Cloudy and Windy Day

 CAPTAIN SAMS

It was a cloudy and windy day today at Captain Sams, which unfortunately led to a slower and less productive day of banding. We captured a total of 27 birds, which consisted of 18 recaps and 9 new birds. 

Although it was a low productivity day, we enjoyed watching an osprey as it perched right above us in the loblolly pines above the station's table while we were banding. We also flushed another eastern screech-owl during our net opening, but did not catch it this time! Another sighting from today were several dolphins that were making their way up and down the channel. 

For me, working on the east coast for the first time has been very enjoyable. Watching the crabs scurry under our feet as the tide rises, seeing and hearing birds that are unfamiliar, and especially discussing and learning more about the Atlantic flyway from experienced banders during our slow hours passes the time even on slow days. Hopefully things will soon begin to pick up, we are all looking forward to it! 

Northern Mockingbird (hatch year, unknown sex)

-Noah Nei

LITTLE BEAR

Cloudy skies and windy conditions led to a much slower day at Little Bear. We caught a total of 29 birds, 17 of which were new and 12 of which were recaptures. One of our recaptures was the Swainson's warbler we originally banded yesterday, it is good to see that it is still in the area!

Little Bear got 4 new species for the season today, an American redstart, black-and-white warbler, ovenbird, and northern mockingbird. So far the station has caught 17 different species, pretty good for only being open for 2 days! 

The tide has been rising over the past few days which has led to some pretty wet conditions at the station. Kristin and I were surprised to find that in some locations the water was up past our knees! We have seen plenty of green herons and a great egret. Hopefully we catch one of these guys soon!

Prairie Warbler (after hatch year, male)

- Natalie

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
Red-eyed Vireo	1	-	-	1
Carolina Chickadee	-	1	-	-
Carolina Wren	-	1	-	1
Northern Mockingbird	1	-	1	-
Ovenbird	-	-	1	-
Northern Waterthrush	3	-	2	-
Black-and-white Warbler	1	-	1	-
Swainson's Warbler	-	-	-	1
America Redstart	-	2	1	-
Prairie Warbler	2	-	2	-
Northern Cardinal	-	3	-	2
Painted Bunting	1	11	9	7

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	9	17	26
# of Recaptures	18	12	30
# of Species	10	10	13
Effort (net-hours)	185.6	128.0	128.00
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	11.9	22.7	34.6
# of Nets	32	26	58

2024 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	200	92	292
# of Recaptures	90	17	107
# of Species	25	17	42
Effort (net-hours)	1262.6	247.0	1509.6
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	23	37.2	60.2
# of Days	8	2	10

Banding Staff

Aaron Given 

Michael Gamble (CS)

Kristin Attinger (LB)

Natalie Miller (LB)

Lisa Viviano (CS)

Noah Nei (CS)