"Weep"-ing for the Weekend

 CAPTAIN SAMS

Today was a hot and muggy day out at Captain Sams. The birds obviously agreed because we only caught 11 individuals (7 new and 4 recaptures). We had most of the usual species this morning, including Painted Buntings, a Northern Waterthrush, and a Prairie Warbler.

We also caught a new Great Crested Flycatcher, which is always exciting to see! These guys will soon be heading to their wintering grounds in southern Florida and Central America and won't be around for too much longer. In addition to this new bird we also caught a different Great Crested Flycatcher who was originally banded 5 days ago. It's great to see that it's still in the area!

We also recaptured a Downy Woodpecker that was banded exactly a year and 10 days ago (on August 20th, 2023). It was recorded as a hatch-year male last year, which now makes it a second-year! It is always cool to recapture birds from previous years and see how they're doing!

-Natalie 

LITTLE BEAR

The trend recently has seemed to be hot, muggy and very still mornings for both Captain Sams and Little Bear. Although mosquitos and the warm sun were unpleasant, Kristin and I enjoyed a beautiful sunrise along the beach after opening while waiting for our first net run. We got to see a variety of Egrets fly into the tidal pool near the beach while we watched the sunrise. The horde of egrets were also joined by several Wood Storks and one, beautiful Roseate Spoonbill. 

Another continuing trend was the slow push of birds, which totaled to 8 newly banded birds and 9 recaptures. Although slow, Little Bear netted one new species for the year. Our new bird was a young male Summer Tanager, which showed just subtle hints of red in the upper and undertail coverts, as well as in some of its newly replaced flight feathers. Normally, young Summer Tanagers are tricky to sex as they often show the same plumage characteristics this time of year when we catch them. It was great to see another new bird for the site in the hand and gave us something to be excited about for the day!

-Noah Nei

(Hatch Year, male Summer Tanager)

Note:  All banding, marking, and sampling is being conducted under a federally authorized Bird Banding Permit issued by the U.S. Geological Survey’s BBL

Species	Captain Sams		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Downy Woodpecker	-	1	-	-
Great Crested Flycatcher	1	1	-	-
Red-eyed Vireo	1	-	1	-
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher	1	-	-	-
Carolina Wren	-	-	-	2
Ovenbird	-	1	-	-
Northern Waterthrush	1	-	3	2
Prairie Warbler	1	-	-	-
Summer Tanager	-	-	1	-
Northern Cardinal	-	-	-	3
Painted Bunting	2	1	3	2

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	7	8	15
# of Recaptures	4	9	13
# of Species	8	6	11
Effort (net-hours)	136.0	108.2	244.2
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	8.1	15.7	11.5
# of Nets	32	26	58

2024 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	278	189	467
# of Recaptures	136	81	217
# of Species	28	27	37
Effort (net-hours)	2453.60	1009.40	3463.00
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	16.9	26.7	19.8
# of Days	16	9	-

Banding Staff

Aaron Given (CS)

Michael Gamble

Kristin Attinger (LB)

Natalie Miller (CS)

Lisa Viviano (CS)

Noah Nei (LB)