Week 12 - Winter is coming

Varied Thrush (D. Bell)

Another really good week spend at Rocky Point and Pedder Bay. The season is almost over but our nets are still full of surprises :-) The rain was only an issue on Tuesday, otherwise we were able to open the nets most of the time this week. A Pine Siskin on Tuesday & a Swamp Sparrow on Wednesday were first of the year for banding. Talking about records, we've reached 4000th birds banded at RP on Thursday with a Fox Sparrow while we were a bit under 3000 to close the week at PB.

Swainson's Thrush and Hermit Thrush (D. Bell)

This time of year the most popular birds around are Ruby-Crowned (RCKI) and Golden-Crowned Kinglets (GCKI) which are usually not too bad to extract. 112 RCKI & 26 GCKI were banded at RP while 31 RCKI and 21 GCKI were banded at PB. Hermit (HETH) and Swainson's Thrush (SWTH) are two "cousins" who are quite similar but you can distinguish the HETH by it's smaller size and the reddish tail & rump are contrasting with the rest of the body. The SWTH are still hanging around which it is quite late in term of migration. We banded 3 of them at PB and 9 at RP. The HETH will stick around for the winter and we had a good sample of them coming through our nets : 36 at RB and 57 at PB.

Beautiful morning at RP (D. Bell)

Wilson's Snipe
(A. Veldhoen)

On Tuesday, Pedder Bay got a really cool first of the year and just "first" actually with a Wilson's Snipe who ended up in one of the top net ! Dave banded it of course :-) Some people would say that it's not as good as a Pygmy Owl but I think it's pretty cool.

It's almost winter now even though some birds are late like the Swainson's Thrush, some warblers or the flycatchers ! We banded one Pacific Slope Flycatcher at both stations and a Hammond's Flycather at RP on October 12th. On October 8^th, we had a few warblers banded at Rocky Point with 1 Common Yellowthroat, 1 Wilson’s Warbler and 5 Yellow-rumped Warbler (4 of them were “Myrtle” and 1 was a “Audubon”). We've also banded one Orange-Crowned Warbler on Oct 10th at RP and another at PB on Oct 8th.

Hutton's Vireo & Ruby Crowned Kinglet (D. Bell)

We had interstesting recaptured of birds banded previous year which comfort the idea of site and routes fidelity for those species. At Rocky Point, we had a Chickadee from 2016, a White-crowned Sparrow from 2017, a Fox Sparrow from 2014 and another one from 2018, and a Robin from 2016. Pedder Bay seems getting more recaptured with a Bewick's Wren from 2018, 4 Song Sparrow from 2018, a Hutton's Vireo from 2018, a Ruby Crowned Kinglet  from 2018, one Fox Sparrow from 2018 and another one from 2017, 2 Junco from 2018, a Chickadee from 2018, aPacific Wren from 2018, a Hermit Thrush from 2015 and a Spotted Towhee from 2018. Note : Hutton Vireo are sometime mistaked for kinglets but they are bigger and have a different kind of beak & have blue legs. 

How do you know winter is coming, you may ask ?! Well... We've seen Snow Geese flying by both stations as well as Sandhill Crane. Seabird watching still good too and the winter ducks are coming. We had hundreds of Turkey Vulture as well as other raptors kettling around and getting ready to go south this week and we saw a juvenile Golden Eagle from both stations on Friday ! This week, some "late" Vaux's Swifts have been spotted from both stations and Dave saw a Lewi's Woodpecker at RP on October 11th which was the first time for RP this season. 

Rocky Point	Oct 6th	Oct 7th	Oct 8th	Oct 9th	Oct 10th	Oct 11th	Oct 12th	Total
Banded	91	12	91	80	58	20	44	396
Sp. Banded	19	7	22	17	17	9	10	32
Recaped	11	6	13	16	7	14	17	84
Sp. Recaped	5	4	6	7	4	10	8	18

Pedder Bay	Oct 6th	Oct 7th	Oct 8th	Oct 9th	Oct 10th	Oct 11th	Oct 12th	Total
Banded	32	1	50	51	30	18	32	215
Sp. Banded	11	1	12	12	15	10	9	22
Recaped	14	2	20	10	16	14	16	92
Sp. Recaped	9	2	11	6	9	9	9	16

Over the Thanksgiving weekend, we had a lot of visitors at Pedder Bay. It’s always great to meet people with interest for birds, especially kids. Owl banding was really crowded with visitors as well. FYI : The owl banders have asked visitors to register before your visit. 

Jannaca guiding Robyn to band her first BDOW (M. Byrne)

On the Owl side of the banding, it has been a good week as well with almost 200 Saw-whet banded this week as well as the first Barred Owl for Pedder. 2 Barred Owls were banded at Rocky Point by our famous volunteers, the Byrne's, who were staying at the campsite for volunteering with the passerines in the mornings & the owls in the evenings... Special thanks for those dedicated or foolish (?) guys ;-) During passerine we also got to band a NSWO and a BDOW on Wednesday at RP and a NSWO on Saturday morning.

