Week 7: Down in the Bayou

The beginning of September usually marks a turning point in the season for us, as our early season migrants are mostly gone, our late season migrants begin to arrive, the weather begins to change, and the hopes for vagrant birds increase. It also marks a change in our staffing, as our summer interns Evan and Heather head back to school (along with some of our volunteers!), and our fall intern Gaelin begins his time with us. Good luck to all of you, and welcome Gaelin!

The bird of the week! Can you ID it? (David Bell)

Despite the heat and high pressure that persisted through the week, and the smoke haze from fires burning well to the south of us, the birds were moving, and our most exciting bird of the week likely felt right at home in the heat! Although some nights showed good movements of migrants on the nocturnal radar, the nets were fairly slow this week, as seems to be typical on hot, sunny days during fall migration. It seems that the birds mostly either keep going or land farther inland on these days, and likely don’t move around as much when they are on site. This gave us plenty of time for observations and keeping up with our station chores such as maintenance and data entry, though! If you are interested in seeing how many birds move each night, check out BirdCast for Clallam County, WA, here: https://dashboard.birdcast.info/region/US-WA-009.

The month began with quite the sunrise at Rocky Point! (Mara Hanneson)

Rocky Point sunrise (David Bell)

We just couldn't get enough! (David Bell)

Our top capture this week was Lincoln's Sparrow, with 71 individuals banded between the two stations. Rocky Point banded a total of 269 birds, only a little below the Week 7 average of 289. This put Rocky Point over the 2000 mark for birds banded this season, a full six days earlier than the previous earliest date to reach this milestone! Pedder Bay was a bit slower, as has been the norm this season, with 185 birds banded, a fair bit below the average of 281 for this week. The only new species captured this week was a Sharp-shinned Hawk at Rocky Point; hopefully we will catch more of these tiny raptors in the coming weeks! While no rare species were captured at either station this week, some uncommonly-banded birds included two Barred Owls, two Hutton's Vireos, a Cassin's Vireo, and a Black-throated Gray Warbler at Rocky Point, while Pedder Bay caught a Black-throated Gray Warbler, three Townsend's Warblers, and a Black-headed Grosbeak. 

This Yellow Warbler was the 2000th bird banded at Rocky Point this season (David Bell)

Townsend's Warblers (Mara Hanneson)

Red-breasted Nuthatch (Mara Hanneson)

Brown Creeper (David Bell)

A nice male Oregon Junco (Heather Tocher)

Our “oldest bird of the week” award this week went to a Spotted Towhee originally banded at Rocky Point in 2017 as a hatch-year, making it seven years old now. As it was in the process of completing its prebasic molt, it was looking a little rough, missing most of its head feathers. We hope it will finish molting soon and get back to looking its best! The runner-up at Rocky Point was a Chestnut-backed Chickadee banded in 2019; surprisingly it was caught twice this week (on the 5^th and 7^th), and both times in Net 8 – you’d think it would learn! Pedder Bay's contender was a White-crowned Sparrow originally banded in 2018; it was also caught last week, and both captures this season have been in the same net as well (Net 14)!

A very old Spotted Towhee, in very heavy molt (David Bell)

With migration shifting, and several days passing the 100-species mark at Rocky Point, it’s no surprise that we had a number of new birds seen at the stations on ‘obs’ this week and a few highlights. New arrivals at Rocky Point included Short-billed Dowitcher, Hermit Thrush, Gadwall, and Broad-winged Hawk, while new arrivals at Pedder Bay included Ring-billed Gull and American Pipit. The highlight of the week at Pedder Bay was a Dusky Flycatcher observed on the 5th, marking a first record for the site. Highlights at Rocky Point included flocks of Sabine's Gulls on the 1st, a Cassin's Auklet on the 2nd, and a Lewis’s Woodpecker and three Arctic Terns on the 6th. The biggest highlight of the week also occurred on the 6th, and rather outshone those other species, any of which could normally be the bird of the week! I've copied the story from my eBird report here:

