CAPTAIN SAMS
Today was the first day of fall, but it sure didn't feel like it! It was pretty warm out at Captain Sams, but that didn't stop us from catching an abundance of birds. Today we got 81 birds (53 new and 28 recaptures). As usual Common Yellowthroats were our most abundant species, however we are slowly seeing an increase in catbird numbers. As a Gray Catbird lover myself I am excited for these birds to overtake the yellowthroats here soon!
We continue to catch a lot of recaptures, most of which were banded 3 days ago during Captain Sams' big day. These birds may continue to stick around to rest and refuel until conditions become more favorable for migration. The temperature is expected to drop at the end of this week, hopefully this brings us some more birds!
-Natalie
LITTLE BEAR
It was another warm day out at Little Bear and surprisingly busier than expected with the winds shifting to the south. We managed to catch 50 new birds along with 10 recaptures. It ended up being an interesting day for recaptures as we caught two birds that had been previously banded at Little Bear years ago. The first was an Eastern Towhee that was originally banded toward the end of August four years ago in 2020. The other was a Common Yellowthroat that was banded at the beginning of November two years ago in 2022. We've been fortunate to catch a few foreign recaptures this year as well, but it is always a welcomed surprise to recapture birds we have been banded in the past. When recaptured, this provides the station with valuable data on returning migrants or resident birds.
We also added a new species for the year at Little Bear. Our newest addition to the season's list is a Blue Grosbeak. This was an exciting catch for the day as Blue Grosbeaks are not a common catch for either site. In fact, last year only one Blue Grosbeak was caught between both sites. Interestingly enough buntings, cardinals and grosbeaks all belong to the family Cardinalidae. Although they do not share many similarities in appearance, in the field these birds can be identified by their larger, conical shaped bills and overall stout appearance. On top of this exciting catch, we also had a fairly diverse day of warblers which included one Northern Parula. These small songbirds do breed in South Carolina and have a loud, buzzy song that you may be familiar with if you are a resident to the state. These warblers create beautiful nests out of hanging epiphytes like Spanish moss or lace lichen, creating a cavity within and lining it for nesting. This was Little Bears third Northern Parula for the year and we hope to continue to catch more of these beautiful warblers as fall progresses.
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| Blue Grosbeak (hatch year, unknown) |
 |
| Northern Parula (hatch year, male) |
-Noah Nei
| Species | Captain Sams | Little Bear | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New | Recaps | New | Recaps | |
Traill's Flycatcher | 2 | - | 1 | - |
White-eyed Vireo | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
Red-eyed Vireo | 1 | - | 2 | - |
House Wren | 1 | - | 1 | - |
Carolina Wren | - | - | 1 | - |
Gray Catbird | 6 | 2 | 5 | - |
Brown Thrasher | 1 | 2 | - | - |
Veery | 1 | - | - | - |
Swainson's Thrush | 1 | - | - | - |
Eastern Towhee | - | - | - | 1 |
Ovenbird | 1 | - | - | - |
Northern Waterthrush | 1 | - | 4 | - |
Black-and-white Warbler | 1 | 1 | - | - |
Common Yellowthroat | 19 | 13 | 19 | 3 |
American Redstart | 3 | 1 | 4 | - |
Cape May Warbler | 1 | - | - | - |
Northern Parula | 2 | 1 | 1 | - |
Yellow Warbler | 1 | - | 1 | - |
Black-throated Blue Warbler | - | 1 | - | - |
Palm Warbler (western) | 2 | - | 5 | - |
Prairie Warbler | 1 | 1 | 1 | - |
Northern Cardinal | - | 1 | - | 1 |
Blue Grosbeak | - | - | 1 | - |
Indigo Bunting | 1 | - | - | - |
Painted Bunting | - | 3 | 2 | 4 |
| Today's Banding Stats | Captain Sams | Little Bear | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| # Birds Banded | 53 | 50 | 103 |
| # of Recaptures | 28 | 10 | 38 |
| # of Species | 22 | 17 | 25 |
| Effort (net-hours) | 169.6 | 124.8 | 294.4 |
| Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours) | 47.8 | 48.1 | 47.9 |
| # of Nets | 32 | 26 | 58 |
| 2024 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats | Captain Sams | Little Bear | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| # Birds Banded | 1,788 | 1,143 | 2,931 |
| # of Recaptures | 409 | 291 | 700 |
| # of Species | 54 | 53 | 67 |
| Effort (net-hours) | 6,211.6 | 3,492.6 | 9,704.2 |
| Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours) | 35.4 | 41.1 | 37.4 |
| # of Days | 39 | 31 |
Banding Staff
Aaron Given (LB)Michael Gamble (CS)
Natalie Miller (CS)
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.
