Savannah Saturday (On a Wednesday)

 Captain Sams:

Today was a much slower day out at Captain Sams, with us ending the day with only 26 birds captured (13 of which were recaptures). Among the birds we caught were many familiar faces, including the fan favorite Prairie Warbler, the classic Gray Catbirds, and a very adorable little Ruby-crowned Kinglet. We also were lucky to recapture a Northern Cardinal who was originally banded in 2021! We are glad this little lady is doing well and we hope to catch her again in the future! 

Hatch-year male Prairie Warbler (a fan favorite bird of many here at the station)

The slower day meant we had a little more time on our hands, and we filled this time doing some much needed net repairs! We will likely be working on these repairs for the next few days so that we are ready for another busy day! With most of the neotropical birds gone we are preparing ourselves for the upcoming wave of Yellow-rumped Warblers, and we are very excited to catch more of these cuties as the season progresses.

- Natalie

Little Bear:

Windy conditions greeted us this morning as we opened our nets, forecasting a slow day. We ended with 39 birds; 25 were newly banded and 14 were recaptured. Amongst captured birds were a variety of warbler species including Cape May Warbler, Blackpoll Warbler, Myrtle Warbler, Western Palm Warbler, Prairie Warbler, Tennessee Warbler, Black-throated Blue Warbler, and Little Bear's second Black-throated Green Warbler! This last bird was especially exciting as they are seldom caught at the station and not often seen in this area during this late in Fall migration. The individual was an after-hatch-year female, sporting colors of yellow, green, black, and white!

After-hatch-year Black-throated Green Warbler

Photo by Kristin

Each day it seems as though were are catching more sparrows, with many species having been already caught so far this season. Today did not challenge that pattern, as we caught a new Song Sparrow, a new Swamp Sparrow, and another species of sparrow not yet caught! This third species was a Savannah Sparrow, a charismatic sparrow of grasslands and meadows. Identified by its' distinct yellow patch in front of the eye and extensively streaked flanks and chest, the individual was a joy to observe up close and personal!

After-hatch-year Savannah Sparrow

Photo by Kristin

The end of Fall migration is officially here and many neotropical species are already beginning to dwindle in number. We welcome the sparrows, thrushes, kinglets, and Myrtle Warblers that are taking their place, and are excited for what is in store for the weeks to come!

- Matt

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
Carolina Chickadee	-	1	-	-
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	1	-	-	-
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher	-	-	1	-
Carolina Wren	-	-	-	1
Gray Catbird	8	5	12	8
Swainson's Thrush	-	1	-	-
Savannah Sparrow	-	-	1	-
Song Sparrow	-	-	1	-
Swamp Sparrow	-	-	1	1
Worm-eating Warbler	-	1	-	-
Tennessee Warbler	-	-	-	1
American Redstart	-	2	-	-
Cape May Warbler	-	-	1	-
Blackpoll Warbler	-	-	2	-
Black-throated Blue Warbler	-	-	-	1
Palm Warbler (western subspecies)	-	-	1	-
Palm Warbler (eastern subspecies)	1	-	-	-
Yellow-rumped Warbler (myrtle)	1	1	3	1
Prairie Warbler	1	-	1	-
Black-throated Green Warbler	-	-	1	-
Northern Cardinal	-	2	-	1
Painted Bunting	1	-	-	-

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	13	25	38
# of Recaptures	13	14	27
# of Species	11	15	21
Effort (net-hours)	158	105	263
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	16.5	37.1	24.7
# of Nets	32	25	57

2023 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	3690	2842	6532
# of Recaptures	860	513	1373
# of Species	75	80	90
Effort (net-hours)	11377.1	6997.1	18374.2
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	40.0	47.9	43.0
# of Days	69	58	-

Banding Staff

Aaron Given (CS)

Kristin Attinger (LB)

Brittany Holliker (LB)

Matt Hixson (LB)

Camille Blose (CS)

Wentao Yang (CS)

Natalie Miller (CS)