Saturday, September 21, 2024

The Common Yellowthroat Push

 CAPTAIN SAMS

Although paling in comparison to yesterday's historic numbers today managed to be another eventful day at Captain Sams. We captured 192 birds in total, 165 new and 27 recaptures, and had a fairly busy first few net runs before the numbers started to taper off. Common yellowthroats continue to dominate the bulk of our catch, but gray catbird numbers appear to be picking up. Although we will continue to catch common yellowthroats throughout the season, eventually their numbers will start to dwindle. By that time, it is almost certain that gray catbird numbers will have taken over the majority of our catch. Until that time comes, we will likely continue to see common yellowthroats make up the majority of our captured birds. With north winds continuing tomorrow and Monday, it is almost certain we will continue to catch large quantities of these abundant warblers. It has been an exhausting but extremely rewarding few days for the crew and we hope to continue to catch large quantities of birds before the winds shift and migratory conditions become less favorable. 

-Noah Nei


LITTLE BEAR

As the tide makes more of a presence at Little Bear, a variety of water-loving birds are being seen periodically by our crew! Today at sunrise, we began to hear the familiar rattle of a belted kingfisher close by. Sure enough, after a few net runs we caught one! 

Belted Kingfisher (hatch year)

This shaggy-crested bird is fairly conspicuous when present. If it isn't flying around its waterside habitat emitting the aforementioned distinct rattle call, belted kingfishers can be found on conspicuous perches close to the water, keeping watch for prey. They hunt for small fish by diving headfirst into the water, and grasping (or even piercing) one at a time with their long thick bill. Powder-blue upperparts, white underparts and a blue breast band are features that may help distinguish from similar species. Due to the power of this bird's wings in combination to particularly small legs, bander's grip (pictured above) is the recommended hold for processing as well as photographing this bird to ensure its safety.

-Lisa Viviano


  Species  Captain SamsLittle Bear
NewRecapsNewRecaps
Belted Kingfisher
--1-
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
1---
Traill's Flycatcher
2---
White-eyed Vireo
11311-
Red-eyed Vireo
6-5-
Carolina Chickadee
11--
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
1---
House Wren
--1-
Gray Catbird
291121
Veery
111-
Swainson's Thrush
1---
Northern Waterthrush
3-1-
Black-and-white Warbler
1---
Common Yellowthroat
8917553
American Redstart
629-
Cape May Warbler
1---
Northern Parula
--1-
Magnolia Warbler
--1-
Yellow Warbler
4-3-
Black-throated Blue Warbler
1---
Palm Warbler (western)
3-1-
Pine Warbler
--1-
Prairie Warbler
111-
Painted Bunting
3134



Today's Banding StatsCaptain SamsLittle BearTOTAL
# Birds Banded
165
107
272
# of Recaptures
27
8
35
# of Species
19
16
24
Effort (net-hours)
192
109.2
301.2
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)
100.0
105.3
101.9
# of Nets
32
26
58

2024 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats Captain SamsLittle BearTOTAL
# Birds Banded
1,672
1,059
2,731
# of Recaptures
347
274
621
# of Species
52
51
65
Effort (net-hours)
5,862.8
3,281.6
9,144.4
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)
34.4
40.6
36.7
# of Days3728



Banding Staff

Aaron Given (CS)
Michael Gamble (CS)
Nancy Raginski (CS)
Kristin Attinger (LB)
Natalie Miller (LB)
Lisa Viviano (LB)
Noah Nei (CS)


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.

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