Week 13: It's All Over Bar the Owls

Our final week finished in typical October fashion. After a season in which we were very fortunate with good weather, we had consecutive days of rain to see our season out. On the 18^th, our final day, Christian and I did our respective censuses at Rocky and Pedder in sodden conditions and it certainly felt as if migration was all but over for the vast majority of species. Fortunately, the day before we had a few hours of sunshine and were able to get in some banding at Rocky. Unfortunately, high winds meant we were only able to open 2/3 of our nets and Pedder was not able to open at all. However, this break in the weather allowed us to take nets down in anticipation of the next day’s precipitation.

Golden-crowned Sparrow by Courtney Cameron

The week started off well with a Northern Saw-whet Owl in net 11 at Pedder first thing on the morning of the 13^th. The following day was a good one at Rocky with high numbers of marine birds moving, including a season high of 261 Brandt’s Cormorants and 1000+ Bonaparte’s Gulls. Both of these species have really only arrived in numbers this past week to spend the winter in our waters. Chasing the gulls off Edye Point was a Parasitic Jaeger, surprisingly, our only detection of this species this year. Overhead was a large movement of American Robins with 692 counted. Also noted  flying over was the season’s first Northern Goshawk and  a Lapland Longspur, the latter another species that has been scarce this season.

A friendly Barred Owl by Rick Hardy

On the 15^th the excitement was a bit more evenly distributed, Rocky again had a Northern Goshawk along with a very late Broad-winged Hawk. In the nets we captured our second Marsh Wren of the season. Meanwhile, at Pedder we banded not 1 but 2 Varied Thrushes, one thing that is more apparent when you have these gems in the hand is just how cheese-whiz orange their legs are! Adding to the fun in the nets was Pedder’s 7^th and final White-throated Sparrow of the season. The morning finished though with a Rough-legged Hawk that passed over the station heading west. This arctic raptor is quite rare on the island with only a few spending the winter in the area.

The 16^th turned out to be our last full day of banding at both sites, and the final day of banding period for Pedder. That didn’t stop us from getting one last surprise; not rare per se, but extremely late, was a MacGillivray’s Warbler that was caught in net 7 at Pedder. Despite the inclement conditions, it seemed to be doing well with a fat score of 4!

Harlequin Duck pair by Courtney Cameron

Saw-whet by Rheanna Neidinger

On the owling front, it was a stop and start week with a few nights where rain either cut sessions short or caused them to be cancelled altogether. Both stations hit milestones on the night of the 13th when Rocky caught Saw-whet #1000 for the season and Pedder caught #500! Interestingly, the numbers at the two stations were almost even this week, breaking from the normal 2/1 ratio.

Once again, we have had a very successful season at both our sites. As per usual, Pedder Bay finished with more birds banded with a total of 3558 of 60 species along with a whopping 1281 recaptures. Fox Sparrow was by far the most numerous with a record 654 banded.

Rocky had to deal with a high number of closures but still managed to catch a respectable 2790 of 63 species to go with 493 recaptures. The top catch out there was Ruby-crowned Kinglet with 243 banded.

The owl season has been phenomenal and continues to be so, although this recent spate of poor weather has seen numbers stutter a bit, however it would be not at all surprising if we get another large push with the next batch of cool, clear nights!

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Rocky Point	13th	14th	15th	16th	17th	18th	Total
Banded	52	37	30	27	1	0	147
Species Banded	16	11	12	10	1	0	27
Recap	11	10	11	12	1	0	45
Species Recap	5	4	7	6	1	0	13

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Pedder Bay	13th	14th	15th	16th	17th	18th	Total
Banded	31	45	37	28	0	0	141
Species Banded	8	11	12	11	0	0	31
Recap	17	30	18	20	0	0	85
Species Recap	8	11	9	7	0	0	14

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Pedder Bay	13th	14th	15th	16th	17th	18th	19th	Total	Season
Northern Saw-whet	22	10	7	0	13	0	0	52	537
Barred	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2
Rocky Point
Northern Saw-whet	22	8	7	0	11	0	2	50	1044
Barred	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	19
Long-eared	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1

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Week 12: Migration winding down