"Kate and I (DB) did the 11:50 net run to the front as I was going to retrieve my scope and do some last-minute obs before closing time. I was only a few steps ahead of her and focused more on the ocean, when I heard Kate say "uhhhh, Dave?! Raptor? Pale?! What is this?!". As soon as she said my name I turned around and looked where she was looking, to see a medium-sized raptor with narrow, pointed wings circling above the front ponds. As I got my bins up it was turning away from us, and I thought "huh that Peregrine looks a bit weird". As it turned back toward us it clicked first that it was a Kite, and then as it fully swung around it was clear that it was a MIKI! I yelled on the radio for everyone to come up to the front, and luckily the bird stuck around circling for a few minutes, allowing everyone to get good views and photos. After a few minutes it made a beeline out toward Bentinck, and seeing the coast over that way, it turned around and zoomed back inland toward Pedder Bay. We alerted the team there but unfortunately it must have passed by too far for them to see.

First record for BC, a new Canada bird for me, and coincidentally my 500th species photographed in Canada!! What a day."

Incredibly, after this sighting I remembered that I had sent a note to our group chat about a Mississippi Kite seen in Sitka, Alaska back on 28 July of this year, where I had hoped we would catch it on its journey south. I looked up the eBird record, and was simultaneously shocked but also not really surprised (it was a first record for Alaska, and is almost 2000 km away from its nearest usual range!) to see that it looked very similar to our bird! After comparing photos, it shows a lot of the same plumage characteristics and is almost certainly the same bird, six weeks and 1250 km away from where it was first seen! That record can be viewed here: https://ebird.org/checklist/S189309547, with more information on the species here: https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/miskit/cur/introduction. It's not every day you get to add a species to a provincial list! Now we just have to hope it makes another appearance so more people can see it!

Mississippi Kite!!! (David Bell)

Lewis's Woodpecker (David Bell)

Wildlife this week included Black Bear, Humpback Whales, bats, mink, the usual curious deer around the stations, the family of Eastern Gray Squirrels at Pedder which has now moved up the hill, and various interesting insects. The Black Saddlebags made their first appearance of the season this week, and the European Mantis have been out in numbers with the sunny days, while some brilliant blue-green cuckoo wasps (unknown species) have been out as well. Another invertebrate highlight was a squid species that floated by Rocky Point one day this week.

Black Saddlebags (David Bell)

European Mantis (David Bell)

As always, a big thank-you to all of the volunteers who came out this week to help out! There are still plenty of available slots on the schedule, and with migration picking up (and owls starting on the 15th), it's a great time to be at the stations!

Week 7 totals - click to enlarge

Smoky sunrise at Rocky Point (David Bell)

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Migration...

Halfway through the season already! This week the general trends of both stations continued, with Pedder Bay banding 182 new birds, slightly below the week 6 average of 208.  So far this year the total is 1048 birds, slightly below the average of 1255.  The Rocky Point station has continued to run slightly above the week 6 average of 246, banding 312 new birds this week.  The year-to-date total is 1929, well above the average of 1255.

Sunrise at Rocky Point (David Bell)

On the subject of numbers, Pedder Bay reached the 1000th birds banded! Said bird was a Puget Sound White-crowned Sparrow, one of the most common species caught at this station. Rocky Point is also only 71 birds away from the 2000 bird milestone.

A hatch year White-crowned Sparrow in the spotlight (Heather Tocher)

This new week brought the first of many first of the season birds for both stations. At Pedder, the first Hermit Thrush, Fox Sparrow, Black-throated Gray Warbler and Oregon Junco were caught this week. Rocky Point had some first of the season birds as well, including a Cooper’s Hawk, Barred Owl, "Traill’s" Flycatcher, Hutton’s Vireo, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Fox Sparrow, and Townsend’s Warbler. It seems many common winter birds have begun their trip down south (or to lower elevations at least), and soon many will appear in full force. Stay tuned for next week’s blog to find out how many decide to make the flight.

