Marsh Madness

 CAPTAIN SAMS

Captain Sams' usual banding operations closed early with a total of 35 birds, as the whole crew got together for marsh bird banding! The more people involved, the better your chances are for catching more birds. As directed by Aaron, we created a line formation to flush up some of the marsh's hidden dwellers. We were successful in catching Seaside Sparrows, Saltmarsh Sparrows, and one Nelson's Sparrow! Several of these birds were already banded, so it will be very exciting to get more information on them soon. 

Nelson's Sparrow (After Hatch Year)

-Lisa Viviano

LITTLE BEAR

Over the course of the last several days we have enjoyed incredible weather at Little Bear. The mornings start off cool, but are slowly warmed by the rising sun. Today after opening the station we enjoyed time on the beach before our first net check. I always enjoy this time as it is a nice way to begin the day. As the end of the season approaches, I find myself reflecting on moments like this and knowing how much I will miss the environment here on Kiawah Island. 

It was a fairly slow day, we only managed to capture 37 birds, which included mostly recaptures. All in all, it even though it was slow we had an enjoyable day at Little Bear. We even were able to participate in some salt marsh banding with the rest of the crew from Captain Sam's after closing down each station. We captured several Seaside and Saltmarsh Sparrows but also managed to catch one Nelson's Sparrow. This added some excitement to the early afternoon as we all sloshed around the marsh attempting to catch these birds. 

-Noah Nei

Species	Captain Sam's		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Yellow-billed Cuckoo	-	-	1	1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	1	-	-	-
House Wren	-	1	1	-
Marsh Wren	1	-	-	-
Carolina Wren	-	-	-	1
Gray Catbird	2	14	3	12
Brown Thrasher	-	-	-	1
Northern Mockingbird	-	-	1	-
White-throated Sparrow	1	-		-
Song Sparrow	1	-	1
Swamp Sparrow	1	1	2	3
Eastern Towhee	1	-	-	-
Common Yellowthroat	1	-	-	1
Western Palm Warbler	-	1	1	-
Myrtle Warbler	1	-	2	-
Northern Cardinal	-	-	-	1
Indigo Bunting	1	-	-	-
Painted Bunting	7	-	4	1

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	18	16	34
# of Recaptures	17	21	38
# of Species	13	13
Effort (net-hours)	118.4	109.2	227.6
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	29.6	33.9	31.6
# of Nets	32	26	58

2024 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	4,301	2,769	7,070
# of Recaptures	929	749	1,678
# of Species	81	79	94
Effort (net-hours)	11,049.45	6,773.3	17,822.75
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	47.3	51.9	49.1
# of Days	67	57

Banding Staff

Michael Gamble (CS)

Kristin Attinger (LB)

Natalie Miller (CS)

Lisa Viviano (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.