Golden-crowned Kinglet - Blair Dudeck Another great week of banding has come to a close.  Despite the weather starting to truly feel like fall, and as such being much more unpredictable, as we approach the end of the season we are getting some excellent days. Despite the crazy season we have had, we are STILL getting new species both in the nets and passing through the banding stations. At Rocky Point, there was some end-of-day excitement when a Red-tailed Hawk was captured and banded.  This was definitely the highlight of the week, since although they are commonly seen this time of year they are very rarely banded!  It was a lovely way to end the day for everyone present.  That was not the only exciting bird at Rocky; we also got the first Marsh Wren of the season! Although Pedder didn’t band any new species, they did get our first Goshawk of the season flying over during census.  Hopefully we will get some more good birds as we go into our last few days of migration for the 2017 season. Red-tailed Hawk - Marilyn Lambert Ruby-crowned kinglets are still dominating the nets and remain as the most banded bird this week; at Rocky Point alone we banded 102 of these tiny birds!  The sparrow and thrush craze hasn’t quite ended at Pedder Bay for the season (although it is no where near the insanity that was earlier in the season!), with 38 of each Fox Sparrows and Hermit Thrush newly banded. Of the 38 fox sparrows banded one of them was number 600 of the year at Pedder Bay!!!!! This makes Fox Sparrows easily the most numerus species banded this year by nearly double any other bird.  Sparrow craze, indeed! We have also seen an increase in the number of Varied Thrushes that are hanging around both stations, and this has provided us with the opportunity to band a couple of absolutely stunning after-hatch-year males. While we are on the subject of great looking birds, Yellow-rumped Warblers are still around both stations in good numbers and have added their own unique blend of colours to the nets.  This is yet another sign that it is truly the fall season, as they are the only warblers still regularly being seen this time of year. White-throated Sparrow - Blair Dudeck Varied Thrush - Blair Dudeck Owl banding continued this week, and although the numbers of banded owls are no longer jaw-dropping, there have still been plenty of owls to keep everyone awake during the long nights.  We have banded 115 and 63 Northern Saw-whet Owls at Rocky Point and Pedder Bay, respectively.  These numbers are allowing us to continue crushing our old record with every passing night, and there is no doubt that by the next week’s blog we will have passed the 1,500 NSWO milestone. Other notable observations: Ancient Murrelets have been showing up in large numbers at Rocky all week, for the most part replacing the Marbled Murrelets. A Black-legged Kittiwake appeared for a couple of days off Eddy Point over at Rocky. Shearwaters have been seen off of the front at Rocky several times this week. The first Northern Shrike of the season showed up on October 12th at Rocky Point. The Numbers: Rocky Point 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th Total Banded 34 27 67 63 0 0 51 242 Species Banded 12 8 17 15 0 0 13 27 Recap 8 7 11 5 0 0 11 42 Species Recap 4 4 6 3 0 0 9 13 Pedder Bay 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th Total Banded 33 28 43 43 21 26 9 203 Species Banded 10 10 11 11 6 10 6 31 Recap 13 17 20 24 9 19 7 109 Species Recap 7 7 7 10 5 8 5 14 Owls Pedder Bay 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th Week 12 Season Northern Saw-whet 0 5 26 19 4 8 1 63 485 Barred 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 2 Rocky Point Northern Saw-whet 3 12 43 35 4 11 7 115 994 Barred 0 1 3 0 0 3 0 7 19 Long-eared 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1

Week 11 - The Weather Looks F(owl) This Week

Northern Flicker - Christian Kelly

October has arrived and we have entered into the final stretch of fall migration. Though overall banding totals were down at Pedder, Rocky Point saw an increase in numbers as we were able to get in a solid 6 days of banding without any closures due to military activity. The week started out on a bit of a low note as it was the first and only day we could not access the Rocky Point station, and wet weather shut things down at Pedder an hour after opening the nets. However, we were back to business at both stations the following day even though late day showers threatened to shut us down early again. The real excitement came on Oct 1st when we got to experience another post rain push of migrants at both stations. A whopping 135 birds were banded at Rocky this day, and was the second best day of the season for this station. A highlight for several of our volunteers was the banding of our first Red-shafted Flicker at Rocky. We had been observing a lot more of these stunning birds around the station in the last few days, and I think the collective will of our volunteers that day drove the bird into our nets.

Myrtle Warbler - Christian Kelly

Though most of our warbler species have vanished south at this point, we are seeing a huge increase in the number of Yellow-rumped Warblers observed (and banded). Well over 100 of these “butter-butts” were observed on a daily basis this week at Rocky, and we even managed to band 13 of them (9 of which were on our peak day on OCT 1st). Though it is sometimes hard to tell from a distance, there are two subspecies of Yellow-rumps that occur on the island: Audubon’s and Myrtle Warbler. At this point in the season the Myrtle subspecies seems to be the more common of the two, in fact all 13 of the birds we banded were Myrtle. During the breeding season it is much easier to distinguish the two warblers apart as their plumage is quite distinct, but as they make the switch into their basic plumage in the winter the differences between the two become much more subtle. But typically adult Myrtle Warbles will have a white throat, while the Audubon’s will have a yellow throat.

A string of sunny days mid week made for excellent conditions for raptor migration at the southern tip of the island. 11 species of Raptors were observed at Rocky Point on Oct 2nd (!), and Turkey Vulture numbers were at an all time high for the year with 594 individuals seen kettling over the station. Vulture numbers were consistently high throughout the week, but only of the Turkey variety ;-)

Love at first sight - Christian Kelly

On the other side of the gate Pedder was having a somewhat slower than usual, yet consistent week of banding. Once again the vast majority of birds banded this week were of the sparrow variety, though Hermit thrushes and Ruby-crowned Kinglets made up a good portion of the weekly totals. Though not a new bird for the station, I was very excited to have the opportunity to band our second Northern Pigmy Owl of the season! One or two NOPOs have been heard near the Pedder station most days this week, giving its characteristic rapid-fire hoots, and I was over the moon to have the chance to see one up close for the first time.