The first Hermit Thrush of the season at Pedder (Evan Lewis)

The first Fox Sparrow of the season at Rocky (Heather Tocher)

Rocky's first Golden-crowned Kinglet (Heather Tocher)

The female Cooper’s Hawk (caught in net 1) and the Barred Owl (caught in net 8) were both banded on August 29th at Rocky Point! Both were hatch year birds. Since these were the first large raptors of season, we all got a bit of review on how to safely handle and extract these birds. When large birds fly into the net, they usually just bounce off, so if anyone notices a large bird in a net, they “bag it” as fast as safely possible to prevent escape.  “Bagging” a bird entails pulling the net’s trammel line that is below the pocket with the bird up to the next line, creating an enclosed pocket until safe extraction of the bird can begin. While handling these birds, the most important things to consider are the talons and wings.  One way to contain both the legs and wings is to hold the bird close to your body with a firm grip on both legs without crossing them, as can be see in the one of the photos below.  This hold is called reverse bander's grip. To keep the encounter as low stress as possible (for both the bird and us), a bag is placed over the head when possible.

 Cooper's Hawk being held in reverse bander's grip (Heather Tocher)

Mara in the process of banding her first COHA (Heather Tocher)

Our art board getting decorated (Emma Radziul)

Inspiration for the art board- Barred Owl being weighed safely in a wrap (Heather Tocher)

Wing spread of Barred Owl, showing its namesake barred feathers (Mara Hanneson)

Some other notable birds at Rocky Point included two Red-winged Blackbirds (HY male and AHY female), and a Brown-headed Cowbird.  The Red-winged Blackbirds showed a great example of sexual dimorphism. The most obvious example of this is the plumage difference in adult males and females, but this young male had not yet grown in its red wings.  Despite this, there still was a significant differences in their size. The male weighed in at 63.1g, while the female was only 40.6g!

Comparison between hatch year male (left) and after hatch year female (right) RWBL (Evan Lewis) 

The influx of pelagic birds has continued through to week 6. Some species observed from Rocky Point were Red-necked Phalaropes, Jaegers (Parasitic and Pomarine), Sabine’s Gulls, a Franklin's Gull, and  Shearwaters (Sooty and Pink-footed). On top of these great birds, the same fish and krill that attracts birds brings other wildlife. On August 29^th, many of us were able to see a pod of three orcas as well as a humpback whale.  As with previous weeks, there was one large male (large, straighter dorsal fin) with other female and young orcas (smaller, more curved fins).

Female/ immature (left) and male (right) orcas (Heather Tocher)

At Pedder Bay, Golden-crowned Sparrows and Steller’s Jays, both of which are commonly seen during winter and fall, have been observed near the station. They have not yet hit the nets, but they have certainly started to arrive. One interesting bird that was caught at Pedder this week was a hatch year Wilson’s Warbler with a single leucistic tail feather. This strange characteristic can occur due to a genetic mutation causing little to no pigment to color the feather.

HY Wilson's Warbler with leucistic feather at Pedder (Heather Tocher)

Now, a little bit of background on myself. I am one of the three interns working at RPBO this season, and despite my internship coming to an end, I look forward to volunteering in the future to continue this journey in banding.  Currently, I am going into my second year at UVIC, pursuing a combined major in Biology and Earth Science.  Prior to joining the station as an intern, I had been birding for about 5 years, but was only introduced to the wonderful world of banding last year through a banding workshop for youth in Alberta.  My time here has been packed with amazing experiences, and I have learned more than I could have ever imagined about the basics of bird banding.  I hope to continue pursuing my passion for field biology after completing my degree, and this experience will no doubt be an invaluable steppingstone for my future. I have vastly enjoyed my time at RPBO, and would like to thank everyone who made this such an amazing, and educational, experience!

