It's Not the Heat that Gets You, it's the Humidity

 CAPTAIN SAMS

We had another hot and humid day at at Captain Sams, and it looks like it will stay that way until the tropical storm makes its way over! We had yet another Common Yellowthroat packed morning, along with a few other species that we are anticipating higher numbers of this fall such as House Wrens and House Finch. We captured 32 new birds and recaptured 25, making for a consistent but manageable pace. As the weather changes, we look forward to seeing what species we'll encounter next!

-Lisa Viviano

LITTLE BEAR

We continue to battle the heat and the mosquitoes at Little Bear, but that does not stop us from getting out every morning to run the station. It was a slower day today compared to the last few days; we only captured 25 new birds and recaptured 14. It has provided us a nice break before the next large push of migrants makes their way down South Carolina's coastline. We are heavily anticipating this next push but it does not appear we will see it soon as weather conditions may be unfavorable in the near future. 

There appears to be another tropical storm, given the name Helene, arriving from the gulf coast that will possibly affect our banding activities this upcoming weekend. Time will tell if it will as models currently predict the storm to pass over the western most portion of the state. Regardless of weather conditions affecting our operation, migratory conditions will likely be unfavorable until the storm passes and another cold front moves in. Monitoring weather plays a pivotal role for banders as it often is a strong indicator of whether a day of banding will be productive or not. As someone who has personally never experienced a fall migration along the east coast, especially in an area where tropical storms can affect productivity, it has been interesting to learn from some of the more experienced banders at the station how they use weather forecasting to predict migration. 

-Noah Nei

Species	Captain Sams		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Traill's Flycatcher	1	-	-	-
White-eyed Vireo	3	4	-	-
House Wren	1	-	-	-
Carolina Wren	-	1	-	1
Carolina Chickadee	-	-	-	1
Veery	-	-	1	-
Northern Waterthrush	2	-	-	2
Black-and-white Warbler	-	1	1	-
Common Yellowthroat	16	15	17	4
American Redstart	-	2	-	-
Yellow Warbler	-	-	1	1
Western Palm Warbler	1	-	1	-
Prairie Warbler	2	1	-	-
Northern Cardinal	1	-	1	1
Painted Bunting	1	2	3	4

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	32	25	57
# of Recaptures	25	14	39
# of Species	13	10	23
Effort (net-hours)	156.8	106.6	263.4
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	36.4	36.6	36.4
# of Nets	32	26	58

2024 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	1,820	1,168	2,193
# of Recaptures	433	305	714
# of Species	54	53	67
Effort (net-hours)	6,368.4	3,595.1	9,753.5
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	35.4	41.0	37.19
# of Days	40	32

Banding Staff

Aaron Given (CS)

Michael Gamble (LB)

Lisa Viviano (CS)

Noah Nei (LB)

Note:  All banding, marking, and sampling is being conducted under a federally authorized Bird Banding Permit issued by the U.S. Geological Survey’s Bird Banding Lab.