Kiawah Island Banding Station:
And Then There Were Two
S
ince bird banding began in 2009, the operation
has grown significantly. Under the expert
supervision of Aaron Given, assistant wildlife
biologist for the Town of Kiawah Island, today
the Kiawah Island Banding Station is one of the largest
and most highly regarded stations in the southeast.
Initially, banding took place on both Cougar Island and
Captain Sams Spit, but was limited to the Spit after that
first year until last year.
2015 saw a significant step ahead with the
establishment of a second operation on Little Bear Island.
Banding is performed by interns—students who have
completed a college degree and who have successfully
competed for the coveted positions. In 2015, six interns
worked at the stations and Chris Snook, a master
bander from England, assisted Aaron with supervision
at the new station. Aaron has posted an exhaustive
summary of the activities at the two locations at
www.kiawahislandbanding.blogspot.com.
Despite the Big Rain of October 2015, the results for
the migratory bird banding season (August-November)
are amazing. The group logged approximately 16,000 nethours, banding or re-capturing nearly 9,000 birds. The
new station at Little Bear is dedicated to Kiawah Island’s
beloved Bill Blizard, best known as “Captain Bluebird,”
who supervised the building and positioning of the
hundreds of bluebird houses that dot the Island today.
To establish the station, Aaron had to carve his way
carefully through thick underbrush on the Island,
sometimes with a machete.
The station is located at the tip of the Kiawah Island
Golf Resort’s Ocean Course and attracted the attention
of two caddies who wandered in toward the end of the
season. Making their way through the dense foliage,
they came upon a huge table with hanging white bags,
assorted containers, scales and numerous instruments,
saying they just wanted to see what was going on in there.
Apparently they suspected something akin to the meth
lab in “Breaking Bad.”
Each of the banders described a few favorite memories:
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