Pedder Bay	Oct 6th	Oct 7th	Oct 8th	Oct 9th	Oct 10th	Oct 11th	Oct 12th	Total
BDOW	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1
NSWO	9	2	10	23	9	14	3	70

Rocky Point	Oct 6th	Oct 7th	Oct 8th	Oct 9th	Oct 10th	Oct 11th	Oct 12th	Total
BDOW	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	2
NSWO	20	0	29	24	25	15	8	121

RPBO in the local news : https://www.cheknews.ca/are-you-an-avid-birdlover-then-rocky-point-bird-observatory-wants-you-611755/?fbclid=IwAR343gzA5nPXD7qrc2-eDpBIpFyeE1FGfh-b2Wu1vo2Aq66QZCk8UH5ViAA

Week 11: "SHRIKE"-ing with Excitement

Brown Shrike caught and banded at Rocky Point Bird Observatory on October 1, 2019. Photo: David Bell.
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This week has been indescribably special for us here at Rocky Point Bird Observatory. We've had more raptors this week than ever and (as you may know by now) were privileged to be graced by the appearance of a VERY RARE visitor - a BROWN SHRIKE from Asia on Tuesday!

Brown Shrike  Photo: David Bell

Uncommonly observed even in their home range, this gorgeous (albeit very lost) bird was caught in the net at Rocky by a very stunned Siobhan this week. This is only the second time this species has been recorded in Canada - the first time was an observation in Nova Scotia in 1997 - and the first record for BC, so it speaks to the significance of our banding operation at Rocky. If the Brown Shrike had shown up and we weren't there to observe (and even more unlikely - catch) it, we would have never even known it was there. Rumour has it that our volunteers Joachim and Ian's voices hit all new highs as they shrieked loudly upon seeing the extremely rare visitor.

Brown Shrike  Photo: David Bell

This little beauty turned out to be a hatch-year female and was banded by our Bander-in-Charge David Bell - who to our knowledge is the only person across the country to ever band this species on Canadian soil. It was history in the making! Watch the video of Dave unveiling the Brown Shrike (below).

Video and narration: S. Darlington, 2019 

As of this writing, the bird has not been sighted since October the 3rd, so it may have moved on after putting on some weight after hawking for insects for the past few days. We are really hoping for its success but are also wondering where it will end up next being so far outside its normal migration range. We may never know, but as it is now equipped with a band to identify it, we'll have a better chance of knowing if it gets recaptured in the future. UPDATE: Our Brown Shrike was mentioned on the American Birding Association's Podcast this week.

We only have two more weeks left of passerine banding, and three more weeks of owls, so if you've been meaning to visit the station or volunteer with us it's not too late - come on out! We have had a bit of trouble filling shifts lately so if you can make it, we could really use your help. Migration is slowing down, but that means now is a great time to sign up for shifts because fewer birds means we can spend a bit more time on each one, allowing you to work a little more closely with the banders and hopefully get some more hands-on experience. So don't delay, sign up for shifts today!

Banding and Obs Recap

The winter residents are back and in higher numbers than we've seen all season, with Ruby- and Golden-crowned Kinglets, Spotted Towhee, Golden-crowned Sparrows and Fox Sparrows making frequent appearances in the nets at both stations this week, while warblers, vireos, flycatchers and Rufous hummingbirds have really slowed down.

A probable second-year female Spotted Towhee at RP with retained hatch-year feathers. Photo: D.Talluto

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me back track for a moment: On Monday at Rocky we started the day with a Red-tailed Hawk in the nets! It was Donna's first time banding one and we couldn't be happier for her. Way to go, Donna! 

Donna with the HY red-tailed hawk. Photo: M. Motek

For Monday's totals the Spotted Towhees came out on top with 12 out of our 53 total birds banded and our daily estimated total (obs + banding) for the day was 82 species with a an awesome flyover of a Lapland Longspur. At Pedder we had a slower day, with one very late Wilson's Warbler making an appearance and banded a total of 47 birds of just 16 species, the most frequent of which were Hermit Thrush (8), American Robin (6) and Golden-crowned sparrow (5).

Brown Shrike  Photo: D. Bell

Tuesday at Rocky was the big day when the BROWN SHRIKE was caught in Net 6 making the highlight of the week. We also had a great day for DETs with one Short-eared Owl found in the back meadow, an Orange-crowned Warbler on census, and Turkey Vultures, Red-tailed Hawks and a Broad-winged Hawk seen on Obs. It was relatively slow otherwise, with 56 banded of 17 species. Pedder also had a relatively slow day with 32 banded of 16 species and 55 species on DET including six Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warblers three Townsend's Warblers and a Common Yellowthroat seen on Obs. Our volunteer Brielle also got to band her first Steller's Jay at Pedder and was quite obviously thrilled and we are so happy for her!

