A week of foxes and owls

American Redstart - Avery Bartels

After last week’s bustle of activity, it was hard to imagine how this week could possibly keep up with that frenetic pace… yet somehow it managed to get even busier. The good weather persisted and huge numbers of sparrows continued to pass through the stations, particularly Pedder Bay. Owl banding also started this week, after a quiet season last year everyone was expecting another slow start but that was far from the case. 

Northern Saw-Whet Owl - Jannaca Chick

Week 9 was also a week of rarities, with the arrival of four new species for the year - all of which were very exciting! The first three were a trio of birds more common in the interior of British Columbia but who occasionally find their way to the coast. On September 15^th a Clay-coloured Sparrow was banded at Rocky Point, on September 17^th a Swamp Sparrow made its way through, and on September 19^th a female American Redstart visited us! American Redstarts are a beautiful species of warbler with the males being known for their brilliant orange and black plumage. The female, while less striking than the male, is still an exceptional bird!

Saw-Whet Owl molt pattern - Jannaca Chick

 Aside from the rarities that showed up, the story of this week was the impressive numbers of birds finding their way into our nets. The week started as the previous one had ended at Pedder Bay with 93 and 90 birds being banded the first two days. It then seemed like things were cooling off as numbers dropped to the 40’s on the 17^th and 18^th and finally to only 21 birds on the 19^th. Despite the 21 new birds banded, there were plenty of recaptured birds, with 43 assessed.  

Swamp Sparrow - Avery Bartels

Clearly migration was over and it was time for us to pack up and go home… or so we thought. It turned out the invasion of sparrows was just beginning; on September 20^th we banded 198 new birds at Pedder Bay, 75 of these being Fox Sparrows! Fox Sparrows continued to show up throughout the week, taking over top spot as the most numerous species at Pedder Bay, this despite only showing up about two weeks ago. Golden-crowned Sparrows also were plentiful with 116 being banded over the week. Overall, Pedder Bay averaged about 100 new birds banded each day this past week, which is an incredible streak that has never been observed here previously.

Clay-Coloured Sparrow -Blair Dudeck

Overhead, raptor migration also continued to be steady with hundreds of Turkey Vultures passing over each day accompanied by many Cooper’s Hawks, Sharp-shinned Hawks and Red-tailed Hawks.  We also observed the occasional Northern Harrier and Broad-winged Hawk.

The final new arrival for the week was possibly the most surprising and came to visit us at night. A hatch year female Long-eared Owl was caught and banded at Rocky Point! Long-eared Owls are a species that is widely dispersed across much of North America but are rare visitors to Vancouver Island. This individual was the first Long-eared Owl to be banded during the history of the bird observatory!

            Owl banding started off with a bang, on the first night 40 Northern Saw-whet Owls showed up at Rocky Point, and 15 were banded at Pedder. These numbers increased and peaked mid-week with 77 and 81 Saw-whets being banded at Rocky Point. The 81-owl night also provided the Long-eared Owl, which may have been attracted by all the activity at the station. Overall there were 276 owls banded at Rocky Point and 121 at Pedder bay this past week, surpassing last years season total of 297!

This highlights our need for more volunteers for owls and if you are interested in coming out, even if you have no previous experience, please contact us or check out the Rocky Point website!

Some dude and a Long-eared Owl - Patty 

The Numbers: (Please note that access to Rocky Point was closed on three days this week.)

Rocky Point	15th	16th	17th	18th	19th	20th	21st	Total
Banded	51	64	44	0	52	0	0	211
Species Banded	18	14	18	0	22	0	0	33
Recap	6	3	6	0	9	0	0	24
Species Recap	4	3	2	0	4	0	0	10
Pedder Bay	15th	16th	17th	18th	19th	20th	21st	Total
Banded	93	90	48	46	22	200	161	660
Species Banded	13	16	11	15	8	14	20	33
Recap	33	29	21	47	43	18	31	222
Species Recap	11	9	6	11	10	4	6	15

Owl Banding Numbers:

Species	Rocky Season Totals	Pedder Season Totals
NSWO - new	120	75
NSWO - recap	9	7
BDOW - new	2	0

It All Began With A Vesper

Vesper Sparrow - Avery Bartel

At long last, the moment we’ve all been waiting for is here! Fall migration has descended upon the banding stations in full force this week, and I for one am very excited to usher in this new era of bounty. This week started out on a bit of a low note as military activity on the 8th at Rocky only allowed us to squeeze in an hour of banding before we hard to pack up and leave. Most of the volunteers from Rocky decided to head over to Pedder for the rest of the day, and were rewarded by getting to see one of the best captures for the year, a VESPER SPARROW!! This is the first banding record for this species at our banding station, and Blair and I are kicking ourselves for not sticking around after we got the boot from Rocky Point. To the untrained eye, this relatively drab sparrow might easily be confused with one of our more common sparrow species the Savannah Sparrow. However, Vesper Sparrows are overall larger than the Savannah, have a white eye ring, a longer tail, and the outermost tail feathers are all white (similar to our Juncos). Pedder Bay banded a total of 34 new birds on the 8th, which up until this point was considered to be a pretty darn good day. Little did we know, our Vesper was a harbinger of good tidings for the coming days...

...well maybe not Saturday the 9th. A small weather system blew in, bringing with it some much needed rain and cooler weather. Though we were able to open the nets for the first part of the morning, we soon had to close up as the rain got too heavy to band. Rain can be a bummer, especially for our volunteers who may only have the one day to come out and help. But for Banders, rain can mean the end to a bird banding dry spell, as we tend to see an influx of migrant birds that were held back due to the bad weather. Sure enough, when nets were opened back up on Sunday, volunteers and banders alike were kept busy with what turned out to be the busiest day of the season for both stations. 78 new birds were banded at Pedder, and 80 at Rocky!! Swainson’s Thrushes and Fox Sparrows were the most commonly banded birds, but we still saw good numbers of Lincoln’s Sparrows banded at both stations as well.

Busy net run at Pedder Bay - Christian Kelly

As the weather improved over the next couple of days we saw a small dip in banding numbers, which may have lulled us into a false sense that things would return back to our comfortable, humdrum life at the banding shack. No Chance! Though I can’t speak for Rocky as I was not there, but as we went to open nets at Pedder on Wednesday the 13th, the surrounding grass and trees were trembling from the movement of hundreds of birds moving through the foliage. What happened next could only be described as a sparrow invasion! From the get go, our nets were filled with sparrows, and pretty much remained that way until the end of the day. We were so busy at Pedder (and a little short staffed) that we had to close all of the nets for an hour in order to catch up with processing all of the birds we had waiting at the station. Despite the closure, we still managed to band 149 new birds at Pedder. This was not only a record high for the season, but also the best day Pedder since the station opened full time in 2012! Imagine how many birds we might of caught had we been able to keep the nets open... Rocky point had an equally impressive day with 137 new banded birds, and were able to keep their nets open for the full banding session. I hate to say it, but on this day Pedder was definitely better (shhh don’t tell Rick I said that). As stated earlier, this day belonged to the sparrows. At Pedder, a total of 54 Fox Sparrows (!!), 10 Song Sparrows, 22 Lincoln’s Sparrows, and 31 Golden-crowned Sparrows were banded. I repeat, 54 Fox Sparrows!!! In one day!! Insanity. Lincoln’s Sparrow was the top banded bird at Rocky that day with 34 banded. They also banded 12 Savannah Sparrows, which were not seen at Pedder that day. As week 8 winded down, the birds did not. While it was nowhere near as intense as the previous day, we still managed to process 86 new at Pedder Bay, and 64 new at Rocky Point.

