Week 13: Typhoon Songda and the last days of Migration

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 16^th. 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 17^th and 18^th  and the ‘Harlan’s’ Red-tailed Hawk was seen again for the second time on the 13^th 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 18^th, and we finally had some long awaited sun! While we still had scattered showers that resulted in us closing nets briefly. The 18^th 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 31^st.   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.

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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

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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

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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