That's A Wrap On 2024

 CAPTAIN SAMS

Today was the coldest day of the fall with the temperature reading 37.3 degrees F at the time we opened the nets.  Thankfully, the wind was not as strong as the last couple of day or that would have made it feel even colder. 

 
We were hoping that the cold north winds last night might have given us one last push of migrants but that didn't really pan out, and we only banded 24 new birds and had 19 recaptures of 10 different species.  We did band a Sharp-shinned Hawk which was a first-of-the-season for Captain Sams, and the 93rd species captured at the site this season.

  
Like most raptors, female Sharp-shinned Hawks are larger than males.  There is very little overlap in measurements between sexes so separating them by size can be done relatively easy by using a wing chord measurement.  This male had a wing chord of 170.0 mm which was right in the middle of the range for males.  The range for males is about 160-180mm and 190-215mm for females.   

Sharp-shinned Hawk (After hatch-year, male)

The common theme for the last month has been "Yellow-rumped Warblers" so it was fitting that the last bird of the day was a Yellow-rumped Warbler.  This bird was also special because it was the first bird my son, Aidan, got to band.  He has been extracting birds for a couple of years now and is getting quite good at it.  He's only 11 but has been watching me do this stuff for his entire life.  

Yellow-rumped Warbler (after hatch-year, male)

This was the last day of the 2024 fall banding season.  It was a really good season.  We broke a couple records, caught several rarities, got several foreign recaptures, and had a wonderful crew.  The nets will stay up as we will be banding throughout the winter but instead of banding everyday like in the fall, we will only band every 10-14 days.  

I will be preparing the season summary over the next week and will post it here when complete.  In addition, there will be periodic posts throughout the winter featuring our other winter banding projects.

-Aaron

Species	Captain Sams		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Sharp-shinned Hawk	1	-	-	-
Eastern Phoebe	1	1	-	-
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	1	3	-	-
House Wren	-	1	-	-
Gray Catbird	-	1	-	-
Hermit Thrush	1	3	-	-
White-throated Sparrow	3	-	-	-
Swamp Sparrow	1	-	-	-
Orange-crowned Warbler	1	-	-	-
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)	15	10	-	-

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	24	-	-
# of Recaptures	19	-	-
# of Species	10	-	-
Effort (net-hours)	184.0	-	-
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	23.4	-	-
# of Nets	-	-	-

2024 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	5,779	3,345	9,124
# of Recaptures	1,506	941	2,447
# of Species	93	87	106
Effort (net-hours)	17,502.9	9,924.0	27,426.9
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	41.6	43.2	42.2
# of Days	105	80

Banding Staff

Aaron Given (CS)

Michael Gamble (CS)

Aidan Given (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.

One More Day To Go

 CAPTAIN SAMS

This morning started out with a bit of a chill in the air and as the day went on, the chill got a little more chillier.  Tomorrow morning will be even colder and may dip into the upper 30s.  

After yesterday's high winds and lack of birds, we did a little better today with 28 new birds and 13 recaptures.   A flock of 10 Yellow-rumped Warblers in net 2 on the third net run helped us out. We also banded our 7th Eastern Towhee and the first one in over a month.  

Tomorrow is the last day of the 2024 fall migration season.  

-Aaron

Species	Captain Sams		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	-	1	-	-
Gray Catbird	-	2	-	-
Hermit Thrush	-	1	-	-
House Finch	1	-	-	-
Swamp Sparrow	-	1	-	-
Eastern Towhee	1	-	-	-
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)	26	8	-	-

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	28	-	-
# of Recaptures	13	-	-
# of Species	7	-	-
Effort (net-hours)	187.4	-	-
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	21.9	-	-
# of Nets	32	-	-

2024 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	5,755	3,345	9,100
# of Recaptures	1,487	941	2,428
# of Species	92	87	106
Effort (net-hours)	17,318.9	9,541.6	26,860.5
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	41.8	44.9	42.9
# of Days	104	80

Banding Staff

Aaron Given (CS)

Michael Gamble (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.

A Windy Thanksgiving Day

 CAPTAIN SAMS

It was supposed to be rainy and windy this morning so I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to band today.  It didn't rain but it was still windy with 15 mph SW winds.  It was not a productive day with only 1 new bird and 3 recaptures.  As the winds increased and a line of thunderstorms threatened to the west, I decided to shut down the nets early and head on home.

