Captain Sams:
The nets were open for a whopping two and a half hours until the rain cued a total shutdown. With Hurricane Idalia making its way to the island, we completely took down nets to avoid any damage for the next couple days. However, we caught nine birds within that window, including a new Red-eyed Vireo, Northern Mockingbird, a couple Prairie Warblers, and a couple Painted Buntings. Let's hope the incoming cold front will bring in a wave of migrants for us to band.
Little Bear:
On our way to the station, there has been a Common Nighthawk always sitting in the middle of the path. We attempted to catch it but we haven't gained enough trust from it yet. Nevertheless, we were getting closer to it until it flew away, and hopefully, we could manage to capture this bird someday.
Except from this nighthawk, we also noticed a Eastern whip-poor-will and a Chuck-will's-widow at the station as well. After failing the nighthawk attempt, Kristin said we would catch a nightjar no matter what today. And here it was: a Chuck sitting at net 15. What a huge surprise to start the day! Unlike the tail of the 1st one we caught on the second day this season, the tail of this bird has an extensive white patch in the inner webs of the 5th rectrix, indicating that this is an adult male!
Since Kristin and Matt have both banded Chuck before, they gave this opportunity to me! So much thanks to them. Feeling the energetic growl, measuring the super long wing, and watching the huge gape, it was just such an amazing experience to band this bird.
tail feathers of an adult Chuck-will's-widow
picture by Kristin
-Wentao
Fun Fact that happened during banding today at Little Bear was a recapture of a Northern Cardinal. This bird was originally banded on 10/1/2015 as an unknown age female. 2 years later this bird was captured 10/29/2017 and then never seen/captured again until today! We moved a few of our nets around the station due to the habitat changing throughout the years and she must have known our net locations. During our first run she was captured in a new net location. I will say this is a great capture, knowing that she is still alive and also 8+ years old!
-Kristin
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 | |
Chuck-will's-widow | - | - | 1 | - |
Red-eyed Vireo | 1 | - | 1 | - |
Carolina Wren | - | - | - | 4 |
Northern Mockingbird | 1 | - | - | - |
Northern Waterthrush | - | - | - | 1 |
Prairie Warbler | 2 | 1 | 1 | - |
Northern Cardinal | - | 1 | - | 1 |
Painted Bunting | 2 | 1 | 2 | - |
| Today's Banding Stats | Captain Sams | Little Bear | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| # Birds Banded | 6 | 4 | 10 |
| # of Recaptures | 3 | 6 | 9 |
| # of Species | 5 | 6 | 11 |
| Effort (net-hours) | 76.5 | 74.75 | 151.25 |
| Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours) | 11.8 | 13.4 | 12.6 |
| # of Nets | 32 | 23 | 55 |
| 2023 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats | Captain Sams | Little Bear | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| # Birds Banded | 187 | 75 | 262 |
| # of Recaptures | 111 | 33 | 144 |
| # of Species | 24 | 16 | 40 |
| Effort (net-hours) | 2054 | 645.8 | 2699.8 |
| Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours) | 14.5 | 16.7 | - |
| # of Days | 15 | 6 | - |
Banding Staff
Aaron Given (CS)Kristin Attinger (LB)
Brittany Holliker (CS)
Matt Hixson (LB)
Camille Blose (CS)
Wentao Yang (LB)
Natalie Miller (CS)
