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| Cotton candy skies at Pedder Bay on August 24, 2019. Photo: Ashlea Veldhoen |
Hello all!
Pleased to e-meet you all. My name is Ashlea. This was my second week as an intern with Rocky Point Bird Observatory, and I am as thrilled as ever to be a part of this great organization! I'm here this week to give you all an overview of week five's activities here at RPBO.
Thank you!
We'd like to thank all of the volunteers who came out for what turned out to be a fantastic week. Without support from people like you, this work wouldn't be possible! To that end, if you are a volunteer, please continue to sign up for as many shifts as you can in advance. If you are a new follower of RPBO, check out http://rpbo.org/volunteer.php to learn more about how you can get involved!We had a busier week than usual for this time of year, with over 200 new bands at Rocky and over 180 at Pedder Bay. At Rocky, we were inundated with flycatchers this week with 46 newly banded Pacific Slope Flycatchers and 34 newly banded Willow Flycatchers, with "Puget Sound" White-crowned Sparrows - or as we affectionately like to call them, 'Pizzwizz' for their name's short form PSWS - and Wilson's Warblers following closely behind with 26 and 25 new bands, respectively. At Pedder we had the similar species in the top three, but the Pizzwizz White-crowned Sparrows came up in higher numbers (20 banded), followed by Willow Flycatchers and Swainson's Thrushes at 14 and 12 new bands, respectively.
Banding & Obs Review:
We began the week with Rocky in a slight lead with 908 birds banded. Though the week started slow, things began to rapidly pick up despite the somewhat drizzly weather we had during the latter part of the week.
On Sunday (Aug 18) we had a slower day with 13 new bands at Pedder Bay and 26 newly banded birds at Rocky Point, and were happy to find five Vaux's Swifts flying overhead with a group of about 20 Northern Rough-winged swallows!
Monday picked up a little bit at Pedder, with 32 new birds banded while 28 birds were banded at Rocky, while Tuesday slowed back down to normal, with 18 new bands at Pedder and 23 new bands at Rocky, where during census we counted a small group of 60 Common Murre off EDYE Point.
Wednesday was rainy and resulted in us closing the nets a half an hour early at Rocky. Even still, the 17 new birds banded brought the total number of birds banded at Rocky to 1002! The day became a bit more exciting when David spotted a Wandering Tattler flying off the southern tip of Bentinck Island, making its characteristic "kree-kree-kree!" (If you're interested in hearing what Dave heard, listen here at AllAboutBirds.org.)
We were also treated to four hatch-year Western Tanagers in the net at once - two of each sex, leading to a great comparison photo (above) between a HY male and HY female Western Tanager. Hatch-year males feature brighter yellow head, brighter yellow upper wing bar, and brighter yellow rump with darker, more defined primary feathers when compared the female on the right, which is much duller overall.
With the return of the sunshine on Thursday the birds seemed be much more active, with double the amount of birds banded at Pedder (32) compared to the day before and more than triple at Rocky, withed 62 new birds banded.
Friday continued to see a further increase in the number of birds in nets. We had 45 new bands at Pedder and an even busier day for Rocky with 76 birds banded. This combined with a second observation of a Wandering Tattler spotted for a second time by David Bell proved to be a very exciting day with not much rest for our dedicated team of volunteers! We closed the week with a slower but still busy day at both sites, with 31 new bands at Pedder Bay and 43 new bands at Rocky and a very special capture of an Orange-crowned Warbler of the 'celata' subspecies, which is typically found east of the Rockies. It features a gray head much like the 'Oreothlypis orestera' subspecies of BC's interior, but is generally a bit smaller in size with a slightly shorter bill.
This week's totals for Pedder Bay was 187 birds banded of 32 species, bringing the season total to: 994, and a total of 276 banded at Rocky, breaking the 1000 mark and bringing Rocky into the lead with a season total of 1183. Click the chart below for a summary of species we banded at both sites.
The drizzly day on Wednesday meant the nets were slow at Rocky, but it allowed us more time for doing some observations around the site. We found a few Rough-skinned Newts, plenty of slugs, a Pacific Treefrog and a multitude of deer. As we were sheltering from the rain together at the station, we heard Dave's voice calmly crackling through the radio "...orcas off EDYE point.” As quickly as I'd ever done, I snatched my binoculars from the table and hurriedly made my way to the front nets where Dave was standing. It was raining lightly with cool wind, and thick fog draped over the ocean like a blanket.
All was quiet...and then we heard it, a blow! I peered through my binoculars into the fog hanging low above the water and saw an imposing pitch-black dorsal fin emerge from the water, and then another, and another, and another.
They were a pod of transient orcas, 3 big males, 3 calves and 9 or 10 female orcas in all. For the next 15 minutes Dave, myself and the volunteers watched this small pod 'spyhopping' as they skirted the coastline until they melted mysteriously back into the fog.
To be able to work in the presence of such raw majesty is a great privilege, and its experiences like these that keep myself - and hopefully, others - inspired and excited to continue working towards a better future for those to come.
-Ashlea
RPBO Banding Intern
Monday picked up a little bit at Pedder, with 32 new birds banded while 28 birds were banded at Rocky, while Tuesday slowed back down to normal, with 18 new bands at Pedder and 23 new bands at Rocky, where during census we counted a small group of 60 Common Murre off EDYE Point.
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| Male (left) and female (right) hatch-year Western Tanagers caught at RP on August 21, 2019 at RP. Photo: David Bell |
We were also treated to four hatch-year Western Tanagers in the net at once - two of each sex, leading to a great comparison photo (above) between a HY male and HY female Western Tanager. Hatch-year males feature brighter yellow head, brighter yellow upper wing bar, and brighter yellow rump with darker, more defined primary feathers when compared the female on the right, which is much duller overall.
With the return of the sunshine on Thursday the birds seemed be much more active, with double the amount of birds banded at Pedder (32) compared to the day before and more than triple at Rocky, withed 62 new birds banded.
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| Orange-crowned Warbler 'celata' subspecies. Caught at RP on Aug 24, 2019. Photo: David Bell |
This week's totals for Pedder Bay was 187 birds banded of 32 species, bringing the season total to: 994, and a total of 276 banded at Rocky, breaking the 1000 mark and bringing Rocky into the lead with a season total of 1183. Click the chart below for a summary of species we banded at both sites.
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| Weekly totals for Rocky Point and Pedder Bay August 18-24, 2019 |
Wildlife Sightings
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| Rough-skinned Newt at RP. Photo: Ashlea Veldhoen |
All was quiet...and then we heard it, a blow! I peered through my binoculars into the fog hanging low above the water and saw an imposing pitch-black dorsal fin emerge from the water, and then another, and another, and another.
They were a pod of transient orcas, 3 big males, 3 calves and 9 or 10 female orcas in all. For the next 15 minutes Dave, myself and the volunteers watched this small pod 'spyhopping' as they skirted the coastline until they melted mysteriously back into the fog.
To be able to work in the presence of such raw majesty is a great privilege, and its experiences like these that keep myself - and hopefully, others - inspired and excited to continue working towards a better future for those to come.
-Ashlea
RPBO Banding Intern