A cold front is approaching and tomorrow should be more conducive to banding.  Cooler temperatures and north winds should push any lingering migrant down.

Happy Thanksgiving!        

-Aaron

Species	Captain Sams		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	-	1	-	-
Hermit Thrush	-	1	-	-
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)	1	1	-	-

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	1	-	-
# of Recaptures	3	-	-
# of Species	3	-	-
Effort (net-hours)	48.3	-	-
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	8.3	-	-
# of Nets	21	-	-

2024 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	5,727	3,345	9,072
# of Recaptures	1,474	941	2,415
# of Species	92	87	106
Effort (net-hours)	17,131.5	9,541.6	26,673.1
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	42.0	44.9	43.1
# of Days	103	80

Banding Staff

Aaron Given (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.

Records Are Made To Be Broken

 CAPTAIN SAMS

A thick layer of fog blanketed the beach this morning while driving to our parking spot.  It was so dense that we had a hard time seeing the large "No Dogs Beyond This Point" sign which is our landmark to know where to park when it's dark.  

We could hear birds flying over the station as we opened the nets in the dark which we haven't heard in several days.  The air was calm and the sky was overcast for most of the morning which is ideal conditions for banding. As a result, we had a surprising good day with 88 new birds and 21 recaptures of 10 different species.   

Most of the birds captured today were Yellow-rumped Warblers - 90 to be exact (79 new and 11 recap).  We captured our second group of American Goldfinches and our 2nd Chipping Sparrow of the season.

With the 88 birds banded today, we surpassed the highest total number of birds banded in any previous fall season at Captain Sams by 22 birds.  The previous record was 5,704 in 2021.

-Aaron

Species	Captain Sams		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	-	4	-	-
Gray Catbird	1	3	-	-
House Finch	2	-	-	-
American Goldfinch	3	-	-	-
Chipping Sparrow	1	-	-	-
Song Sparrow	-	1	-	-
Swamp Sparrow	-	1	-	-
Eastern Towhee	-	1	-	-
Orange-crowned Warbler	2	-	-	-
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)	79	11	-	-

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	88	-	-
# of Recaptures	21	-	-
# of Species	10	-	-
Effort (net-hours)	249.6	-	-
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	43.7	-	-
# of Nets	32	-	-

2024 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	5,726	3,345	9,071
# of Recaptures	1,471	941	2,412
# of Species	92	87	106
Effort (net-hours)	17,083.2	9,541.6	26,624.8
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	42.1	44.9	43.1
# of Days	102	80

Banding Staff

Aaron Given (CS)

Michael Gamble (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.

FOS Chipping Sparrow

 CAPTAIN SAMS

It was a very slow day, the slowest day we have had in awhile. At one point, we went almost three hours without catching a bird. We ended the morning with 10 new birds and 12 recaptures of 7 different species. The most interesting recapture was an Ovenbird we banded on 11/6/2024, so it is possible this Ovenbird will also winter on the spit like the other Ovenbird that has returned to winter on the spit the last few years.

The highlight of the morning came on the first net run when we captured a first-of-season Chipping Sparrow. This makes 106 total species for the season, which is a season record! 

Chipping Sparrow (after hatch year, sex unknown)

-Michael

Species	Captain Sams		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Blue-headed Vireo	-	1	-	-
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	-	1	-	-
Gray Catbird	-	3	-	-
Hermit Thrush	2	2	-	-
Chipping Sparrow	1	-	-	-
Ovenbird	-	1	-	-
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)	7	4	-	-

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	10	-	-
# of Recaptures	12	-	-
# of Species	7	-	-
Effort (net-hours)	172.8	-	-
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	12.7	-	-
# of Nets	32	-	-

2024 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	5,638	3,345	8,983
# of Recaptures	1,450	941	2,391
# of Species	92	87	106
Effort (net-hours)	16,833.6	9,541.6	26,375.2
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	42.1	44.9	43.1
# of Days	101	80

Banding Staff

Aaron Given (CS)

Michael Gamble (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.

103 Days Down, 5 To Go

 CAPTAIN SAMS

Today was the 100th day of banding at Captain Sams this fall.  Since we started on August 15th, we've only missed 3 days due to rain.  With only 5 days left in the 2024 fall migration banding season, we are coming down to the wire on a couple of potential records.  Currently, we have captured 105 species this fall between Captain Sams and Little Bear.  This ties the all time species record from 2021.  

