Late summer storms

 CAPTAIN SAMS

It was a cooler morning with overcast conditions, making it much more pleasant for banding. We captured 20 new birds and 4 recaptures of 13 species, the highlight being a Red-shouldered Hawk! We had to shut down nets early because of a few thunderstorms that formed off the coast of Captain Sam's and pushed ashore very quickly. This could be the outlook for the rest of the week but at least it is not as hot!

Red-shouldered Hawk (hatch year, sex unknown)

LITTLE BEAR

We finally got a little break from the heat and humidity out at Little Bear. The morning started out hot and humid but as the storms grew closer, the breeze picked up and became a little cooler. It felt so nice compared to the last couple of days! As far as birds captured today, it was still slow. We had a total of 17 birds of 8 species with 14 new birds and 3 recaptures. 

A highlight from today was our first of the season Prothonotary Warbler. Little Bear might not see as many of these birds as Captain Sams, so it was great to be able to appreciate this striking bird on a slower day. We also saw an increase in Northern Waterthrush today compared to the last couple of days. 

Prothonotary Warbler, After hatch year Male

Species	Captain Sam's		Little Bear
	New	Recaps	New	Recaps
Red-shouldered Hawk	1	-	-	-
Traill's Flycatcher	1	-	-	-
Red-eyed Vireo	1	-	-	-
Carolina Chickadee	1	2	2	-
Carolina Wren	-	-	2	-
Worm-eating Warbler	1	-	-	-
Northern Waterthrush	6	-	5	-
Black-and-white Warbler	-	1	-	-
Prothonotary Warbler	-	-	1	-
Common Yellowthroat	1	-	-	-
American Redstart	3	-	1	-
Northern Yellow Warbler	1	-	-	-
Prairie Warbler	2	-	1	-
Northern Cardinal	-	1	-	1
Painted Bunting	2	-	2	2

Today's Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	20	14	34
# of Recaptures	4	3	7
# of Species	13	8	15
Effort (net-hours)	132.0	103.6	235.6
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	18.2	16.4	17.4
# of Nets	33	28	61

2026 Fall Cumulative Banding Stats	Captain Sams	Little Bear	TOTAL
# Birds Banded	222	68	290
# of Recaptures	92	22	114
# of Species	26	15	27
Effort (net-hours)	1465.3	471.5	1936.8
Capture Rate (birds/100 net-hours)	21.4	19.1	20.9
# of Days	12	5

Banding Staff

Michael Gamble (CS)

Liz Held (LB)

Olivia DeMarchi (LB)

Jasmine Fu (CS)

Aiden Gifford (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.