Invader From the Northwoods

 CAPTAIN SAMS 

We had a lot of net repair/replacement to do today so I decided to close down the nets a little early so we could focus solely on fixing nets. We made great progress and repaired a number of nets. Unfortunately, we ran out of time before we could replace some of the old and brittle nets. That will have to wait for another day. 

During our abbreviated morning banding effort, we captured 17 new birds and had 23 recaptures of 13 different species. We banded our first Orange-crowned Warbler of the season and had a bonus Red-breasted Nuthatch. This irruptive species is one that does not make it into the southeast (except for high elevation areas) each year. According to the Winter Finch Forecast 2025-2026 (https://finchnetwork.org/winter-finch-forecast-2025-2026), this should be an irruptive winter for Red-breasted Nuthatches due to a poor cone crop in the eastern boreal forest. Look for Red-breasted Nuthatches to be present this fall/winter especially in or near pines. 

Red-breasted Nuthatch (Hatch year, female)

-Aaron
 

  

 

LITTLE BEAR

Relatively slow day at Little Bear with 39 new bands put out and another 29 recaptures for a total of 64 birds. 

One species that we did get was an Ovenbird today. These well-loved wood warblers are our largest warbler and are named for the distinctive nests they make on the ground that are shaped like an old-fashioned Dutch oven. Unlike many warbler species these birds not only nest on the ground, but are specialized ground feeder, at a glance resembling miniature thrushes rather than wood warblers. During migration from the northern and eastern portions of the continent to Central and South America they can put on prodigious amounts of fat which is the case in this bird.

Ovenbird ready to migrate!

Forecast is looking good for tomorrow so hoping for some more action then!

-Jeremiah

Species	Captain Sam's		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker	-	1	-	-
Eastern Phoebe	1	-	-	-
White-eyed Vireo	-	1	-	-
Red-eyed Vireo	-	-	1	-
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	1	-	-	-
Red-breasted Nuthatch	1	-	-	-
House Wren	-	1	1	-
Carolina Wren	-	-	-	1
Gray Catbird	8	15	25	23
Swainson's Thrush	-	-	1	-
Ovenbird	-	-	1	-
Northern Waterthrush	-	-	1	-
Orange-crowned Warbler	1	-	-	-
Common Yellowthroat	1	-	1	1
American Redstart	-	-	2	1
Northern Parula	-	-	1	-
Northern Cardinal	-	2	-	1
Indigo Bunting	1	-	1	-
Painted Bunting	3	-	1	2
Swamp Sparrow	-	1	3	-
	-	-	-	-

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	17	39	56
# of Recaptures	23	29	52
# of Species	13	14	20
Effort (net-hours)	95.6	133	228.6
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	41.8	51.1	47.2
# of Nets	33	28	61

2025 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	4,086	2,998	7,084
# of Recaptures	802	697	1,499
# of Species	83	79	95
Effort (net-hours)	10,259.5	7,530.5	17,790
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	47.6	49.1	48.2
# of Days	65	56

Banding Staff

Aaron Given (CS)

Michael Gamble (CS)

Liz Held (LB)

Arden Schneider (CS)

Camille Beckwith (LB)

Jeremiah Sullivan (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.