Another record that is well within reach is the total number of birds banded at Captain Sams.  That record was set in 2021 as well with 5,704 bird banded.  To date, we've banded 5,628 birds this fall which means we need to band 77 birds in the next 5 day break that record.  All we need to do is average 15.2 birds/day to get there. We've averaged 32 birds/day over the last two weeks and 33 birds/day over the last week so I am confident we can get there.  There is rain in the forecast on Thursday and Friday which could play the spoiler.  

Bird activity slowed down a bit today and we only banded 25 new birds and 18 recaptures of 10 species.  The highlight of the day came when Michael brought back a small flock of American Goldfinches that flew into one of our "swallow nets".  The last goldfinch that we banded was in 2020 and that bird was captured in August which is an usual time of year to have one.  In total, we've only banded 32 in the fall since we started banding in 2009.  That number is a little misleading because in 2018 we caught a flock of 17 of them in "net 0" all at one time.

American Goldfinch (hatch-year, male)

          

American Goldfinch (hatch-year, female)

Male American Goldfinch have blacker wing coverts compared to the female.  Both of these birds had a molt limit between the outer greater covert and the carpal covert which allowed us to age them as hatch-years. The retained carpal covert was lighter in color and had a buffy tip.  Unfortunately I didn't take an open wing photo to show off this molt limit.     

-Aaron

Species	Captain Sams		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker	-	1	-	-
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	1	3	-	-
Gray Catbird	-	2	-	-
Hermit Thrush	-	3	-	-
American Goldfinch	4	-	-	-
White-throated Sparrow	1	1	-	-
Song Sparrow	1	-	-	-
Swamp Sparrow	-	2	-	-
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)	18	5	-	-
Northern Cardinal	-	1	-	-

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	25	-	-
# of Recaptures	18	-	-
# of Species	10	-	-
Effort (net-hours)	198.4	-	-
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	21.7	-	-
# of Nets	32	-	-

2024 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	5,628	3,345	8,973
# of Recaptures	1,438	941	2,379
# of Species	91	87	105
Effort (net-hours)	16,660.8	9,541.6	26,202.4
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	42.4	44.9	43.3
# of Days	100	80

Banding Staff

Aaron Given (CS)

Michael Gamble (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.

KIBS First: Black-headed Grosbeak!!

 CAPTAIN SAMS

It was another cold morning but it warmed up quickly, and we were lucky to receive a break from the wind of the past week. These weather conditions, along with new migrants filtering into the site, increased our capture rate compared to the past week. We captured 45 new birds and had 22 recaptures of 15 different species. 

With only a week left in the season, we did not expect any more surprises in our nets. However, on the closing net run of the day I found a Black-headed Grosbeak in the last net I had to close. This is the first record of Black-headed Grosbeak on Kiawah Island and a second record for Charleston County! Black-headed Grosbeaks breed in western North America but are occasional vagrants in the East, and they spend the nonbreeding season in Mexico. 

Black-headed Grosbeak (hatch-year, male)

We infrequently catch the more common Blue and Rose-breasted Grosbeak that both breed in the East. Young Black-headed Grosbeaks look very similar to Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, but they can be differentiated by the bright yellow underwings and orange wash to the breast. Like our bird, young males show more orange in the breast and black mottling on the face and wing. 

Black-headed Grosbeak showing the bright yellow under the wing

Black-headed Grosbeak (hatch-year, male)

Black-headed Grosbeak (hatch-year, male)

-Michael

Species	Captain Sams		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker	1	-	-	-
Eastern Phoebe	1	1	-	-
Blue-headed Vireo	1	-	-	-
Carolina Chickadee	-	1	-	-
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	2	3	-	-
House Wren	-	1	-	-
Gray Catbird	-	3	-	-
Hermit Thrush	-	3	-	-
American Robin	2	-	-	-
Song Sparrow	1	3	-	-
Swamp Sparrow	3	1	-	-
Orange-crowned Warbler	1	-	-	-
Palm Warbler (Western)	1	-	-	-
Yellow-rumped Warbler	31	6	-	-
Black-headed Grosbeak	1	-	-	-

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	45	-	-
# of Recaptures	22	-	-
# of Species	15	-	-
Effort (net-hours)	200.0	-	-
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	33.5	-	-
# of Nets	32	-	-

2024 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	5,601	3,345	8,946
# of Recaptures	1,420	941	2,361
# of Species	90	87	104
Effort (net-hours)	16,462.4	9,541.6	26,004.0
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	42.6	44.9	43.5
# of Days	99	80

Banding Staff

Aaron Given (CS)

Michael Gamble (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.

