fascinated, and everyone had great nature stories to share. 

Hatch-year Marsh Wren

- Camille

Little Bear:

Classic Little Bear, surprising us once again with a new species- a Blue Grosbeak! This beauty was spotted near the net yesterday by Kristin, and she foretold the future by declaring that we would catch it today. And low and behold, into the net it went and was brought to us at the banding table by yours truly, Natalie. Still in its pre-basic plumage, we couldn't identify the sex of our new (not so blue!) friend, but it was pleasure to meet him/her. 

hatch-year Blue Grosbeak, sex unknown (photo credit goes to the lovely Kristin)

With a total of 59 birds, we were also visited by a few Northern Waterthrushes (who we have dearly missed), Carolina and House Wrens, and lots of Gray Catbirds. Who will we catch next?

-Brittany

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
White-eyed Vireo	-	2	-	-
Red-eyed Vireo	1	-	1	-
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	1	-	1	-
House Wren	1	1	2	-
Marsh Wren	1	-	-	-
Carolina Wren	-	-	-	2
Gray Catbird	16	13	16	9
Swainson's Thrush	-	-	2	-
Northern Waterthrush	-	-	3	-
Black-and-White Warbler	-	1	-	-
Common Yellowthroat	1	2	5	4
American Redstart	4	3	6	-
Black-throated Blue Warbler	-	1	-	-
Palm Warbler (Western Subspecies)	1	-	1	-
Northern Cardinal	-	1	-	1
Blue Grosbeak	-	-	1	-
Indigo Bunting	-	-	-	1
Painted Bunting	-	-	-	1

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	26	38	64
# of Recaptures	24	18	40
# of Species	12	14	18
Effort (net-hours)	144	110	254
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	34.7	50.9	40.9
# of Nets	32	25	57

2023 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	2741	1962	4703
# of Recaptures	627	299	926
# of Species	63	71	80
Effort (net-hours)	9024.25	5368.8	14393.05
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	37.3	42.1	39.11
# of Days	55	45	-

Banding Staff

Aaron Given (CS)

Kristin Attinger (LB)

Brittany Holliker (LB)

Matt Hixson (CS)

Camille Blose (CS)

Wentao Yang (CS)

Natalie Miller (LB)