Captain Sams:
Little Bear:
It was not the busiest day this season but it was definitely one of the best days. We still had high hopes for getting our first big push as the radar was still showing a lot of movements. Maybe it was the rain last night that stopped some of the migration, we only captured 35 individuals today, with 13 recaptures. Instead, what made today the best one was the new species for both stations ever: the Tricolored Heron. There were several of them hanging around after Hurricane Idalia left all this water on the trails, and we had been hoping to catch one since then. And this morning, the hope came true when I checked net 5 and the Heron was flushed into the net!
After having good control of the bird in the net, I immediately radioed everyone and shared this excitement. Since the Tricolored Heron has a longer neck than those Green Herons we caught, we were extra careful about the slender sharp bill that was ready to stab us anytime. It was just such a special capture and was also the first time for Kristin to hold one in hand.
Quite surprisingly, while trying to score its fat by blowing at the furcular hollow, we found that the Tricolored Heron also had the yellow fluffy feathers around its furcular, just like Green Herons. Kristin guessed those feathers may help them float when they strike fish under the water. Since the food source for these herons mostly comes from small fish, we did not find any fat stored in the hollow. You can age Tricolored Heron based on the overall color of the upper body. For hatch year birds, they have brownish upper back, hind neck, and tips of the medium and lesser coverts on wings. Adult Tricolored Heron will be dark blue on their upper back and hind neck too. And the color of the eyes also changes from yellowish in young birds to orange-red in adults. Therefore, we conclude that this bird is in its first year.
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| extended wing of the heron |
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| close up head shot (pale yellowish iris) |
Other than the Heron, we also managed to catch some migrants such as Western Palm Warblers, and the second Baltimore Oriolo this year for the station. It is interesting to see how the Oriole tried to separate our fingers with its beak when we held him with the photographer grip. The averaged 15-mile wind was not really helping with us catching a lot of birds today, but it did help us capture this Oriole Matt and I both missed the last time!
-Wentao
| Species | Captain Sams | Little Bear | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New | Recaps | New | Recaps | |
Tri-Colored Heron | - | - | 1 | 1 |
Traill's Flycatcher | 1 | - | 1 | - |
White-Eyed Vireo | 1 | 1 | - | - |
Red-Eyed Vireo | 3 | - | - | - |
Carolina Chickadee | - | - | - | 3 |
Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher | - | 1 | - | - |
Gray Catbird | 1 | - | - | - |
Northern Mockingbird | 2 | - | - | - |
Veery | 1 | - | 1 | |
Swainson's Thrush | - | - | 2 | 1 |
Eastern Towhee | - | - | - | 1 |
Baltimore Oriole | - | - | 1 | - |
Ovenbird | - | 1 | - | - |
Northern Waterthrush | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Prothonotary Warbler | 1 | - | - | - |
Common Yellowthroat | 18 | 5 | 5 | - |
American Redstart | 1 | - | 1 | - |
Yellow Warbler | 3 | - | 2 | - |
Western Palm Warbler | 7 | - | 6 | - |
Prairie Warbler | 3 | 1 | 1 | - |
Northern Cardinal | - | - | 6 | - |
Painted Bunting | - | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Today's Banding Stats | Captain Sams | Little Bear | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| # Birds Banded | 47 | 22 | 69 |
| # of Recaptures | 13 | 13 | 26 |
| # of Species | 17 | 14 | 22 |
| Effort (net-hours) | 179.2 | 135.6 | 314.7 |
| Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours) | 33.5 | 25.8 | 59.3 |
| # of Nets | 32 | 25 | 57 |
| 2023 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats | Captain Sams | Little Bear | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| # Birds Banded | 600 | 367 | 967 |
| # of Recaptures | 238 | 119 | 357 |
| # of Species | 37 | 42 | 49 |
| Effort (net-hours) | 4502.55 | 2331.55 | 6834.1 |
| Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours) | 18.6 | 20.8 | 39.4 |
| # of Days | 30 | 21 | 30 |
Banding Staff
Aaron Given (CS)