This was a great week, made possible by the many wonderful volunteers that spend their time helping protect and advocate for these amazing animals. If you are interested in volunteering, please find more information on our website, https://rpbo.org/

Grand totals of week six (click to enlarge)

 

Week 5: A Tale of Two Stations

Week 5 of our migration monitoring program was an interesting week, with both our busiest and quietest days yet of the season, a few season firsts, and some notable observations of birds and other wildlife at our stations. Overall, migration has picked up a little bit, with the first arrivals of Lincoln’s Sparrows, meaning Fox and Golden-crowned Sparrows are not far behind, and a slight increase in the number of warblers and flycatchers caught as well as observed at our stations. Hopefully that trend continues as we enter the last week of August, which is typically the busiest week of the month.

South-facing view over a low tide from Rocky Point (David Bell)

This week Pedder Bay banded 142 new birds, 20 birds more than last week, pushing the season total to 866. This was below the historical season average of 161 for Week 5, and the current season total of 866 is below the total average of 947. At Rocky Point this week, our 343 birds banded is well above the week 5 average of 219, and the season total of 1617 vastly eclipses the average for this point in the year of 1020. The record for this point of the year is 1431 in 2005. Rocky Point is now at where we’re usually at by September 10th, while Pedder Bay is where we’re at usually by August 15th. Remarkable that Rocky Point has now banded almost twice the number of birds Pedder Bay has! It is a tale of two stations this year I suppose. 

A foggy morning from the hill at Pedder Bay (Mara Hanneson) 

Sunrise at Rocky Point (David Bell)

Empidonax flycatchers still made up a good proportion of the birds we caught this week, with 80 Western Flycatchers, 61 Willow Flycatchers, and 3 Hammond's Flycatchers banded between the two stations. Other birds that passed across our banding tables in good numbers this week were Puget Sound White-crowned Sparrows, Orange-crowned Warblers, and Swainson's Thrushes, as well as a smattering of Purple Finches, Pine Siskins, and Wilson's Warblers to boot.

An adorable baby Pine Siskin - still growing in those tail feathers! (Mara Hanneson)

A hatch year Hammond's Flycatcher (Evan Lewis)

It has been a record breaking season for Pine Siskins this year, as we have already smashed the all time season total (95 birds banded between the two stations as it stands). The season totals of Willow Flycatcher (125), House Wren (39), and Cedar Waxwing (30) that were reached this week at Rocky Point are now also all all-time season records at the station, and we're only just over a month in. August 23rd was the busiest day of the season yet, with 134 new birds banded at Rocky Point, 59 of which were flycatchers. At Pedder Bay on the 23rd, 52 new birds were banded which ties the record set on the first day of the season. Some heavy rain on 24th meant we had to reduce our net hours, so only 22 birds were banded at Rocky Point, and 10 birds were banded at Pedder Bay that day.

Western Tanager, the 100th bird banded on our 134 bird day (Emma Radziul)

Our nets at Rocky Point were graced by two new species for the season this week, in the form of seven Lincoln's Sparrow's and not one, but two Western Wood-Pewees!

A smartly-plumaged Lincoln's Sparrow (Emma Radziul)

1 of 2 Western Wood-Pewees (Evan Lewis)

Lincoln's Sparrow is a common migrant species that has just arrived at our stations, so those are the first of many to come, but Western Wood-Pewee is a a species we very rarely catch, as these were only the 12th and 13th banding record for us at Rocky Point all time. We've now banded both Olive-sided Flycatcher and Western Wood-Pewee this year at Rocky Point, which are both regularly occurring Contopus flycatchers on Vancouver Island.

The most notable capture of the week was somehow not the first of the season - on August 22 we banded two more Least Sandpipers, representing the second and third banding record at Rocky Point all time - and the second and third this year!

