Rocky Point Bird Observatory: Week 7: Strix are for kids

Hello RPBO fans and happy September!

Rebecca Golat here. I am one of the new banding interns as well as a returning owl bander.

Migration has been steadily increasing throughout the week and we are getting more fall migrants. The increase in owl and raptor presence makes September my favourite month of the year.

P.S. Owl banding starts in less then a week and there are still lots of spots to sign up for volunteering!

The two owl banders, Rebecca and Jannaca helping
age the SY Barred.-Donna Talluto

Banding highlights

We started off the week with Rocky’s biggest day of the season so far! We banded 101 new birds with 3 recaps. Our most numerous species banded were Savannah Sparrows and in second, Yellow Warblers. That day included a couple firsts such as Hermit Thrush and Yellow-Rumped Warbler(Audubon's) banded for the season.

The third banded ALFL
for RPBO-Siobhan Darlington

Pedder Bay volunteers had a treat on Monday with a bird that has only been banded three times in all of RPBO's history. An Alder flycatcher! We use a formula of measurements to separate Willow and Alder flycatchers since they look very similar. The 95% confidence interval for western Willow is a Formula R score range of 0.98-2.16, and Alder is 2.41-4.68. Our bird measured out at 3.84! This bird also has a noticeably shorter bill, slight eye ring, and white underbelly and chin, characteristics of Alder flycatcher.

That wasn’t all for Pedder that day, they also got the third banded Belted Kingfisher of the season! Our volunteer, Liam Singh got the pleasure of banding this feisty HY female. We also had our first Ruby-crowned Kinglet of the year at both stations, which is a sure sign that migration is really getting underway.

HY female BEKI-Siobhan Darlington

SY male Barred. Notice the molt limit between the
primary/tertials and secondary feathers-Rebecca Golat

Some more excitement for the week came at Rocky Point first on Thursday, and then again on Saturday. Barred Owls caught in the net! The first, a HY bird, was banded by Donna exactly to the date of the very first Barred owl she banded in 2018. That bird was also a HY. Good timing! The second bird was banded by Mitchell Ogilvie and was a SY male. Mitchell has been patiently waiting to band his favourite bird and got the added treat of both owl banders guiding him through it!

Donna with a HY Barred. Exactly one year from
the first one she banded in 2018!-Siobhan Darlington

Census & Obs Highlights

Outside of the nets we detected large flocks of American Pipits, Band-tailed Pigeons and Vaux’s Swifts. We are also noticing larger numbers of Cooper’s and Sharp-shinned Hawk starting to kettle with a few Red-tailed Hawks and Peregrine Falcons. Rocky Point also had its first Broad-winged Hawk of the season. On Sunday of this week the Pedder bay station got a look at a Western Kingbird above the banding station. Other highlights include, Black Swift, American golden Plover, Pacific golden Plover, and a continuing Northern Waterthrush.

Courtney Cameron on census at Rocky Point-Donna Talluto

The Steller's jays are starting to slow down at both stations but a few each day are getting dangerously close to the nets. We saw what will likely be our last views of the Purple Martins before these long-distance migrants head to Mexico and Central America. Northern pygmy-Owl have been heard frequently at Pedder Bay. Even two at the same time so there is still another chance of someone getting to band their first one…

Wildlife Sightings

It’s always wild at Rocky Point! The group got a close look at a massive bull Roosevelt Elk that was spotted by David Bell when they were closing the nets. Wolves were heard howling at the upper ponds several times this week as well as regular sightings of Humpback whales and a few Orca whales. While Pedder had its share of Black-tailed Deer and Harbor seals. Signing up for census is a great way to enjoy all of the wildlife Vancouver Island has to offer!