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