Welcome to the first edition of the 2016 fall banding season
weekly update. Each week I will endeavour to provide a synopsis of the
migration and highlights of the past week at our two stations: Rocky Point and
Pedder Bay. I will also try to include the odd educational piece covering an
aspect (or aspects) of interest with regards to the banding process such as how
we age or sex a particular species/ group of birds or a particular age class.
Right off the bat I would like to thank all the volunteers that come out to
help at the two stations. As with any bird observatory, we could not operate
without your assistance and with only a week gone I can already see that there
is an army of people out there willing and keen to roll out of bed at 4am to
join us in making our contribution to bird conservation.
In addition to our volunteers the banding crew this year is
comprised of Serena Johnson and Sharlene James (interim) as Assistant Banders
and Rick Schortinghuis and myself, Avery Bartels, as Banders-in-charge.
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| Sunrise at Rocky point by Sharlene James |
The season could not have got off to a better start last
Thursday (Jul. 21) as both stations kicked things off with a bang. The critters,
both feathered and furry, of Rocky Point certainly made me feel welcome on my
first mornings banding here starting with a family of River Otters playing on
the rocks as we stepping out of the car at Edye Point. From there it just kept
getting better!
The morning proceeded at a comfortable pace, just as you
hope for on a first day as we worked out the kinks and I got myself acquainted
with the quirks that make RPBO unique. We had a nice diversity of birds in the
nets with Bewick’s Wrens and Wilson’s Warblers being our top catches. Three
gorgeous, though feisty, Black-headed Grosbeaks also graced us with their presence
while grazing on any flesh presented.
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| Chestnut-sided Warbler! by Sharlene James |
It took only a few
net rounds for me to witness firsthand why Rocky Point has the extraordinary
reputation it does amongst birders. As I was making my way down towards net
three I put my binos on a warbler flitting at the top of a tree and what was I
fixed on but a CHESTNUT-SIDED WARBLER! It appeared to be an adult female, which
was corroborated a few days later (more on that below). This is just the 4th
record for the south Vancouver Island and the second at Rocky Point!
While we at Rocky Point were easing in to the new season,
over at Pedder Bay, Rick and co were going full steam ahead. On their second
net round they caught 25 birds (over half our daily total at Rocky Point!),
mostly White-crowned Sparrows in the two hilltop nets. While the pace slackened
somewhat they still ended the day with 71 birds banded (including a nice
Western Tanager) and 5 recaps (three originally banded in 2015 and two from
2014).
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| Western Tanager by Sharlene James |
As the week progressed things slowed down a bit at both
stations. Most days were in the 30-45 birds banded range with each station
having one or two very slow days (16 banded July 22 at Pedder and 15 banded
July 27 at Rocky). The undoubted banding
highlight of the week was when Serena pulled the CHESTNUT-SIDED WARBLER out of
net 7 at Rocky. Interestingly, the bird was undergoing a full moult which not
only indicated it was an adult (micro-aged to Second-year by presence of some
retained juvenile feathers) but that it had been in the area for at least a
week or two, and likely all summer
meaning it could have even bred with who knows what other warbler species.
In total for week 1 Rocky Point banded 223 birds of 33
species including Rufous Hummingbird (5), Hairy Woodpecker (1), Cassin’s Vireo
(1) and Pine Siskin (2). As is typical for the early season at Rocky Point Pacific-slope
Flycatcher (38) and Wilson’s Warbler (34) were the most frequently caught birds.
It has been a good start of the season for finches in general with Pine Siskins
particularly common and American Goldfinch, Red Crossbill and Purple Finch all
being recorded in varying numbers at both stations daily.
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| Juvenile Hairy Woodpecker by Ivy Doak |
Pedder Bay banded 264 birds of 31 species for the week including
a whopping 71 White-crowned Sparrows. Also amongst the top catch were Spotted
Towhee (27) and Wilson’s Warbler (24). Some of the other goodies caught at
Pedder Bay were Anna’s Hummingbird (1), Rufous Hummingbird (10!), Cedar Waxwing
(1), Western Tanager (1) and Black-headed Grosbeak (2). Band-tailed Pigeons were
seen almost daily in small numbers flying overhead. Among the recaps at Pedder
on July 22 were a Wilson’s Warbler banded in 2013 and a 4-year old Bewick’s Wren, banded in 2012!
July 27 may have been a slow day banding-wise at Rocky
but it was our best day for diversity (81 species) and we had 7 species of shorebird
including our first Long-billed Dowitcher and Lesser Yellowlegs of the season. A
Barred Owl spent some time around the banding lab and we were treated to the
spectacle of it eating a squirrel before the hive of Bushtits chattering around
its head drove it off.
All in all an excellent start to the season, bring on Week 2!
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| Rocky Point | 21st | 22nd | 23rd | 24th | 25th | 26th | 27th | Total |
| Banded | 45 | 43 | 32 | 25 | 28 | 35 | 15 | 223 |
| Species banded | 16 | 15 | 19 | 8 | 13 | 14 | 13 | 33 |
| Recapped | 1 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 26 |
| Species recapped | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 9 |
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| Pedder Bay | 21st | 22nd | 23rd | 24th | 25th | 26th | 27th | Total |
| Banded | 71 | 16 | 40 | 46 | 40 | 31 | 20 | 264 |
| Species banded | 18 | 10 | 15 | 21 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 31 |
| Recapped | 6 | 3 | 8 | 6 | 10 | 12 | 6 | 51 |
| Species recapped | 5 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 12 |
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| Species | Rocky Point Banded | Pedder Bay Banded | Total |
| Anna's Hummingbird | 1 | 1 | |
| Rufous Hummingbird | 5 | 10 | 15 |
| Downy Woodpecker | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| Hairy Woodpecker | 1 | 1 | |
| Red-breasted Sapsucker | 1 | 1 | |
| Willow Flycactcher | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Pacific-slope Flycatcher | 39 | 14 | 53 |
| Cassin's Vireo | 1 | 1 | |
| Warbling Vireo | 5 | 3 | 8 |
| Chestnut-backed Chickadee | 12 | 8 | 20 |
| Bushtit | 2 | 7 | 9 |
| Red-breasted Nuthatch | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Brown Creeper | 10 | 3 | 13 |
| Bewick's Wren | 11 | 6 | 17 |
| House Wren | 5 | 4 | 9 |
| Pacific Wren | 4 | 4 | |
| Golden-crowned Kingliet | 1 | 1 | |
| Cedar Waxwing | 1 | 1 | |
| Swainson's Thrush | 13 | 11 | 24 |
| American Robin | 5 | 8 | 13 |
| Orange-crowned Warbler | 6 | 6 | 12 |
| Yellow Warbler | 2 | 2 | |
| Chestnut-sided Warbler | 1 | 1 | |
| MacGillivray's Warbler | 6 | 8 | 14 |
| Common Yellowthroat | 6 | 1 | 7 |
| Wilson's Warbler | 36 | 24 | 60 |
| Western Tanager | 1 | 1 | |
| Spotted Towhee | 7 | 27 | 34 |
| Chipping Sparrow | 18 | 5 | 23 |
| Song Sparrow | 12 | 11 | 23 |
| White-crowned Sparrow | 13 | 71 | 84 |
| Dark-eyed Junco | 1 | 14 | 15 |
| Black-headed Grosbeak | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| Red-winged Blackbird | 1 | 1 | |
| Purple Finch | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| House Finch | 3 | 3 | |
| Pine Siskin | 4 | 3 | 7 |
| American Goldfinch | 4 | 3 | 7 |
| 243 | 264 | 507 |
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