Friday, September 30, 2016

Week 10: A Flurry of Firsts

Our tenth week of banding started off on a high note with three new species banded. Both Pedder Bay and Rocky Point both caught their first White-throated sparrow of the season on September 24th. These are low volume, late fall migrants at Rocky Point. Since the 24th both stations have caught one more White-throated Sparrow with several others being observed around each station. 
White-throated Sparrow by Serena Johnston 
On the 24th Rocky Point also banded the first Swamp Sparrow of the season along with a Dusky Flycatcher! Dusky Flycatchers occur in central and eastern British Columbia and are rare visitors on Vancouver Island. This is the sixth Dusky Flycatcher banded at Rocky Point, the last one being banded in 2009.

Dusky Flycatcher by Rick Hardy


More and more of the fall migrants are flooding in with a few standout species at each station. Ruby-crowned Kinglets are becoming a dominant presence at both sites. In the past week there have been 89 banded at Rocky Point, previously 66, and 77 banded at Pedder Bay, previously 34. Hermit Thrush
An adult male Purple Finch, banded at Pedder Bay by Rick Hardy
almost doubled the number banded at both sites as well. Pedder Bay has continued to see a huge influx of Purple Finch with 29 banded bringing the total to a whopping 95, primarily young birds. Other standouts include 28 Pacific Wren banded at Rocky Point and large numbers of Spotted Towhees that dominate the nets at both sites.

Raptor numbers continued to be high from the 22nd through the 24th, particularly at Rocky Point. In the late morning kettles of over 500 Turkey Vultures have been seen kettling in the skies over the Rocky Point banding station.  Turkey Vultures were also observed moving through Pedder Bay, but in lower numbers. September 24th was a great day for raptors at Rocky Point, along with 500+ Turkey Vultures, 10 Sharp-shinned Hawks, 10 Cooper’s Hawks, 11 Red-tailed Hawks and a rare treat, a Swainson’s Hawk, were seen in the kettles! The Swainson’s Hawk, usually found in the interior of B.C. and Alberta, was seen again the next day by Nancy Raginski. Pedder Bay was not to be outdone this week however. Ann Nightingale was lucky to spy a Northern Goshawk overhead on the 24th.

On the 22nd a single Northern Saw-whet Owl was discovered roosting in the shrubs along the path. These small owls, while seemingly numerous during banding operations at night are rarely seen during the day and was a great surprise for the team at Rocky Point.
In the past week we hosted our first two education programs at Pedder Bay, a group of grade 5 girls from SMUS on the 21st and a group of seniors on the 27th. Both were a great success and everyone seemed to enjoy their day at the banding station. We will have several more education programs over the next few weeks and hope that all goes well!
The 'first of the year' Swamp Sparrow by Rick Hardy 

Rocky Point lost banding hours one 3 days this week from the 27th to 29th due to military activity. This means nets were closed at 8 am. During the first day of closures the crew at Rocky Point still banded 34 new birds, but numbers were down the next day with only 12 banded.

Owls continue to trickle in slow and steady. While there have not yet been any nights with high numbers, a few owls have been caught most nights with good weather. Each site more than doubled the number of owls banded this week. Rocky Point now has a total of 25 Northern Saw-whet Owls and Pedder Bay has a total of 18.

Other notable observations from the week include:
- A Cassin’s Auklet observed at Rocky Point on September 26th
-  Two Western Meadowlarks were observed on the September 24th
- Another Horned Lark was observed at Rocky Point in September 24th
- A total of 114 Cackling Geese were observed flying overhead at Pedder Bay on September 27th

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Species
Rocky Week 10 Totals
Rocky Season Totals
Pedder Week 10 Totals
Pedder Season Totals
Northern Harrier
0
1
0
0
Barred Owl
0
2
0
1
Anna's Hummingbird
0
0
2
14
Rufous Hummingbird
0
14
0
21
Red-breasted Sapsucker
0
0
1
4
Hairy Woodpecker
0
3
0
2
Downy Wodpecker
0
3
0
4
Northern Flicker
1
2
2
5
Olive-sided Flycatcher
0
2
0
0
"Traill's" Flycatcher
0
1
0
0
Willow Flycatcher
0
65
0
48
Dusky Flycatcher
1
1
0
0
Hammond's Flycatcher
3
16
1
12
Pacific-slope Flycatcher
6
290
4
114
Cassin's Vireo
0
1
0
3
Hutton's Vireo
1
3
0
2
Warbling Vireo
0
15
0
11
Steller's Jay
0
1
0
0
Barn Swallow
0
0
0
1
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
6
39
1
20
Bushtit
0
3
3
30
Red-breasted Nuthatch
1
5
0
3
Brown Creeper
0
24
0
10
Bewick's Wren
0
24
0
35
House Wren
0
17
0
20
Pacific Wren
28
105
13
23
Marsh Wren
1
2
0
0
Golden-crowned Kinglet
13
44
10
64
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
89
155
77
111
Swainson's Thrush
7
69
4
85
Hermit Thrush
24
53
29
75
American Robin
0
18
1
33
Cedar Waxwing
0
4
0
4
Orange-crowned Warbler
16
119
2
134
Yellow Warbler
4
75
0
65
Chestnut-sided Warbler
0
1
0
0
"Audubon's" Yellow-rumped Warbler
2
6
3
19
"Myrtle" Yellow-rumped Warbler
11
13
1
3
"Unknown/hybrid" Yellow-r. Warbler
0
0
1
2
Black-throated Gray Warbler
0
3
0
5
Townsend's Warbler
0
3
0
2
Northern Waterthrush
0
0
0
1
MacGillivray's Warbler
0
31
0
28
Common Yellowthroat
3
48
2
47
Wilson's Warbler
1
162
0
153
Western Tanager
0
1
0
20
Black-headed Grosbeak
0
4
0
10
Spotted Towhee
47
117
21
122
Chipping Sparrow
0
21
0
15
Savannah Sparrow
3
49
1
11
Fox Sparrow
19
95
23
111
Song Sparrow
12
54
20
70
Lincoln's Sparrow
6
76
9
131
Swamp Sparrow
1
1
0
0
White-throated Sparrow
3
3
3
3
White-crowned Sparrow
6
116
9
297
Golden-crowned Sparrow
9
63
11
100
Oregon Junco
12
27
40
121
Red-winged Backbird
0
1
0
0
Brown-headed Cowbird
0

0
2
Purple Finch
1
52
29
95
House Finch
0

0
12
Pine Siskin
0
11
0
10
American Goldfinch
0
20
0
7





TOTALS
337
2154
323
2350

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Species
Rocky Week 10 Owl Totals
Rocky Season Owl Totals
Pedder Week 10 Owl Totals
Pedder Season Owl Totals
Barred Owl
0
1
0
0
Northern Saw-whet Owl
14
25
10
18





TOTALS
14
26
10
18

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Rocky Point 22nd 23rd 24th 25th 26th 27th 28th Total
Banded 56 61 96 46 32 34 12 337
Species Banded 15 14 23 12 12 10 8 27
Recap 6 7 12 14 5 2 2 48
Species Recap 4 7 7 8 3 2 2 6
Pedder Bay 22nd 23rd 24th 25th 26th 27th 28th Total
Banded 52 41 66 39 28 66 31 323
Species Banded 12 10 15 11 12 19 15 28
Recap 8 13 13 15 13 13 10 85
Species Recap 5 7 7 10 7 10 8 17

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