I'm walking on "high tides" wooaahh ooohhh

 CAPTAIN SAMS

Today wasn't the busiest day at Captain Sams, but it was a memorable one. We only captured 14 new birds and 15 recaptures for a grand total of 29. For most of us, this will be the last time we get to see Captain Sams this fall. Although banding will continue throughout the month of November it is the last time any of the seasonal hires will be at the site. The feeling is bittersweet, as many of us are excited to be taking off to new locations for the upcoming spring field season but will miss the station dearly.

As soon as we arrived this morning we were greeted with high tides, far higher than we anticipated or what was predicted. As we walked some of the interior trails and along the channel water crept well over our knees, easily topping our boots with water as we moved. It was almost comical having to trudge through water that was well above any of the knee high waterproof boots we had brought.  After setting up the station we were sitting in deeper water than we have this entire season. 

Our catch was pretty typical of a slow day at Captain Sams. We mostly found Yellow-rumped Warblers in our nets, with a variety of other species including Hermit Thrush, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Gray Catbird, Swamp Sparrow, and several others. One of the most remarkable individuals caught today was an adult Hermit Thrush that had a singular white greater covert on its left wing. This unique individual was the final bird we banded and felt rather special as it would be the last bird of the season for many of us. It has been a fantastic season spent at Captain Sams! Don't forget to continue to tune as both lead banders Aaron Given and Micheal Gamble will continue to band throughout the month of November. 

Bander in charge, Aaron Given, walking back to the station table after opening nets in knee deep water

The station table, which had been completely overtaken by the tide

Hermit Thrush (after hatch year, sex unknown) with one entirely white greater covert 

-Noah Nei

LITTLE BEAR

Today we ended with the lowest bird totals of this season. We had a total of 3 birds and 2 of them were recaptures. To our main surprise, the tide was running almost 2 feet over the predicted tide levels. I watched as the tide breeched the end of the island and work its way into the station. Unfortunately we were not prepared for this and had to wade into the depths of the water to get through the station. We kept some our nets that were the deepest closed and attempted to see what they day might give us.  After a few hours of only catching a few birds, we decided to end it for the day. Since tomorrow is Little Bears last day of running for the season, we worked on taking some of the nets that will be affected by the tide tomorrow. It was only in the areas were the water was the deepest. 

Walking around the depths of the waters was, in its own way, kind of fun. Seeing the stream of water come in and feeling the cool temps as it starts to work its way down into your boots. To top it off, I saw a Timber Rattlesnake swim in the high tides! It was something I have not yet seen. It swam towards the higher grounds and then was gone.

 
I am hoping tomorrow still gives us a few good birds and we end the season on a great note!
-Kristin

Species	Captain Sam's		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Eastern Phoebe	1	-	-	-
Carolina Chickadee	-	1	-	-
Golden-crowned Kinglet	-	1	-	-
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	1	2	1	-
Gray Catbird	2	2	-	1
Hermit Thrush	1	1	-	-
Song Sparrow	-	1	-	1
Swamp Sparrow	-	3	-	-
Yellow-rumped Warbler (myrtle)	9	4	-	-

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	14	1	15
# of Recaptures	15	2	17
# of Species	9	3	9
Effort (net-hours)	150.4	59.55	209.95
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	19.3	5.0	15.2
# of Nets	32	24	56

2024 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	5,285	3,339	8,624
# of Recaptures	1,217	939	2,156
# of Species	87	87	102
Effort (net-hours)	14,571.2	9,478.9	24,050.1
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	44.6	45.1	44.8
# of Days	89	79

Banding Staff

Aaron Given (CS)

Michael Gamble ( LB)

Kristin Attinger (LB)

Natalie Miller (CS)

Lisa Viviano (CS)

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.