As the first week on September comes to an end the signs of
fall are definitely all around us and the change in weather has brought with it
more of our fall migrants. Our week began in a drizzly and grey fashion, with wet
weather on Friday causing closures of nets at both Pedder Bay and Rocky Point.
With rain preventing birds from migrating overnight, Thursday and Friday were
quiet both in and out of the nets. On Saturday the rain cleared and the birds
were out in full strength. This was the first big day with Pedder bay banding
104 birds and Rocky Point banding a whopping 139 birds! Stand outs on the day
were 26 Pacific Slope flycatchers and 23 Fox Sparrows and 13 Pacific Wrens at
Rocky Point. Sparrows dominated the nets at Pedder Bay Saturday including 24
Golden Crowned Sparrows, 12
 |
| Golden-crowned Sparrow- Serena Johnston |
 |
| First Black-throated Grey Warbler at Pedder Bay - Jody Wells |
It’s beginning to
feel a lot like fall in Metchosin as Ruby-crowned Kinglets are beginning to
trickle in and Hermit Thrush, Fox Sparrows and Golden-crowned Sparrows arrived
at both sites in large numbers both in
and out of the nets. Lincoln Sparrows and White-crowned Sparrows continue to be
present in good numbers throughout the week. Both sites had a few
first-of-the-year birds in the nets this week. Rocky Point banded their first
Golden-crowned Sparrow on the 1st and the first Red-shafted Flicker
of the year on the 3rd. Nancy
banded Pedder Bay’s first Black-throated Grey Warbler on the 1st and
the first of the Savannah Sparrows on 3rd.
 |
| Rocky Point's first Northern Flicker of the year- Serena Johnston |
 |
| Townsend's Solitaire -Jody Wells |
Outside of the nets we saw another big push of Cedar Waxwings
and American Robins feeding on the berries at Pedder bay. Stellar’s Jays are
becoming regular observations at both sites as the o,aks begin to produce more
acorns. At Rocky Point we have been noticing more Band-tailed Pigeons with
close to 98 individuals being observed in a single day. Raptor numbers continue
to be low with only a few Sharp-shinned and Cooper’s Hawks being observed
throughout the week. However, Turkey Vulture numbers are slowly on the rise and
we hope to see more raptor migration in the coming week. Another notable
observation was a Townsend’s Solitaire spotted by Jody Wells on the 1st
of September. This bird was also seen twice the following day.
Blastings at Rocky Point began on Tuesday are expected to
continue until next Wednesday. This kept banding to a minimum but luckily we
were able to get in to the site for a few hours on Tuesday and Wednesday to
band and observe a good number of birds before having to leave for the day.
Despite closures at Rocky Point due to military operations we
were still able to band 338 birds of 23 species, falling just short of Pedder
bay which banded 398 birds and 33 species. With more cool weather to come we
hope that the busy days will continue!
-
|
Rocky
Point
|
1st
|
2nd
|
3rd
|
4th
|
5th
|
6th
|
7th
|
Total
|
|
Banded
|
17
|
9
|
139
|
41
|
90
|
21
|
21
|
338
|
|
Species Banded
|
9
|
5
|
18
|
17
|
22
|
10
|
12
|
25
|
|
Recap
|
1
|
0
|
3
|
3
|
3
|
2
|
2
|
14
|
|
Species Recap
|
1
|
0
|
3
|
2
|
3
|
2
|
2
|
9
|
|
-
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Pedder
Bay
|
1st
|
2nd
|
3rd
|
4th
|
5th
|
6th
|
7th
|
Total
|
|
Banded
|
47
|
13
|
104
|
49
|
68
|
78
|
39
|
398
|
|
Species Banded
|
18
|
10
|
19
|
18
|
16
|
20
|
13
|
33
|
|
Recap
|
11
|
4
|
6
|
11
|
4
|
26
|
17
|
79
|
|
Species Recap
|
7
|
4
|
4
|
6
|
4
|
13
|
11
|
20
|
-
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