Wolf at Rocky Point - Blair Dudeck 

It is hard not to focus on on the banding activity this week, but there were still some other highlights worth mentioning. Raptor migration has started to pick up and we are seeing more and more vultures kettling over the front meadows at Rocky Point. In the midst of our busiest day (Wednesday), keen eyes were able to pick out a BROAD-WINGED and SWAINSON’S HAWK hiding within the mass of circling vultures. They Swainson’s was spotted again (briefly) the following day. Both Hawks are rare visitors to the coast, and we are all now nursing sore necks from looking up for a chance to spot more rarities. We are hearing a lot more American Pipits fly over the station, but still no Horned Larks. The wolf at Rocky Point continues to show itself to a select lucky individuals. It even stopped to pose for Blair long enough for him to snap this great shot through the scope.

In other news, Owl Banding starts up on the 15th, so stay tuned for further updates on these feathered cuties.

The Numbers:

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Rocky Point	8th	9th	10th	11th	12th	13th	14th	Total
Banded	12	15	80	21	65	137	64	394
Species Banded	8	11	18	11	16	21	17	33
Recap	1	5	9	6	4	6	9	40
Species Recap	1	4	5	5	3	4	6	10

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Pedder Bay	8th	9th	10th	11th	12th	13th	14th	Total
Banded	34	22	79	35	54	149	86	459
Species Banded	13	11	16	10	15	20	13	27
Recap	13	4	17	23	18	13	33	121
Species Recap	7	3	7	13	10	8	9	20

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Species	Rocky Week 8 Totals	Rocky Season Totals	Pedder Week 8 Totals	Pedder Season Totals
Virginia Rail	0	1	0	0
Sharp-shinned Hawk	2	2	0	0
Cooper's Hawk	0	0	1	3
Northern Pygmy-Owl	0	0	0	1
Barred Owl	1	2	0	0
Anna's Hummingbird	0	1	0	16
Rufous Hummingbird	0	28	0	46
Belted Kingfisher	0	0	0	1
Red-breasted Sapsucker	0	0	0	3
Downy Woodpecker	0	3	0	3
Hairy Woodpecker	0	1	0	2
Olive-sided Flycatcher	0	4	0	0
Willow Flycatcher	2	59	1	33
Least Flycatcher	0	1	0	0
Hammond's Flycatcher	1	15	0	9
Pacific-slope Flycatcher	19	190	5	58
Cassin's Vireo	0	0	1	4
Hutton's Vireo	1	6	0	0
Warbling Vireo	2	23	0	17
Steller's Jay	2	13	1	2
Northern Rough-winged Swallow	0	2	0	0
Chestnut-backed Chickadee	1	40	1	70
Bushtit	0	16	0	35
Red-breasted Nuthatch	0	2	0	1
Brown Creeper	2	16	0	8
Bewick's Wren	1	33	0	24
House Wren	1	14	1	33
Pacific Wren	2	5	0	2
Golden-crowned Kinglet	2	4	0	3
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	1	2	2	2
Swainson's Thrush	16	68	42	145
Hermit Thrush	7	7	23	24
American Robin	0	5	4	22
Varied Thrush	0	1	0	0
European Starling	0	2	0	0
Cedar Waxwing	0	14	0	14
Orange-crowned Warbler	30	90	14	80
Yellow Warbler	23	68	16	37
"Audubon's" YR Warbler	0	2	0	0
Black-throated Gray Warbler	1	7	2	7
Townsend's Warbler	0	4	0	3
MacGillivray's Warbler	0	31	0	46
Common Yellowthroat	7	42	4	30
Wilson's Warbler	7	152	14	120
Western Tanager	0	4	2	17
Black-headed Grosbeak	1	4	2	6
Spotted Towhee	18	44	21	116
Chipping Sparrow	2	18	0	35
Savannah Sparrow	33	46	1	1
Fox Sparrow	50	59	121	147
Song Sparrow	24	86	33	114
Lincoln's Sparrow	65	114	47	89
White-crowned Sparrow	30	141	23	225
Golden-crowned Sparrow	27	27	47	49
Dark-eyed Junco	11	23	27	97
Red-winged Blackbird	0	7	0	0
Brown-headed Cowbird	0	17	0	0
Purple Finch	0	14	3	13
House Finch	0	1	0	1
Pine Siskin	0	3	0	0
American Goldfinch	2	55	0	7
TOTALS	394	1639	459	1821

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