The beginning of our last week of banding started not with a
bang, but with a typhoon! The remnants of Typhoon Songda worked its way to the
coast of Vancouver Island as a series of powerful storms. We saw the beginning
of the first storm on Thursday, with heavy rain and wind most of the day, while
a devoted group of volunteers and banders were able to open nets and catch a
few birds at both Pedder Bay and Rocky Point late in the morning. The wind and
rained continued to pound the coast over the next two days and no banding was
able to take place until Sunday October 16th. 23 birds were banded
at Rocky Point and Pedder Bay. The rain continued into Monday and nets were
only opened for part of the day. 14 birds were banded at Rocky Point and 23
birds were banded at Pedder Bay.
 |
| Another beautiful sunrise from the banding station Ian Cruikshank |
In spite of the rain
we still had good numbers of Ruby-crowned and Golden-crowned Kinglets and American
Robins at both sites on census. Greater White Fronted Geese were observed at
Pedder Bay on the 17th and 18th and the ‘Harlan’s’
Red-tailed Hawk was seen again for the second time on the 13th at Rocky Point. The
vulture and raptor numbers have decreased drastically over the last week, but
we are beginning to see more and more ducks and geese in the bays of Rocky
Point. Some notable observations include dozens of Surf Scoters, White-winged
Scoters, Red-necked, Horned and Western Grebes, Pacific and Common Loons, Greater
White Fronted Geese, and plenty of Bonaparte’s and Mew Gulls.
 |
| Gulls in flight Ian Cruikshank |
Our last day of passerine migration was Tuesday the 18th,
and we finally had some long awaited sun! While we still had scattered showers
that resulted in us closing nets briefly. The 18th was also our last
education program of the year at Pedder Bay. Unfortunately, our brief showers
overlapped with our last group of kids visiting the banding station. While the
kids from Hans Helgeson Elementary left a little wet, everyone seemed to enjoy
their time at Pedder Bay.
The final day of banding yielded some amazing observations
after the rains at Rocky Point, making the day feel much more like a day in the
middle of migration than the end. Volunteers were lucky to see a Brown Pelican
circling Race Rocks, as well as two Palm Warblers, flocks of American Pipits,
approximately 1200 American Robins, 116 Cedar Waxwings, more than 200 Snow
Geese and a Sooty Grouse.
 |
| Our banders determining the age of a Norther Saw-whet Owl Cheryl Hoyle |
While our final week of passerine banding has come to a
close, Northern Saw-whet migration continues until October 31st. Owl migration
is picking up, in the last week Rocky Point has banded 18 owls and Pedder Bay
banded 7, despite being rained on 3 out of the last 6 nights.
-
Rocky Point
|
13th
|
14th
|
15th
|
16th
|
17th
|
18th
|
Total
|
Banded
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
23
|
14
|
35
|
75
|
Species Banded
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
8
|
8
|
9
|
15
|
Recap
