Week 3 : Good stuff happen when you're scheduled with Donna ;-)

We've seen two wolves swimming at Rocky Point (photo : Geoffrey Newell)

                    

This week we've reached more than 500 birds banded at Pedder Bay while we still a bit under at Rocky Point because of closure days due to military activities (see the table below for details). The number of birds we are currently catching every day is not too crazy (25 on average) and gives us more time to birdwatch and look for other wildlife along the bay when Rocky Point is open ;-)

Jannaca banded the N. Waterthrush
(photo: Donna)

Like this Monday 6th, early in the morning when we were looking at shorebirds, I spotted two wolves swimming in the bay. Most of the crew saw it and we heard them howling later in the day. We've assumed that they killed two seals on the island and then ran away when they saw us for the greatest happiness of the Turkey Vultures who enjoyed the fest. The same day we caught a hatch year Northern Waterthrush, a species that we don't catch very often (none was banded last year, and the year before, they banded one at Pedder Bay) and it is also quite rare to see it in this area. 

Marcus and the AHY female Northern Parula
(photo: Donna)

Another good surprise happened also that day, when Marcus Bergstrom, a bander from Sweden, came back with some birds and said "I got one banded". "Ok", I said, and look at the computer getting ready to enter the number of the band. When he gave me the 9 digits, the info of the bird popped up as usual and I found out that it was the female Northern Parula we've banded two weeks ago ! I was like "what ! the Northern Parula" and then Geoffrey (who was getting ready to go on census) started to get excited as well, we called everyone on the radio and Marcus was just there looking at us trying to understand what was going on !? 

                        

Here are our two gorgous birds of the week ! On the left the Northern Waterthrush banded at Rocky Point by Jannaca Chick on Monday 7th (photo : Donna Talluto) and on the right the famous female Northern Parula recaptured the same morning (photo: Geoffrey Newell). She is currently molting her primaries and it's the reason why she is still around. So don't hesitate to register volunteering in Rocky Point next week you might spot it in the area! I was told that good stuff happened when I'm around so I'll be happy to have you volunteering with me ;-)

People visiting the station at Pedder Bay (photo : Donna)

A really good start for this week I would say and too bad than whe had a closure of the DND area the rest of the week ! However, we've managed to enter in the area for a few hours almost each days. On the other side in Pedder Bay, on the morning of the 8th, we've heard a chorus from a Northern Pygmy Owl and a Great Horned Owl. And on the 10th, we've observed a Barred Owl. This week, we've seen some Western Tanager, four species of swallows, ... And we've even heard the wolves from Pedder on friday ! On this site, you can also observe a lot of deer, but it seems that some of them are becoming crazy ... we had to replace two of the nets because they ran through it :( Those slow days allow our volunteers to get some practice and to get ready for the future days that will require them to be faster. 

Here is the number of birds we've caught this week at both station :

Rocky Point	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	Total
Banded	34	26	20	0	0	11	8	99
Species Banded	17	15	11	0	0	7	6	25
Recaps	9	1	6	0	0	4	6	26
Species Recap	4	1	4	0	0	2	2	8
Pedder Bay	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	Total
Banded	21	21	26	27	20	24	18	157
Species Banded	9	12	14	14	12	14	11	26
Recaps	4	7	8	5	12	7	10	53
Species Recap	3	5	4	4	7	4	6	12

And here is a résumé of the species of birds we've caught this week at both stations. As you can see the trend is a bit different from one station to another. This week at Rocky Point, the species we've banded the most is Pacific-slope Flycatcher, followed by Wilson's Warbler and American Goldfinch, while at Pedder Bay, the #1 species is the White-crowned Sparrow, followed by Wilson's Warbler. The hummingbirds are becoming more rare.

Birding on a boat trip (photo : Donna)

On Wednesday afternoon, we went on a boat trip to explore the surroundings a bit further in the bay. We didn't see any whales but we had a good look at Steller & California sea lions and good numbers of birds such as Common Murre, Pigeon Guillemot, Marblet Murrelet, Rhinoceros Auklet, ... A good way to spend the afternoon after banding! We need to do it again especially as our 4th bander has finally arrived ;-)