Captain Sams:
It was the coldest morning we've ever had so far in the season. We opened our nets under 40.6°, and were treated with some chilly wind. We ended our work today with 58 newly captured birds and 16 more recaptures, with 18 species in total.
Although it did not turn out as productive as yesterday, we added two new species to Captain Sam's list: Savannah Sparrow and Tree Swallow. Two of many Tree Swallows finally found their way to the swallow nets today as they were gathering in a flock and foraging above the water. It was such an exciting experience viewing the iridescent blue on their back, wing, and tail. Since juveniles complete their preformative molt, at this time of year, both hatch year and adults Tree Swallows will not have a molt limit for us to look for, which makes it a little tricky for us to age them. By skulling, we found out that we had one hatch year and one adult bird today.
-Wentao
Little Bear:
Cold and windy conditions greeted us this morning out at Little Bear. Despite the less than ideal weather we still slayed the day and caught 101 birds (28 of which were recaptures)! Several cool birds graced our nets including 3 Hermit Thrushes (the first for Little Bear this season), a feisty but cute Blue-headed Vireo, and a fan-favorite Prairie Warbler (we've missed you guys!) We also recaptured a Blackburnian Warbler. We've recaught this little guy about 3 times so far, and we are happy to track his progress. We hope he does well and continues on his migration here soon!
Towards the end of the day we caught another new species for Little Bear this year, a Mourning Dove! I happened across this big guy in net 22 and was ecstatic to have one in the hand for the first time. I definitely was not "mourning" my encounter with this cutie. I always see these birds hanging around in my hometown, so it was great to hold one and see them up close!
We also captured a unique Painted Bunting today while banding that had a plastic band on the right foot. There was no other band on this bird, indicating a specific individual or to whom the band belonged to. This is a mystery for us but I am glad to see this older girl still surviving out there!
- Natalie and Kristin
| Species | Captain Sams | Little Bear | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New | Recaps | New | Recaps | |
Mourning Dove | - | - | 1 | - |
Downy Woodpecker | - | - | 1 | 1 |
Eastern Phoebe | 4 | - | 1 | - |
White-eyed Vireo | - | - | 1 | - |
Blue-headed Vireo | 1 | - | 1 | - |
Tree Swallow | 2 | - | - | - |
Golden-crowned Kinglet | 2 | - | 2 | - |
Ruby-crowned Kinglet | 11 | 2 | 5 | 1 |
Brown Creeper | 1 | - | - | - |
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher | - | - | 2 | - |
House Wren | - | - | 2 | - |
Marsh Wren | 1 | - | - | - |
Gray Catbird | 6 | 7 | 6 | 20 |
Hermit Thrush | 1 | - | 3 | - |
White-throated Sparrow | - | - | 1 | - |
Savannah Sparrow | 2 | - | - | - |
Song Sparrow | 2 | 1 | 2 | - |
Swamp Sparrow | - | - | 2 | - |
Orange-crowned Warbler | 1 | - | 3 | - |
Common Yellowthroat | 1 | - | 3 | 1 |
American Redstart | - | 1 | - | - |
Blackburnian Warbler | - | - | - | 1 |
Palm Warbler (western subspecies) | - | - | 7 | - |
Palm Warbler (eastern subspecies) | 1 | - | 1 | - |
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) | 17 | 2 | 25 | 3 |
Prairie Warbler | - | - | 1 | - |
Northern Cardinal | - | 3 | - | - |
Painted Bunting | 5 | - | 3 | 1 |
| Today's Banding Stats | Captain Sams | Little Bear | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| # Birds Banded | 58 | 73 | 131 |
| # of Recaptures | 16 | 28 | 44 |
| # of Species | 18 | 21 | 27 |
| Effort (net-hours) | 188.8 | 155 | 343.8 |
| Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours) | 39.2 | 65.2 | 50.9 |
| # of Nets | 32 | 25 | 57 |
| 2023 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats | Captain Sams | Little Bear | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| # Birds Banded | 3937 | 3062 | 6999 |
| # of Recaptures | 932 | 620 | 1552 |
| # of Species | 80 | 84 | 93 |
| Effort (net-hours) | 12660.4 | 7758.55 | 20418.95 |
| Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours) | 38.5 | 47.5 | 41.87 |
| # of Days | 77 | 65 | - |
Banding Staff
Aaron Given (CS)