Captain Sams:
Today began as many of our days have recently with low temperatures, cloudy skies, and slightly gusty winds. As the sun began to rise while we waited at the banding table, we heard the ever-assuring sound of Yellow-rumped Warbler chips signifying that they were up and about for the day. With time, our fingers unthawed and our sweatshirts and jackets were shed as warmer conditions greeted us and brought with them an ever-increasing amount of wind. These breezy conditions dampened our capture efforts immensely today, but still allowed for the capture of 66 birds; 46 newly banded and 20 recaptures.
Yellow-rumped Warblers made up the grand majority of new birds with 35 individuals processed today, many of which were caught in nets along the paths near the ocean. Typical behavior of Yellow-rumped Warblers is to forage in small flocks, many of which form in ideal feeding locations along that route. During our net runs, it is easy to find oneself in the dead center of one of these feeding frenzies, with birds chipping and flying all around you! This type of behavior leads to many individuals of this species being caught in a net at one time, as tangled individuals may give out distress calls, leading other Yellow-rumped Warblers to fly towards them.
With tomorrow being the end of the season for a few of us, the crew made some last-minute attempts to catch more marsh sparrows along the river. Thankfully we were successful, and captured two Saltmarsh Sparrows, both of which were previously banded birds! Amongst our other recaptures were 4 Hermit Thrush, 2 Orange-crowned Warbler, and a White-throated Sparrow.
A bittersweet day awaits us tomorrow, as we will be completely dismantling Little Bear and also having our last day at Captain Sam's. Stories will be shared, nets will be put away, and undoubtedly.. birds will be captured!
-Matt
Little Bear:
My oh my was today a sad day. It was our last full day out at our beloved Little Bear. Tomorrow we will give our final farewells to the station as we tear down the nets after a little bit of morning banding. The birds did not seem to realize that today was the last full day, otherwise more may have visited. We had 43 total birds (3 of which were recaptures). In the beginning, the Yellow-rumped Warblers really came through for us, as we caught a shocking 18 in one net (net 25, we love you). We also went out to do a little marsh sparrow banding and to our surprise, we caught 2 Savannah Sparrows and 1 Saltmarsh Sparrow! It was good to see these little guys for probably the last time this season (unless they feel like visiting tomorrow?)
Sadly, the weather decided to put a damper on our time by throwing very gusty winds at us. This slowed us down a lot, and we only caught a few birds during this time. Despite this, we still had an amazing time out at Little Bear, and we are glad for all of the good times that we have had there throughout the season. It will be sad to close her up tomorrow, but we are ready to bid her farewell. See you tomorrow for the last time Little Bear, we love you!
- Natalie and Brittany
| Species | Captain Sams | Little Bear | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New | Recaps | New | Recaps | |
Eastern Phoebe | - | - | 1 | - |
Blue-headed Vireo | 1 | - | - | - |
Carolina Chickadee | - | 3 | - | - |
Ruby-crowned Kinglet | 5 | 1 | 4 | - |
House Wren | - | - | - | 1 |
Gray Catbird | - | 2 | - | 2 |
Hermit Thrush | 1 | 4 | - | - |
White-throated Sparrow | - | 1 | - | - |
Saltmarsh Sparrow | - | 2 | 1 | - |
Savannah Sparrow | - | - | 2 | - |
Song Sparrow | 1 | - | - | - |
Swamp Sparrow | 1 | - | 1 | - |
Eastern Towhee | 1 | - | - | - |
Orange-crowned Warbler | - | 2 | - | - |
Palm Warbler (Western) | 1 | - | 3 | - |
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) | 35 | 5 | 28 | - |
| Today's Banding Stats | Captain Sams | Little Bear | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| # Birds Banded | 46 | 40 | 86 |
| # of Recaptures | 20 | 3 | 23 |
| # of Species | 13 | 9 | 16 |
| Effort (net-hours) | 169.6 | 124.4 | 294 |
| Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours) | 38.9 | 34.6 | 37.1 |
| # of Nets | 32 | 25 | 57 |
| 2023 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats | Captain Sams | Little Bear | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| # Birds Banded | 4354 | 3366 | 7720 |
| # of Recaptures | 1094 | 724 | 1818 |
| # of Species | 81 | 86 | 96 |
| Effort (net-hours) | 14582.05 | 9204.2 | 23786.25 |
| Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours) | 37.4 | 44.4 | 40.1 |
| # of Days | 89 | 77 | - |
Banding Staff
Aaron Given (CS)