The Transition Begins

  CAPTAIN SAMS

It's looking and feeling more like Fall every day! Our morning started at a crisp 58 degrees, and continued comfortably in the 70's. Today, the station was greeted by Ruby-crowned Kinglets, an Indigo Bunting and a Myrtle Warbler, species which we fondly consider to indicate that we are at the latter half of migration on Kiawah.

Myrtle Warbler, After Hatch Year Female

The Myrtle Warbler is a subspecies of the Yellow-rumped Warbler, known for its white or sometimes buffy throat which extends back and below a defined cheek patch. Each subspecies differs in plumage, but all share the eponymous yellow patch on the rump. The Myrtle Warblers we catch at both stations may be migrating further South, as they can be found wintering in Florida, the Caribbean and Mexico, however this species may also be wintering in South Carolina, as it provides them sufficient habitat and food sources for the colder portion of the year. Myrtle Warblers can be found in woodlands, shrublands, and coastal dunes, in addition to some suburban areas. 

-Lisa Viviano

LITTLE BEAR

It was a pretty good day out at Little Bear, with 64 total birds (43 new and 21 recaptures). The weather was cool in the morning and it stayed cloudy until late in the day, which was a welcome taste of fall. We had many of the regular birds today, including Gray Catbirds and Common Yellowthroats. Many of our later migrants are coming through such as Eastern Phoebes and Swamp Sparrows. While I will miss the neotropical migrants I am happy to see some new birds hanging around!

Little Bear also had 2 first of the seasons today: a Nashville Warbler and a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker! We don't catch a lot of Nashville Warblers (last year Little Bear caught one and Captain Sams didn't catch any). This year Captain Sams has already gotten two, so I was very happy to see Little Bear get one too!

Nashville Warbler (hatch-year, female)

- Natalie

Species	Captain Sam's		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Yellow-billed Cuckoo	2	-	-	-
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker	-	-	1	-
Downy Woodpecker	-	-	1	-
Eastern Phoebe	2	-	1	-
Red-eyed Vireo	1	-	-	-
Carolina Chickadee	-	1	-	2
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	-	-	1	-
House Wren	1	-	4	-
Gray Catbird	15	13	18	9
Brown Thrasher	-	-	-	1
Northern Mockingbird	1	1	-	-
Swainson's Thrush	2	-	1	-
Swamp Sparrow	-	-	1	-
Northern Waterthrush	1	-	-	-
Common Yellowthroat	2	4	12	1
Nashville Warbler	-	-	1	-
American Redstart	4	-	-	-
Cape May Warbler	1	-	-	-
Northern Parula	-	1	-	-
Black-throated Blue Warbler	1	-	-	-
Palm Warbler (western subspecies)	3	-	1	-
Yellow-rumped Warbler (myrtle subspecies)	1	-	-	-
Northern Cardinal	-	-	-	3
Indigo Bunting	1	-	-	-
Painted Bunting	6	1	1	5

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	50	43	93
# of Recaptures	21	21	42
# of Species	19	15	25
Effort (net-hours)	172.8	123.5	296.3
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	41.1	51.8	45.6
# of Nets	32	26	58

2024 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	3,493	2,207	5,699
# of Recaptures	667	545	1,211
# of Species	73	67	87
Effort (net-hours)	9,301.9	5,615.6	14,917.8
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	44.7	49.0	46.3
# of Days	57	48

Banding Staff

Aaron Given (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.