Friday, October 25, 2024

First-of-the-Season Black-throated Green Warbler

 CAPTAIN SAMS

As predicted, we had an uptick of migration activity last night.  We were greeted by the sounds of many migrants (mainly Yellow-rumped Warblers) flying over the banding station as we opened the nets in the dark.  Not surprisingly, Yellow-rumped Warblers made up a huge percentage of our catch today with 63 of them.  In addition, we captured two returning yellow-rumps that were banded last fall.     
We ended the day with 89 new birds and 13 recaptures of 19 different species.  The highlight of the day was a Black-throated Green Warbler (BTNW).  We don't band that many BTNWs.  In fact, in the 16 year history of KIBS, we have only banded 18 prior to today.  

Black-throated Green Warbler (hatch-year, male)

Armadillos are a fairly new addition to the fauna of Kiawah Island.  They arrived on Kiawah about 10-12 years ago and now are very common and have expanded across the entire island.  Because they are mostly nocturnal, you don't see them very often but one was out and about today rooting around the banding area between net 15 and 25 in search of food.  It was oblivious to my presence and walked right up to me as it nosed it way though the leaf litter. To compensate for poor vision, armadillos have an excellent sense of smell which they use to help navigate them through their surroundings.    

Nine-banded Armadillo

  

  -Aaron


LITTLE BEAR

Today was a slower day than yesterday with only a total of 48 birds banded. We definitely have seen a drop in the amount of Gray Catbirds that are captured. It is nice to see more of our wintering birds show up. We didn't add any new species, but our highlight species for the day was a nice young Cape May Warbler and also an Indigo Bunting. I think overall it was a good day. We watched a bunch of Tree Swallows fly over us, taunting us by just skimming over the tops of our nets but it was still a sight to see. 

-Kristin

  SpeciesCaptain Sam'sLittle Bear
NewRecapsNewRecaps
Eastern Phoebe
2---
Golden-crowned Kinglet
1---
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
1-4-
White-eyed Vireo
-1--
House Wren
1-3-
Carolina Wren
-211
Gray Catbird
3526
Hermit Thrush
2-3-
Song Sparrow
2-3-
Swamp Sparrow
4-31
Northern Waterthrush
--1-
Orange-crowned Warbler
2---
Nashville Warbler
1---
Common Yellowthroat
414-
American Redstart
--1-
Cape May Warbler
--1-
Northern Parula
--11
Palm Warbler (Western)
1---
Black-throated Blue Warbler
-1--
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)6329-
Black-throated Green Warbler1---
Indigo Bunting1-1-
Painted Bunting--1-
Northern Cardinal-1-1




Today's Banding StatsCaptain SamsLittle BearTOTAL
# Birds Banded
89
38
127
# of Recaptures
13
10
23
# of Species
19
16
24
Effort (net-hours)
156.8
135.2
292.0
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)
65.1
35.5
51.4
# of Nets
32
26
58

2024 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats Captain SamsLittle BearTOTAL
# Birds Banded
4,481
2,903
7,384
# of Recaptures
966
791
1,757
# of Species
85
81
99
Effort (net-hours)
11,547.1
7,160.8
18,707.9
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)
47.2
51.6
48.9
# of Days7060



Banding Staff

Aaron Given (CS)
Michael Gamble (CS)
Kristin Attinger (LB)
Natalie Miller (CS)
Lisa Viviano (LB)
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.






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