A "gust" is suppose to be in Au-gust not September

 CAPTAIN SAMS

We captured 42 new birds and 13 recaptures of 17 different species. Despite the wind and rain, we did see some migration but most birds are waiting until the disturbance off the coast moves through. The highlight of the morning came on the first net run when we captured an eastern whip-poor-will. Eastern whip-poor-wills breed in eastern forests of Canada and the United States, which includes inland South Carolina. They also winter in the southeastern United States, eastern Mexico, and Central America. They are aerial insectivores and are considered near threatened, likely due to the reduction in moths and beetles that make up most of their diet. 

Eastern Whip-poor-will (hatch year, male)

One way to age and sex eastern whip-poor-wills is by the amount of white and cinnamon in the tail. Young whip-poor-wills have more cinnamon edging to the outer tail feathers and males have more white in the outer tail feathers (>20 mm) than females (<18 mm). This individual had wide cinnamon tips and large white patches (>30 mm) to the outer tail feathers, making this a hatch year male. Additionally, this bird had a molt limit in his greater coverts, which also indicated a hatch year bird.

-Michael

LITTLE BEAR

Today was a slow day for us at little bear. We ended our day with barely over 20 birds. We started the morning out with a little rain shower which held us up a bit and then having a decent amount of wind. This was a little beneficial to us, since this keeps the birds lower towards our nets but also harder to keep nets open for long. Soon the wind made us shut down early. A little excited today came from having a cute ruby-throated hummingbird that was in our nets. Last year, little bear only captured one for the entire season. This is our third one! It was unfortunately not banded, but was admired by us and then sent on her way. I love seeing them even though we don't catch many of them. I hope we catch a banded one eventually.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird (hatch year, female)

-Kristin

Species	Captain Sams		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Yellow-billed Cuckoo	1	-	-	-
Eastern Whip-poor-will	1	-	-	-
Gray Catbird	-	-	1	-
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher	-	1	-	-
Traill's Flycatcher	1	-	-	-
White-eyed Vireo	-	3	-	-
Red-eyed Vireo	1	1	-	-
Carolina Chickadee	1	-	-	-
Carolina Wren	2	-	-	-
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher	-	1	-	-
Northern Waterthrush	-	-	1	1
Common Yellowthroat	23	1	9	1
American Redstart	6	-	2	-
Cape May Warbler	1	-	-	-
Yellow Warbler	1	-	3	-
Black-throated Blue Warbler	1	-	-	-
Palm Warbler (western)	1	-	-	-
Prairie Warbler	-	-	1	-
Northern Cardinal	1	2	-	-
Painted Bunting	1	4	-	3

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	42	17	59
# of Recaptures	13	5	18
# of Species	17	7	24
Effort (net-hours)	177.3	101.6	278.9
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	31.0	21.7	27.6
# of Nets	32	26	58

2024 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	897	714	1,611
# of Recaptures	277	223	500
# of Species	39	45	54
Effort (net-hours)	4,835.5	2,618.9	7,454.4
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	24.3	35.9	28.3
# of Days	31	24

Banding Staff

Aaron Given

Michael Gamble (CS)

Kristin Attinger (LB)

Natalie Miller (LB)

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.