CAPTAIN SAMS
Brown Creeper (Hatch Year, Sex unknown) |
Today was a great day out at Little Bear! We caught 75 birds (39 new and 36 recaptures). We were shocked to see that we caught nearly as many recaptures as we did new birds! Most of these recaptures were Gray Catbirds that were banded within the last week, but we did catch one that was originally caught all the way back in 2019!
It is currently King Tide, but luckily Little Bear didn't expierience any flooding. It is the first time that I've seen the station dry the whole season. The high tides were conducive to catch marsh sparrows, so Kristin and I gave it a try by setting up some nets out in the marsh! We only caught 2 birds (a Saltmarsh and Seaside Sparrow), and we were delighted to find that the Saltmarsh Sparrow was recapture! After entering the data we discovered that this bird was originally banded on October 29th, 2019, so nearly one year ago! It turns out I was the one who banded it, which makes it even more fun! It was aged as an after-hatch-year last year, which means that this bird is 3+ years old. It is great to see that this bird came back to Little Bear!
Saltmarsh Sparrow (after-hatch year, sex unknown) originally banded 10/29/2023 |
We also caught our first of the season Seaside Sparrow! Last year we tried several times to catch one out in the marsh but never managed to get one, so it was very exciting to get one today! This is the second ever Seaside Sparrow Little Bear has caught (the first one was caught all the way back in 2015). There are two subspecies of seasides: macgillivrayii and maritima. Our bird was the maritima subspecies. For more information about the two subspecies check out this blog post.
Seaside Sparrow (after-hatch year, sex unknown, maritima subspecies) |
On our last net run of the day I came across yet another cool bird, a Brown Creeper! Little Bear caught one two days ago, but these birds are an uncommon catch, so it was exciting to get two in such a short period of time. After processing this bird we released it and watched as it flew over to a tree near the banding table. Brown Creepers are named after their distinctive feeding behavior where they creep from the bottom of a tree to the top, foraging for small insects along the way. Kristin and I managed to find the tree that our bird had landed on and we snuck in close to capture a few pictures before it flew away!
Our recently banded Brown Creeper displaying it's creeping behavior shortly after release |
Overall, it was a very eventful and fun day out at Little Bear. I am excited to see what else we catch in the next few weeks!
-Natalie
Species | Captain Sam's | Little Bear | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
New | Recaps | New | Recaps | |
Yellow-billed Cuckoo | - | - | 3 | - |
Downy Woodpecker | - | 1 | - | 2 |
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher | 1 | - | - | - |
Eastern Phoebe | 1 | - | - | - |
Brown Creeper | 1 | - | - | 1 |
House Wren | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
Carolina Wren | - | - | - | 1 |
Gray Catbird | 3 | 17 | 20 | 25 |
Hermit Thrush | 1 | - | - | - |
Wood Thrush | - | - | 1 | - |
Seaside Sparrow | - | - | 1 | - |
Saltmarsh Sparrow | - | - | - | 1 |
Song Sparrow | - | 1 | 3 | 1 |
Swamp Sparrow | 1 | - | - | 1 |
Eastern Towhee | 1 | - | - | - |
Yellow-breasted Chat | - | 1 | - | - |
Orange-crowned Warbler | 1 | - | - | - |
Common Yellowthroat | 3 | 1 | 2 | - |
American Redstart | - | - | 1 | 1 |
Northern Parula | - | - | 1 | - |
Black-throated Blue Warbler | 1 | - | - | - |
Western Palm Warbler | 1 | - | - | - |
Myrtle Warbler | 4 | - | 1 | - |
Northern Cardinal | - | 1 | 2 | - |
Painted Bunting | - | - | - | 2 |
Today's Banding Stats | Captain Sams | Little Bear | TOTAL |
---|---|---|---|
# Birds Banded | 23 | 39 | 62 |
# of Recaptures | 27 | 36 | 64 |
# of Species | 19 | 17 | 27 |
Effort (net-hours) | 163.2 | 119.6 | 282.4 |
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours) | 30.6 | 62.7 | 44.6 |
# of Nets | 32 | 26 | 58 |
2024 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats | Captain Sams | Little Bear | TOTAL |
---|---|---|---|
# Birds Banded | 4,243 | 2,711 | 6,954 |
# of Recaptures | 872 | 669 | 1,541 |
# of Species | 80 | 78 | 94 |
Effort (net-hours) | 10,620.7 | 6399.55 | 17,020.25 |
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours) | 48.15 | 52.8 | 49.9 |
# of Days | 64 | 54 |
Banding Staff
Aaron Given (CS)
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