We banded another Connecticut warbler today; the first time in 18 fall seasons that we have caught more than one. This bird was also an adult male, but he was in much better shape than the guy banded yesterday.
Although we did not catch any today, the 7 Blackpolls banded so far in 2020 is the most ever captured in fall, although we have previously banded 6 in 2002 and 2014. This species, along with Connecticut warbler, generally migrates offshore in the fall, leaving the Northeastern coast and continuing straight through to South America. In the spring these species follow a route more to the west leading them up through the Florida peninsula, and as a result our capture rates are much higher for the years we have also banded in spring.
Several other banding records have fallen this week. Bye, Cape May warbler record of 32 captured in 2018; 37 as of today! Bye, Worm-eating warbler record of 162 in 2016; 178 as of today! Two more records are in reach since we get these species throughout the entire migration period: 173 Black & white warblers in 2008 (151 now) and 307 American Redstarts in 2006 (276 now).
Recapture numbers also remain high which was predictable when we saw the condition of a lot of the birds that came in over the weekend. We will get some good data on who sticks around to use the Park’s habitats to restore their fuel loads.
| SPECIES | NEW | RETURN | RECAP |
| Red-eyed vireo | – | – | 1 |
| Swainson’s thrush | 1 | – | – |
| Northern parula | 2 | – | 1 |
| Chestnut-sided warbler | 1 | – | – |
| Cape May warbler | 4 | – | – |
| American redstart | 12 | – | 5 |
| Black-throated blue warbler | 7 | – | 4 |
| Black & white warbler | 2 | – | 2 |
| Ovenbird | 5 | – | 1 |
| Swainson’s warbler | 1 | – | 1 |
| Worn-eating warbler | 4 | – | 2 |
| Common yellowthroat | 1 | – | – |
| Connecticut warbler | 1 | – | – |
| Painted bunting | 1 | – | – |
| # BIRDS CAPTURED | # SPECIES | # NETS | NET HOURS | CAPTURE RATE (BIRDS/100NH) | |
| DAILY TOTAL | 42 | 13 | 23 | 147 | 40.14 |
| SEASON TOTAL | 1479 | 44 | 23 | 6340.55 | 26.06 |