Speaking of owls! It continues to be another record smashing week for owl migration at RPBO. A jaw dropping 527 Northern Saw-whet Owls were banded between our two stations this week (332 at Rocky, and 195 at Pedder). We are now at a yearly total of 1301 NSWO banded this season!! This is a new record for the observatory, and we still have nearly a full month of owl migration left to go! Despite the bounty of this cute little feather babies were are still having a hard time filling volunteer shifts. Please sign up, we need you now more than ever!!

Other highlights from the week include:

• First of the season Northern Saw-whet Owl banded during the day at Pedder
• Orcas swimming through the channel at Rocky on Oct 4th
• Lapland Longspur flyover at Rocky on Oct 5th

Early morning obs. at Rocky - Christian Kelly 

The Numbers:

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Rocky Point	29th	30th	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	Total
Banded	0	61	135	73	39	25	30	363
Species Banded	0	19	21	17	14	11	12	29
Recap	0	13	8	5	13	8	5	52
Species Recap	0	5	5	4	7	6	3	10

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Pedder Bay	29th	30th	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	Total
Banded	15	32	78	75	50	41	31	322
Species Banded	12	10	15	14	15	11	14	31
Recap	19	18	19	14	20	20	17	127
Species Recap	7	5	9	5	8	7	9	14

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Pedder Bay	29th	30th	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	Total	Season
Northern Saw-whet	14	40	42	28	20	32	19	195	422
Barred	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	1
Rocky Point
Northern Saw-whet	38	63	62	47	24	50	48	332	879
Barred	0	0	0	1	1	1	2	5	12
Long-eared	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1

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Species	Rocky Week 11 Totals	Rocky Season Totals	Pedder Week 11 Totals	Pedder Season Totals
Virginia Rail	0	1	0	0
Sharp-shinned Hawk	1	3	0	2
Cooper's Hawk	0	0	0	3
Northern Pygmy-Owl	0	0	1	2
Barred Owl	0	3	0	0
Northern Saw-whet Owl	0	1	1	1
Anna's Hummingbird	0	1	1	17
Rufous Hummingbird	0	28	0	46
Belted Kingfisher	0	0	0	1
Red-breasted Sapsucker	0	0	1	6
Downy Woodpecker	0	3	0	4
Hairy Woodpecker	0	1	0	3
Northern Flicker	1	1	1	3
Olive-sided Flycatcher	0	4	0	0
Willow Flycatcher	0	60	0	33
Least Flycatcher	0	1	0	0
Hammond's Flycatcher	0	23	0	11
Pacific-slope Flycatcher	2	206	0	60
Cassin's Vireo	0	0	1	5
Hutton's Vireo	0	8	3	4
Warbling Vireo	0	24	0	18
Steller's Jay	2	25	0	7
Northern Rough-winged Swallow	0	2	0	0
Chestnut-backed Chickadee	1	48	1	75
Bushtit	0	17	1	37
Red-breasted Nuthatch	0	2	0	1
Brown Creeper	1	18	0	9
Bewick's Wren	1	35	1	26
House Wren	0	14	0	33
Pacific Wren	21	39	4	17
Golden-crowned Kinglet	18	25	6	10
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	61	94	31	76
Swainson's Thrush	1	71	5	192
Hermit Thrush	24	40	36	144
American Robin	3	10	11	45
Varied Thrush	0	2	1	2
European Starling	0	2	0	0
Cedar Waxwing	0	14	0	14
Orange-crowned Warbler	3	112	0	92
Yellow Warbler	5	92	0	44
"Audubon's" Yellow-rumped Warbler	0	5	0	1
"Myrtle" Yellow-rumped Warbler	13	27	3	7
Unidenitified Yellow-rumped Warbler	0	2	1	1
Black-throated Gray Warbler	0	7	0	7
Townsend's Warbler	1	5	1	4
American Redstart	0	1	0	0
MacGillivray's Warbler	0	31	1	46
Common Yellowthroat	4	49	1	34
Wilson's Warbler	0	158	1	124
Western Tanager	0	4	1	18
Black-headed Grosbeak	0	4	1	7
Spotted Towhee	26	112	16	177
Chipping Sparrow	0	18	0	35
Savannah Sparrow	9	81	0	3
Vesper Sparrow	0	0	0	1
Fox Sparrow	36	126	71	584
Song Sparrow	15	130	31	210
Lincoln's Sparrow	16	164	7	172
Swamp Sparrow	0	0	0	1
White-throated Sparrow	2	4	3	5
White-crowned Sparrow	11	164	2	249
Golden-crowned Sparrow	59	116	61	288
Dark-eyed Junco	24	55	15	167
Red-winged Blackbird	0	7	0	0
Brown-headed Cowbird	0	17	0	0
Purple Finch	1	17	1	17
House Finch	0	1	1	2
Pine Siskin	1	5	3	4
American Goldfinch	0	60	0	7
TOTALS	363	2400	327	3214