CAPTAIN SAMS
Today was the 100th day of banding at Captain Sams this fall. Since we started on August 15th, we've only missed 3 days due to rain. With only 5 days left in the 2024 fall migration banding season, we are coming down to the wire on a couple of potential records. Currently, we have captured 105 species this fall between Captain Sams and Little Bear. This ties the all time species record from 2021.
Another record that is well within reach is the total number of birds banded at Captain Sams. That record was set in 2021 as well with 5,704 bird banded. To date, we've banded 5,628 birds this fall which means we need to band 77 birds in the next 5 day break that record. All we need to do is average 15.2 birds/day to get there. We've averaged 32 birds/day over the last two weeks and 33 birds/day over the last week so I am confident we can get there. There is rain in the forecast on Thursday and Friday which could play the spoiler.
Bird activity slowed down a bit today and we only banded 25 new birds and 18 recaptures of 10 species. The highlight of the day came when Michael brought back a small flock of American Goldfinches that flew into one of our "swallow nets". The last goldfinch that we banded was in 2020 and that bird was captured in August which is an usual time of year to have one. In total, we've only banded 32 in the fall since we started banding in 2009. That number is a little misleading because in 2018 we caught a flock of 17 of them in "net 0" all at one time.
American Goldfinch (hatch-year, male)
 |
| American Goldfinch (hatch-year, female) |
-Aaron
| Species | Captain Sams | Little Bear | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New | Recaps | New | Recaps | |
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker | - | 1 | - | - |
Ruby-crowned Kinglet | 1 | 3 | - | - |
Gray Catbird | - | 2 | - | - |
Hermit Thrush | - | 3 | - | - |
American Goldfinch | 4 | - | - | - |
White-throated Sparrow | 1 | 1 | - | - |
Song Sparrow | 1 | - | - | - |
Swamp Sparrow | - | 2 | - | - |
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) | 18 | 5 | - | - |
Northern Cardinal | - | 1 | - | - |
| Today's Banding Stats | Captain Sams | Little Bear | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| # Birds Banded | 25 | - | - |
| # of Recaptures | 18 | - | - |
| # of Species | 10 | - | - |
| Effort (net-hours) | 198.4 | - | - |
| Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours) | 21.7 | - | - |
| # of Nets | 32 | - | - |
| 2024 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats | Captain Sams | Little Bear | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| # Birds Banded | 5,628 | 3,345 | 8,973 |
| # of Recaptures | 1,438 | 941 | 2,379 |
| # of Species | 91 | 87 | 105 |
| Effort (net-hours) | 16,660.8 | 9,541.6 | 26,202.4 |
| Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours) | 42.4 | 44.9 | 43.3 |
| # of Days | 100 | 80 |
Banding Staff
Aaron Given (CS)