 Least Sandpiper x 2!!  (Mara Hanneson)

Lightning can indeed strike twice it seems. They were caught in an early net round, when the high tide pushed a flock of peeps up to the high water line near Net 2. Like the one a few weeks ago, these were both juvenile birds, in their fresh and crisply edged plumage, making their way south from the Arctic for the first time. It was amazing to study their structure and plumage details carefully in the hand.

There were also a few season firsts for Pedder Bay this week, including this lovely hatch year Cassin's Vireo, displaying a pattern called a 'fault bar' across the tail. A fault bar is a weaker part of a feather caused due to stress during feather growth, so when a bar can be seen across the whole tail as it can be in this bird, we can infer that these tail feathers all grew in at the same time and underwent stress simultaneously. Since adult birds molt their tails sequentially, we can conclude that this bird is a hatch year.

Cassin's Vireo (Evan Lewis)

A great example of an obvious fault bar (Evan Lewis) 

Another exciting bird to have in the nets was a hatch year Barn Swallow, which was foraging lower than usual due to some rainy conditions. Their long wings and diagnostic deeply forked tail with those white subterminal spots were fun to observe up close.

Barn Swallow (Mara Hanneson)

Check out those tail spots! (Mara Hanneson)

The best bird we banded at Pedder Bay this week however was a big and boisterous hatch year Pileated Woodpecker, only the 3rd ever banded at Pedder Bay! It was a male, as indicated by the red malar. He was a loud and powerful bird, and required all hands on deck to process. He weighed a whopping 240 grams and had a wing of over 220mm, by far the biggest bird we've banded yet this year. Truly amazing to see the 6th largest woodpecker in the world up close. It was Mara's first Pileated and this wonderful bird made sure to make his presence memorable.

Hatch year male Pileated Woodpecker (Evan Larson)

Pileated Woodpecker underwing (Evan Larson)

A few other banding highlights for Pedder Bay included a Black-headed Grosbeak, only the second of the season, and the third Red-breasted Sapsucker of the season.

Black-headed Grosbeak (Evan Larson)

Red-breasted Sapsucker (David Bell)

Outside of the nets, we encountered some fun wildlife this week. Highlights included 1 Franklin's Gull found on census on August 22nd by volunteer Joachim Bertrands, which remained present throughout the day allowing for views for all present. This coincided with a huge push of thousands of gulls into the Juan de Fuca Strait, comprised of predominantly California Gulls, with Glaucous-winged, Short-billed, Heermann's and Ring-billed Gulls in smaller numbers. Our estimated totals of gulls observed from Rocky Point were upwards of 5000 on a few days this week. Sabine's Gulls were also detected offshore in numbers as a large influx of this pelagic species is currently occurring in our waters.

First cycle Ring-billed Gull (Evan Larson)

We also observed 4 Orcas in the channel between Bentinck Island and Rocky Point on the 21st, one of which was a nice large male with a huge dorsal fin.

A large male Orca (Evan Larson)

It seemed like a family group with a large male, a female, and two younger ones. These stunning marine mammals stuck around for a day or two, as we also saw them the next day west of the station foraging near the coast. Always a highlight to encounter these spectacular and endangered whales.

Just a little bit about me - I am one of the interns here at Rocky Point Bird Observatory this year, and it has been an amazing experience thus far! I had very little previous banding experience so I was learning most skills and knowledge relevant to the banding process all for the first time. To work at a banding station for the first time, I discovered there is a massive amount of new information to retain, but looking back over the past 6 or so weeks I can see how much I have learned from my many mistakes and questions, and with more experience I have progressed and improved. Time has flown by, and I can't believe I won't be able to band anymore with school starting up again next week, but I have made the most of the time I've had here. I hope to pursue a career in field ornithology once I graduate from UVic, so working at RPBO has been a super valuable experience for my future endeavours, and as someone whose biggest passion is birds, it has just been a super enjoyable experience! I hope to be back very soon. Thanks to everyone who has helped me along the way.

And great week overall! Big thanks to all our dedicated volunteers that keep this show on the road, and we hope to see you again next week!