Week 2: Hot weather, Hawt birds!

Back meadow at Rocky Point - Christian Kelly

Week two of migration and things are starting to heat up. Literally! A record setting heat wave hit the Southern Coast of B.C. this week, and temperatures reached into the high 20s and 30s. High temperatures are a serious concern during banding as birds caught in the nets are at risk of overexposure to the sun. Thankfully this was not an issue at either station as temperatures remained relatively cool for the mornings.

Unlike the weather, bird activity seemed to cool down significantly compared to the first week of banding. Both stations banded ~100 less birds than were banded in the previous week. A total of 167 birds were banded at Rocky Point (245 birds in week 1), and 180 birds at Pedder Bay (287 birds in week 1). Slower days are expected during this period of migration banding, but part of the reason Rocky Point had low numbers was because of station closures due to military exercises taking place near the banding site.

From August 1st to the 4th we were only granted access to the station until 07:30 a.m. Meaning we only were only able to have our nets open for ~1.5 of our normal 6 hour banding period. Despite this, nearly 20 birds were banded each of the first 2 mornings of military closures, leaving us to wonder how many might actually have been banded if the nets were able to remain open. If Pedder Bay was any indication, then maybe not many.

Hatch-year Virginia Rail  - Michael Newman 

On the non-closure days, Rocky point (RP) averaged 20-30 new birds banded. Wilson’s warbler was the top-dog this week at RP with 27 individuals banded. While Song Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow and Pacific-slope Flycatcher were the runners up with 14, 16, and 18 banded respectively. The crowning jewel this week at RP was a VIRGINIA RAIL banded on July 31st by Rick Schortinghuis. This secretive bird is often heard calling, but rarely seen, from the marsh near nets 1-4. An observation had been made earlier in the week that the VIRA would often vocalize when ever we raised or lowered any of the nets near the marsh. It is possible the VIRA confused the metallic sound of the net rings sliding up and down the net pole with the sound of an invading Rail, came over to investigate, and got caught. This stunning juvenile was the first VIRA banded at RP in 20 years (!) and will likely be contender for the best bird banded this year.

Northern Rough-winged Swallow - Christian Kelly

Other Highlights at Rocky Point this week include:

• Our first Northern Rough-Winged Swallow banded.
• Cute family of Raccoons (momma and 3 babies) seen foraging in the intertidal area most mornings.
• California Gulls streaming past Bentick Island by the thousands.
• A pair of Tufted Puffins were seen off shore by David Allinson

Pacific-slope Flycatcher nest with chicks -
ChristianKelly 

No rails were to be seen at Pedder Bay (PB) this week, but there was still a good collection of “first of the season” birds banded, including a Black-throated Grey Warbler, and a Western Tanager. Like RP, around 20-30 new birds were banded each day, with a high of 33 on Wednesday (Aug 2), and a low of 19 on Monday (July 31). White-crowned Sparrow took the top spot this week with 29 new birds banded. Perhaps more interesting is the high number of Rufous Hummingbirds that continue to be banded at PB this week. 16 new RUHUs were banded this week for a total of 38 this year. Nearly double the total number of RUHU banded at PB in all of 2016! The majority of newly banded RUHU were hatch-year birds, further supporting our theory of a productive breeding season for our smallest migrant.

We were also excited to stumble upon a Pacific-slope Flycatcher nest in the crook of a cherry tree right next to net 1. The cryptic nest was hidden in plain sight, and likely would have gone unnoticed if an adult wasn’t spotted flying off the nest on an early morning net check. Momma “pac-slope” has her work cut out for her with 4 chicks to feed and is often seen near by.

Other highlights at Pedder Bay:

• A family of Merlins seen near the station
• “First of the season” Townsend’s Warbler, Red-breasted Sapsucker, Golden-crowned Kinglet, and Pacific Wren Banded this week.

The Numbers: 

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Rocky Point	28th	29th	30th	31st	1st	2nd	3rd	Total
Banded	34	29	24	34	17	19	10	167
Species Banded	15	13	12	18	12	6	5	29
Recap	9	7	5	3	4	6	1	35
Species Recap	6	5	5	2	4	2	1	14

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Pedder Bay	28th	29th	30th	31st	1st	2nd	3rd	Total
Banded	20	26	23	19	26	33	33	180
Species Banded	13	9	12	11	15	12	12	28
Recap	12	7	6	11	10	10	9	65
Species Recap	6	7	4	8	7	7	7	15

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Species	Rocky Week 2 Totals	Rocky Season Totals	Pedder Week 2 Totals	Pedder Season Totals
Virginia Rail	1	1	0	0
Anna's Hummingbird	0	1	1	1
Rufous Hummingbird	3	16	16	38
Red-breasted Sapsucker	0	0	1	1
Downy Woodpecker	0	2	0	2
Hairy Woodpecker	0	0	0	1
Olive-sided Flycatcher	1	3	0	0
Willow Flycatcher	1	2	0	3
Hammond's Flycatcher	1	2	0	1
Pacific-slope Flycatcher	18	42	12	22
Cassin's Vireo	0	0	2	3
Warbling Vireo	1	4	0	2
Northern Rough-winged Swallow	1	1	0	0
Chestnut-backed Chickadee	5	12	20	38
Bushtit	4	6	4	30
Red-breasted Nuthatch	0	2	0	0
Brown Creeper	3	7	1	4
Bewick's Wren	6	15	8	15
House Wren	2	5	7	20
Pacific Wren	0	0	1	1
Golden-crowned Kinglet	0	1	2	2
Swainson's Thrush	7	20	8	22
American Robin	0	2	1	6
European Starling	2	2	0	0
Cedar Waxwing	8	12	1	7
Orange-crowned Warbler	7	21	2	18
Yellow Warbler	1	3	0	0
"Audubon's" YR Warbler	0	1	0	0
Black-throate Gray Warbler	0	1	1	1
Townsend's Warbler	0	1	1	1
MacGillivray's Warbler	6	10	12	20
Common Yellowthroat	3	9	0	0
Wilson's Warbler	27	61	17	54
Western Tanager	0	1	1	1
Black-headed Grosbeak	0	1	1	2
Spotted Towhee	2	8	16	36
Chipping Sparrow	7	15	2	12
Savannah Sparrow	0	1	0	0
Song Sparrow	14	35	6	23
White-crowned Sparrow	16	37	29	60
Dark-eyed Junco	0	0	6	10
Red-winged Blackbird	2	7	0	0
Brown-headed Cowbird	4	14	0	0
Purple Finch	3	9	1	5
House Finch	0	1	0	1
Pine Siskin	0	3	0	0
American Goldfinch	11	15	0	4
TOTALS	167	412	180	467