First Day of the 2026 Fall Migration Season

 CAPTAIN SAMS

It is that time of year again. Fall migration is underway, and for many species like shorebirds, migration has been on since early July. Songbirds are just starting to move through our area although some species like Prairie Warblers, Northern Waterthrushes, and American Redstarts have been around since the end of July. 

Today was a rather typical "first day of the season" with a plethora of young locals like Northern Cardinals, Carolina Chickadees, and Carolina Wrens. We also had our fair share of early migrants with Prairie Warblers, an Ovenbird, and a Northern Waterthrush. The biggest surprise was the number of Great Crested Flycatchers (7) we banded today. Looking back at the last 5 years, we average less than 6 for the entire season. In 2022, we banded 11 with 9 of those coming on the first day of the season.  

Great Crested Flycatcher (Hatch year, sex unknown)

  

Species	Captain Sam's		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Downy Woodpecker	1	1	-	-
Great Crested Flycatcher	7	-	-	-
White-eyed Vireo	1	-	-	-
Carolina Chickadee	4	-	-	-
Carolina Wren	2	1	-	-
Brown-headed Cowbird	1	-	-	-
Ovenbird	1	-	-	-
Northern Waterthrush	1	-	-	-
Northern Parula	1	-	-	-
Prairie Warbler	5	-	-	-
Northern Cardinal	9	1	-	-
Painted Bunting	4	-	-	-

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	37	-	-
# of Recaptures	3	-	-
# of Species	12	-	-
Effort (net-hours)	145.2	-	-
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	28.4	-	-
# of Nets	33	-	-

2026 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	37	-	-
# of Recaptures	3	-	-
# of Species	12	-	-
Effort (net-hours)	145.2	-	-
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	28.4	-	-
# of Days	1	-

Banding Staff

Aaron Given (CS)

Michael Gamble (CS)

Liz Held (CS)

Nancy Raginski (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.