Week 9: Oh! Canada

Northern Pygmy-Owl (Donna Talluto)

As the season progresses we are starting to see an influx of late migrants, while the early-season birds are trailing off. This has made for some big days for both banding and observation, with Rocky tallying over 100 species on several days. A few species should still have some big pushes coming down the pipes, so keep signing up for those shifts!

Banding highlights

The week started off slow at both stations, with relatively low numbers of birds in the nets due to the fog and rain. This didn't stop our owl banders, who stuck it out for a full shift on September 15th (opening night) and managed to catch a single Northern Saw-whet Owl at Rocky. By the end of the week that number had been upped to 30 between the two stations. On the 16th, Donna was left alone at Pedder Bay while Blair and I went on a boat off Ucluelet, and she got our first Northern Pygmy-Owl of the season - a painful miss for the two of us but a great bird for her!

Donna with her Pygmy-Owl

On the 17th, the weather broke and the birds started passing through again, with 175 birds banded between the two stations, including our first White-throated Sparrow of the year at Rocky. A recap Dark-eyed Junco at Pedder was especially interesting as it had an orange colour band on it - we've sent the band number to the banding office to see where it came from. The 18th also yielded good numbers of birds in the nets, with slightly higher diversity, but the day was more notable for having most of our banding highlights for the week! First and foremost was Rocky's first-ever Canada Warbler, a hatch-year male banded by Blair (the rest of us have banded them out east), quickly followed by a Virginia Rail.

Canada Warbler (Blair Dudeck)

Virginia Rail (Blair Dudeck)

The Pedder crew was feeling slightly left out after all this excitement, until a young male Cooper's Hawk got stuck in net 4, providing my only banding tick of the week. Rocky also got our first "Myrtle" Warblers of the year on the 18th, and Pedder finally got its first Black-headed Grosbeak with a rather late individual. The 19th through 21st were steady at both stations, with Pedder picking up its first "Myrtle" Warblers, Sharp-shinned Hawk and Red-breasted Sapsucker, the latter providing another banding tick for Donna. The week finished off with Pedder creeping past the 2000-mark, and Rocky sitting just shy of it at 1997.

Cooper's Hawk (Siobhan Darlington)

Colour-banded Dark-eyed Junco (Blair Dudeck)

New Arrivals, Census & Obs

New arrivals this week at Rocky were Greater Scaup, Iceland Gull (Thayer's) and Pectoral Sandpiper, while Pedder added White-throated Sparrow and Black Swift to its year total. Observation highlights included Nashville Warbler on the 18th, 13 Broad-winged Hawks on the 19th, and two Marbled Godwits and another sighting of the Canada Warbler on the 20th, all at Rocky. The action in the Strait and in the skies is also heating up, with big movements of Band-tailed Pigeons, Vaux's Swifts and Turkey Vultures above, and late season gulls arriving in numbers. A few lucky observers saw flocks of Sandhill Cranes migrating over, while some mornings had decent warbler flights as well - mostly Yellow-rumps, with a good mix of Audubon's and Myrtle. Seabirds in general increased this week, with sightings of all three Jaeger species and big numbers of alcids (mostly Common Murres).

Band-tailed Pigeons (David Bell)

Marbled Godwits (David Bell)

Wildlife Sightings

Rocky put on quite the show this week in terms of other wildlife, with a lone wolf sighted on the 19th, and two together on the 20th! We also heard them howling on several occasions. Orcas were seen almost daily in groups up to 9, with Minke and Humpback Whales also putting in appearances. Combined with the regular seals, sea lions, deer and sporadic sightings of the resident Black Bear, the mammal watching was nearly as exciting as the birds.

Coastal Wolf (David Bell)

Orca off Edye Point (Siobhan Darlington)

Volunteer Appreciation

We'd like to congratulate two of our helpers who were upgraded to extractor status this week - Connel Bradwell and Ivy Doak! We'd also like to thank everyone for their dedication in coming out, even on the slow days, to help us out at both stations - especially the owl folks who have had to put up with their share of slow nights this last week!

Week 9 Numbers:

Rocky Point	Sep 15th	Sep 16th	Sep 17th	Sep 18th	Sep 19th	Sep 20th	Sep 21st	Total
Banded	19	13	107	79	47	55	37	357
Species banded	9	10	20	25	18	18	14	33
Recap	2	5	8	6	5	5	2	33
Species recap	2	5	6	5	3	3	1	12

Pedder Bay	Sep 15th	Sep 16th	Sep 17th	Sep 18th	Sep 19th	Sep 20th	Sep 21st	Total
Banded	33	16	68	56	42	40	43	298
Species banded	13	10	16	16	19	16	15	33
Recap	9	11	8	10	5	6	9	56
Species recap	7	7	7	8	4	4	7	16

Week 9 totals (click to enlarge)

Coastal Wolves (David Bell)