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
4
|
5
|
14
|
24
|
Species Recap
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
4
|
8
|
11
|
Pedder Bay
|
13th
|
14th
|
15th
|
16th
|
17th
|
18th
|
Total
|
Banded
|
10
|
0
|
0
|
23
|
23
|
26
|
82
|
Species Banded
|
4
|
0
|
0
|
7
|
9
|
8
|
13
|
Recap
|
8
|
0
|
0
|
10
|
7
|
14
|
39
|
Species Recap
|
7
|
0
|
0
|
7
|
5
|
7
|
12
|
-
Species
|
Rocky
Week 13 Totals
|
Rocky
Season Totals
|
Pedder
Week 13 Totals
|
Pedder
Season Totals
|
Cooper's Hawk
|
0
|
1
|
||
Northern Harrier
|
1
|
0
|
||
Barred Owl
|
2
|
1
|
||
Anna's Hummingbird
|
0
|
14
|
||
Rufous Hummingbird
|
14
|
21
|
||
Red-breasted Sapsucker
|
0
|
1
|
7
|
|
Hairy Woodpecker
|
1
|
4
|
2
|
|
Downy Woodpecker
|
3
|
4
|
||
Northern Flicker
|
1
|
4
|
8
|
|
Olive-sided Flycatcher
|
2
|
0
|
||
"Traill's" Flycatcher
|
1
|
0
|
||
Willow Flycatcher
|
65
|
48
|
||
Dusky Flycatcher
|
1
|
0
|
||
Hammond's Flycatcher
|
19
|
14
|
||
Pacific-slope Flycatcher
|
290
|
114
|
||
Cassin's Vireo
|
1
|
3
|
||
Hutton's Vireo
|
6
|
3
|
||
Warbling Vireo
|
16
|
11
|
||
Steller's Jay
|
1
|
1
|
||
Barn Swallow
|
0
|
1
|
||
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
|
3
|
49
|
1
|
22
|
Bushtit
|
3
|
37
|
||
Red-breasted Nuthatch
|
5
|
3
|
||
Brown Creeper
|
24
|
11
|
||
Bewick's Wren
|
1
|
25
|
37
|
|
House Wren
|
17
|
20
|
||
Pacific Wren
|
7
|
170
|
4
|
42
|
Marsh Wren
|
1
|
3
|
0
|
|
Golden-crowned Kinglet
|
8
|
87
|
9
|
105
|
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
|
34
|
335
|
14
|
246
|
Swainson's Thrush
|
70
|
86
|
||
Hermit Thrush
|
1
|
92
|
7
|
127
|
American Robin
|
23
|
7
|
60
|
|
Varied Thrush
|
1
|
0
|
||
Cedar Waxwing
|
4
|
4
|
||
Orange-crowned Warbler
|
126
|
135
|
||
Yellow Warbler
|
75
|
66
|
||
Chestnut-sided Warbler
|
1
|
0
|
||
"Audubon's" Yellow-rumped Warbler
|
10
|
19
|
||
"Myrtle" Yellow-rumped Warbler
|
14
|
4
|
||
"Unknown/hybrid" Yellow-r. Warbler
|
1
|
3
|
||
Black-throated Gray Warbler
|
3
|
5
|
||
Townsend's Warbler
|
3
|
2
|
||
Northern Waterthrush
|
0
|
1
|
||
MacGillivray's Warbler
|
31
|
28
|
||
Common Yellowthroat
|
51
|
47
|
||
Wilson's Warbler
|
162
|
152
|
||
Western Tanager
|
1
|
20
|
||
Black-headed Grosbeak
|
4
|
10
|
||
Spotted Towhee
|
3
|
185
|
2
|
149
|
Chipping Sparrow
|
22
|
15
|
||
Savannah Sparrow
|
54
|
11
|
||
Fox Sparrow
|
6
|
123
|
10
|
151
|
Song Sparrow
|
1
|
71
|
3
|
88
|
Lincoln's Sparrow
|
81
|
139
|
||
Swamp Sparrow
|
2
|
0
|
||
White-throated Sparrow
|
8
|
4
|
||
White-crowned Sparrow
|
1
|
127
|
300
|
|
Golden-crowned Sparrow
|
89
|
1
|
126
|
|
Oregon Junco
|
5
|
68
|
22
|
265
|
Red-winged Blackbird
|
1
|
0
|
||
Brown-headed Cowbird
|
0
|
2
|
||
Purple Finch
|
2
|
79
|
1
|
103
|
House Finch
|
0
|
12
|
||
Pine Siskin
|
11
|
10
|
||
American Goldfinch
|
20
|
7
|
||
TOTALS
|
75
|
2761
|
82
|
2927
|
-
Species
|
Rocky
Week 13 Totals
|
Rocky
Season Totals
|
Pedder
Week 12 Totals
|
Pedder
Season Totals
|
NSWO - new
|
18
|
128
|
7
|
73
|
NSWO - recap
|
2
|
10
|
2
|
7
|
BDOW - new
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