Brielle banding her first Steller's Jay  Photo: A.Veldhoen

On Wednesday we were still excited about the Brown Shrike and put a lot of effort into re-finding it (successfully!) in the field with our team putting in a combined total of 20 hours into observations that day. I was lucky enough to be on the schedule at Rocky and was one of the few to see it and photograph it that day!

The search for the Brown Shrike continued on Wednesday.  Photo: D.Talluto

Banding was slow today due to the dreary weather, with 36 banded of 13 species. It was difficult to take our eyes off of the Brown Shrike to do other observations, but we still managed a high number on our daily estimate total with 87 species including higher numbers of Turkey Vultures (280) , Red-winged Blackbirds, Steller's Jays and gulls including California Gulls (300), Glaucous-winged Gull (175) and Heerman's Gull (~40).  At Pedder our most frequently caught species was the Fox Sparrow with 12 banded of the 44 total  banded that day. Our daily estimated total number of species was 49 for the day but with more warblers than the previous day with both Myrtle and Audubon's Yellow-rumped Warblers on obs and two unidentified/intergrade Myrtle/Audubon's banded.

Long-time RPBO volunteer Ann Scarfe with the biggest catch of the day on Wednesday.  Photo: D.Talluto

On Thursday at Rocky the Brown Shrike was still being sighted and more of our volunteers were able to catch a glimpse of the rare species. Our most frequently banded species were Ruby-crowned Kinglet (14) and Spotted Towhee (7), with total number of 33 new bands of 10 species with a daily estimate total of 73 species on obs including six Lapland Longspur flyovers, higher numbers of Common Murre (150) and Turkey Vultures (~22), American Goldfinch (400+) and American Robin (67). American Pipits and Cedar Waxwings were also seen flying overhead in smaller groups of 10-15 at a time. At Pedder the rain made for a very slow day, with 18 banded of 8 species and a daily estimate total of 50 species, with a Slate-coloured Dark-eyed Junco being a noteworthy appearance on obs. We banded a female Slate-coloured Dark-eyed Junco at Rocky last week, so it was exciting to find another one at Pedder. Two other unusual findings at Pedder including a Marsh Wren and Swamp Sparrow observed by Dave.

Taking wing chord measurements on the Barred Owl with Donna  Photo: J. Bertrands

On Friday at Rocky we caught and banded another hatch-year Barred Owl - it was a banding tick for me and I was so happy to have Donna there to help me! We also had a gorgeous Hutton's Vireo stop by for a new piece of jewelry before a female Hairy Woodpecker also stopped in for a snack by the station. 

Female Hairy Woodpecker. Photo: A. Veldhoen

On Saturday Our new volunteer Kris expressed his wish to see a Varied Thrush, and I told him if he wished hard enough, it would come true - and it did! We had a hatch-year female Varied Thrush show up in the nets the very next round! 

Hatch-year male Sharp-shinned Hawk. Photo: D.Talluto

On the same day we also finally caught our first Sharp-shinned Hawk of the season at Pedder Bay after seeing them bounce out of the nets all season it was about time. I was surprised when I found the little guy in the net next to one beautiful male American Robin (thankfully unharmed). The hawk was much smaller than I thought it would be - only about 100 g - and its size and measurements as well as eye colour meant it was aged and sexed as a hatch-year male. This was a banding tick for me so I am elated to have been so lucky this week! We also caught two hatch-year male Myrtle Warblers and a HY female Townsend's Warbler, a few late departures we were excited to see.

I'd also like to give a big 'thank-you" to the volunteers and visitors who came from all over Victoria and beyond to help out with us this season so far. We couldn't do the work we do without you! 

Written by Ashlea Veldhoen, Banding Intern at RPBO

Passerine Weekly Summaries

We had a lot of excitement this week and with the rainy weather keeping the migrants close to the ground we've been able to see some larger flocks of raptors and some very interesting long-distance migrants. It is clear that the season is winding down in terms of banding numbers but it's still been a great time to be a birder or volunteer with RPBO.

Other recent news: 

THANK YOU! Rocky Point Bird Observatory's first-ever livestream event was a success thanks to your support!

Thank you to all who attended the livestream event on October 3rd. Whether you were there in person or online, we are so happy you could share our first-ever livestreaming event for RPBO with us. The recording can still be viewed for 30 days after the event, so if you missed it and would like to watch it, please visit Sunset Lab's website here before early November to watch. Note: the presentation starts at the 08:14 mark. Sunset Labs was kind enough to donate this event to us complete free of charge, so please check them out! 

Written by Ashlea Veldhoen, Banding Intern at RPBO