Captain Sams:
After experiencing somewhat of a reprieve from the summer swelter over the last couple of days, the heat and humidity made a roaring comeback today. As such, bird activity out on the Spit was abysmal, to say the least. We only captured 6 new birds and had an additional 6 recaptures in a little over 5 hours resulting in a capture rate of 7.5 birds/100 net-hours.
However, one bird made it all worth it. It wasn't a rare bird. In fact, it is a pretty common species - a Northern Waterthrush. What made this bird special was that it was banded last fall. I know, we get lots of recaptures of birds from previous years but those are resident birds or migrants that either breed here or winter here. Northern Waterthrushes don't do either. This is a species that only migrates through the area. Recapturing a migrant like this is really rare. I bet I can count the number of times it has happened on one hand. Amazingly, this Northern Waterthrush was recaptured exactly one year from the time it was banded. Birds are pretty incredible creatures! Last year this bird hung out for a few days as we recaptured it on 8/27/2022. It added a some weight and then was off to continue its journey south. This type of data shows just how important these coastal habitats can be for migrating birds.
-Aaron
Little Bear:
We had a total of 23 birds today, 7 of which were recaptures. The highlight of our day was catching the first Tufted Titmice of the season! They were both so cute and so sassy.
Tufted Titmouse (hatch-year, sex unknown)
We were also pleasantly surprised with another Brown Thrasher. The day also brought us the usual Northern Cardinals, Prairie Warblers, and Carolina Wrens. We worked on clearing two more net lanes and look forward to what else Little Bear has in store for us!
-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 | |
Downy Woodpecker | - | 1 | - | - |
White-eyed Vireo | - | - | 1 | - |
Red-eyed Vireo | 1 | - | - | - |
Tufted Titmouse | - | - | 2 | - |
Carolina Wren | - | 1 | 1 | 4 |
Brown Thrasher | - | - | 1 | - |
Ovenbird | 1 | - | - | - |
Northern Waterthrush | 2 | 1 | - | 1 |
Prairie Warbler | 1 | - | 3 | - |
Northern Cardinal | - | 1 | 3 | 2 |
Painted Bunting | 1 | 1 | 5 | - |
| Today's Banding Stats | Captain Sams | Little Bear | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| # Birds Banded | 6 | 16 | 22 |
| # of Recaptures | 6 | 7 | 13 |
| # of Species | 8 | 8 | 11 |
| Effort (net-hours) | 160 | 110.4 | 270.4 |
| Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours) | 7.5 | 20.8 | 12.9 |
| # of Nets | 32 | 23 | 55 |
| 2023 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats | Captain Sams | Little Bear | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| # Birds Banded | 171 | 56 | 227 |
| # of Recaptures | 93 | 16 | 109 |
| # of Species | 24 | 11 | 26 |
| Effort (net-hours) | 1565 | 308.85 | 1873.85 |
| Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours) | 16.9 | 23.3 | 17.9 |
| # of Days | 11 | 3 | - |
Banding Staff
Aaron Given (CS)Kristin Attinger (LB)
Brittany Holliker (LB)
Matt Hixson (CS)
Natalie Miller (LB)