Sparrow to the 6th Degree

 CAPTAIN SAMS

It was another chilly start to the morning but at least the wind was not as bad yesterday.  The wind was still blowing around 8 mph which was enough to move the more exposed nets around.  Thankfully around 11:00am, the wind let up, and we had a surge of birds for a couple of net runs.  In the end, we banded 34 new birds and had 29 recaptures of 14 species.

It was a very good day for sparrows.  We had 6 different species which is a rare feat for us.  Aside from our standard three (Swamp, Song, White-throated), we also had Savannah, Grasshopper, and White-crowned.  The Grasshopper Sparrow was a recap of the bird from yesterday.  There are a couple of species of sparrow that we could potentially still get and they include Field, Lincoln's, and Fox.  None of them are regular but Lincoln's has been annual for the last several years.

The forecast for tomorrow morning is in mid 40s again but with almost no wind.  That should be helpful in catching more birds.        

 

White-crowned Sparrow (hatch-year, sex unknown)

  -Aaron

Species	Captain Sams		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Eastern Phoebe	1	1	-	-
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	-	4	-	-
Gray Catbird	-	3	-	-
Hermit Thrush	1	3	-	-
American Robin	1	-	-	-
House Finch	1	-	-	-
Grasshopper Sparrow	-	1	-	-
White-crowned Sparrow	1	-	-	-
White-throated Sparrow	2	-	-	-
Savannah Sparrow	1	-	-	-
Song Sparrow	1	2	-	-
Swamp Sparrow	3	1	-	-
Orange-crowned Warbler	2	-	-	-
Palm Warbler (Western)	1	-	-	-
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)	19	14	-	-

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	34	-	-
# of Recaptures	29	-	-
# of Species	14	-	-
Effort (net-hours)	256.0	-	-
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	24.6	-	-
# of Nets	32	-	-

2024 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	5,556	3,345	8,901
# of Recaptures	1,398	941	2,339
# of Species	89	87	103
Effort (net-hours)	16,262.4	9,541.6	25,804.0
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	42.7	44.9	43.6
# of Days	98	80

Banding Staff

Aaron Given (CS)

Michael Gamble (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.

Grasshopper Sparrow (First-of-the-Season)

 CAPTAIN SAMS

It was a cold and blustery morning with temperatures dipping into the mid 40s.  We caught less birds than yesterday which is not too surprising given the wind today but still had 26 new birds and 11 recaptures of 13 species. 

Our wintering Ovenbird made a showing today.  This bird was originally banded on 9/4/2022 and ended up spending winters of 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 out on the spit. We first recaptured this bird back on 6 October but haven't caught it again until today.  I was getting worried that something might have happened to it but was happy to see that it was still alive and well.  

We also banded a Grasshopper Sparrow today which was the first (and probably the only) one of the season.  This is only the 4th one ever banded at KIBS with the last ones banded in 2013, 2014, and 2018.  

Grasshopper Sparrow (hatch-year, sex unknown)

  -Aaron

Species	Captain Sam's		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Golden-crowned Kinglet	-	1	-	-
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	5	2	-	-
House Wren	1	1	-	-
Gray Catbird	-	2	-	-
Hermit Thrush	-	1	-	-
Grasshopper Sparrow	1	-	-	-
White-throated Sparrow	1	-	-	-
Savannah Sparrow	1	-	-	-
Song Sparrow	2	-	-	-
Ovenbird	-	1	-	-
Orange-crowned Warbler	1	-	-	-
Palm Warbler (Western)	1	-	-	-
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)	13	3	-	-

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	26	-	-
# of Recaptures	11	-	-
# of Species	13	-	-
Effort (net-hours)	181.3	-	-
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	20.4	-	-
# of Nets	32	-	-

2024 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	5,522	3,345	8,867
# of Recaptures	1,369	941	2,310
# of Species	89	87	103
Effort (net-hours)	16,006.4	9,541.6	25,548.0
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	43.1	44.9	43.7
# of Days	97	80

Banding Staff

Aaron Given (CS)

Michael Gamble (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.