Week 3: Not last, but least

I was excited to find out I would be joining the team at Rocky Point Bird Observatory (RPBO) this season as every different location has a different composition of birds.  RPBO also has the advantage of having two different banding sites, with a fair bit of variation between them.  So far the season has been off to a great start, with many new birds added to my “birds banded” list, and some unusual and new birds for RPBO.

Week 3 started out much the same way week 2 ended, with a shortened day at Rocky Point due to military activity, continued hot weather, and slow days at both stations. Luckily, there were some busy days later in the week, and a few great birds! The slower days also provided a good opportunity to train new volunteers, with a few getting to try banding for the first time.

Least Flycatcher - Jannaca Chick

The most exciting day of the week was Saturday, August 5^th with the Rocky Point site banding 62 new birds, including a couple “first of the season” birds, one of which was a new species for RPBO! The new species was a hatch year Least Flycatcher. This species of flycatcher is relatively common across most of Canada and the US but is a rather rare visitor to coastal British Columbia and Vancouver Island, making it quite a surprise when it turned up in a net that morning.  The Least Flycatcher is a one of the smallest flycatchers, similar to a Hammond’s Flycatcher but with smaller bill and with lighter gray plumage.

 That net round, which also provided a Northern Rough-winged Swallow, proved to be something of a indication of what the rest of the day would be like, with not only high numbers but also good diversity featuring 22 species in total. One of the final net rounds on Saturday provided the second “first of the season”, a hatch year female Varied Thrush, much to the delight of volunteer Jannaca Chick and myself. Other highlights of the day were a Hutton’s Vireo, another “first of the season”.  The fourth Olive-sided Flycatcher of the season made it’s way into the net. Olive-sided Flycatchers are rare visitors to the nets, although we often hear them in the area with their distinctive call of “Quick-Three-Beers!”.

Varied Thrush - Jannaca Chick

Despite the excitement of Saturday the rest of the week could not keep up, with most days providing only around 20 new birds a day. Both stations banded about the same total number of birds as week 2, despite Rocky Point being fully open for about 3 more days than during week 2.  A total of 175 birds were banded at Rocky Point (167 birds in week 2), and 167 birds at Pedder Bay (180 birds in week 2). Rocky Point was fully closed for military exercises on Tuesday, which did not help the total numbers.

  

Olive-sided Flycatcher - Jannaca Chick

  Rocky Point averaged 29 new birds banded per day.  Wilson's warblers continued their reign as the most banded bird at Rocky Point with 25 individuals banded during the week. The next most banded species were White-crowned Sparrow (16), Pacific-slope Flycatcher (15) and Willow Flycatcher (15). We also banded a few American Goldfinch, Yellow Warblers, and some Rufous Hummingbirds. Shorebirds continue to be showing up around Rocky Point in good numbers, including several Baird’s Sandpipers seen by David Allinson.

Over at Pedder Bay, there were fewer birds to be found in the nets.  Pedder Bay averaged about 10 birds less per day then Rocky Point and was relatively standard with no changes to the total number of species banded in week 3. A Townsend’s Warbler was the flashiest bird banded at Pedder Bay this week, bringing the season total up to 2. White-crowned Sparrow was once again the most banded species at 30 individuals in week 3. The four runners up were Chestnut-backed Chickadee (19), Chipping Sparrow (18), Spotted Towhee (14) and Wilson’s Warbler (14). The numerous Belted Kingfishers at the site were chasing each other very close to the nets all week, but none managed to get themselves netted.

- Blair

Hutton's Vireo - Jannaca Chick

Rocky Point	4TH	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	Total
Banded	9	62	23	22	0	31	28	175
Species Banded	6	22	14	14	0	19	14	29
Recap	6	12	8	3	0	13	12	54
Species Recap	6	9	5	3	0	6	8	14
Pedder Bay	4TH	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	Total
Banded	16	24	40	20	22	26	19	167
Species Banded	12	13	13	12	12	10	11	25
Recap	3	3	11	11	15	7	10	60
Species Recap	3	2	6	6	10	4	4	14