Week 6 - Look up, here they go...

Rebecca banding bird #1000 and the 1st Fox Sparrow

What happen on the beautiful southern tip of Vancouver Island this week, you may wonder. Well, Pedder Bay Banding Station has passed the 1000 individuals bird banded (1138 at the end of the week) while Rocky Point Banding Station is ending the week with 1463 individuals banded. In term of net effort this week was really good, no major closure to report. This week, the "jewelry factory" of Rocky Point has offered a little ring with 9 unique digits to 294 new lucky feathered migrants of 29 species while recapturing 35 individuals of 12 species. Those have been hanging out in the area showing off their new acquisitions, some of them have been seen since the very first day of the program... No kidding ! In Pedder, the acquisition of a new shiny ring concerns 190 individuals of 27 species and we have 37 birds of 13 species who came back for a checking. The White Crowned Sparrows are the "clan" of birds that acquiered most of the ring in Rocky Point this week. It concerned 31 individuals. The "clan" of Wilson's Warblers and Yellow Warbler also reached the same score followed by Lincoln's Sparrows (30), Pacific Slope Flycatchers (26) and Willow Flycatchers (20). In Pedder Bay, Wilson's warblers are in the lead with 29 individuals followed by White Crowned Sparrows (21), Lincoln's Sparrows (17), Soptted Towhees (16), Swainson's Thrushes (15) and Pacific Slope Flycatchers (15).

The 1st Ruby Crowned Kinglet and a the "bros" of Wilson's Warblers. Can you guess who's the youngest ?

Besides those numbers, our mistnets have seen a few firsts of the year reminding us that winter is just around the corner with the first Hermit Trush banded on the 27th in Pedder Bay (no sighting in RP yet), the first Fox Sparrows spotted and banded on August 28 as well as the first Ruby Crowned Kinglet the same day in Rocky Point. The sky was well used with waves of migrants like Pacific Slope Flycatcher, Western Tanager, Swainson's Trushes and Yellow Warblers. A flock of 48 Snow Geese flying over the Pedder Bay Marina was a nice surprise in the morning of the 30th. A couple of Sandhill Cranes has been spotted on the farmland area close by William Head Road in the beginning of the week and Emma saw one resting in the small island in Rocky Point while scoping the water front. A couple of Ruffed Grouse have been seen in Rocky Point and "THE" Grey Catbird remains well and healthy in the usual area. 

Kosuke and our friend BDWO (left) - Can you guess who's under the bat's protections ?

RP	25th	26th	27th	28th	29th	30th	31st	Total
Ind. banded	31	36	38	48	59	49	33	294
Species	6	7	4	6	4	4	15	29
Ind. Recaptured	6	7	4	6	4	4	4	35
Species	3	5	3	5	4	4	3	12

PB	25th	26th	27th	28th	29th	30th	31st	Total
Ind. banded	20	29	21	22	31	27	40	190
Species	9	15	9	12	14	13	14	27
Ind. Recaptured	5	0	6	6	7	7	6	37
Species	4	0	5	5	5	6	4	13

Most recaptured birds in Rocky Point were from the same year. We recaptured a few birds from 2019 ; Three white crowned sparrow, one Song sparrow and one Bewick’s wren who was originally banded as an adult so makes it at least 2 years old and one recaptured Chestnut backed chickadee from 2018 who was originally banded as hatch year so it’s aged 2 years old. In Pedder Bay, we recaptured a bushtit from 2018 as well as a male Anna's Hummingbird banded last year as a hatch year bird. Welcome back !

The wolves are welcoming us with their warm howling almost every morning in RP and some lucky folks amongs us have seen them. Barred Owls and Great Horned are also really vocal and can be seen while arriving at the station. This week, Kosuke got to handle the Barred Owl who got jelwery and hangs out often by the station. Three Orcas were spotted as well. As you may know, you won't never be bored while volunteering with us !

In Rocky Point site, the wasp situation along the path toward net 8 has been taken care of by Ann and her ingeniosity (in her arm's expense though). Let's also be really careful with the resident bat by net 10. We arenow wearing covering face device with a plastic shield. In the eventuality that a bat would hit you, wash the area concerned with soap for 15 min. it will reduced the risk of getting disease. After your shift, you will have to get a rabies shot still.

Next week, Rocky Point site will be close after 9 am from Wednesday to Friday which will allow us to do some Hawk Watching after those short shifts (more informations by mail for those who signed up).

Week 5 - Fits and 'Starts

The August doldrums have officially hit, exacerbated by overnight rain that halted migration on a few nights, and slightly reduced our net hours for the week when it continued into the morning. The low point came on the 21st, when a total of 16 new birds were banded between the two stations!

Foggy morning at Rocky Point (David Bell)

Early morning at Pedder (Donna Talluto)

Despite registering its lowest single week ever for new birds banded (tied with the same week in 2012), Pedder managed to snag our first Cassin's Vireo (a lifer for at least one of the volunteers!) and Cooper's Hawk for the season. Only three species managed to hit double-digits, with Swainson's Thrushes (15), White-crowned Sparrows (13) and Pacific-slope Flycatchers (12) making up almost half our catch for the week. A relatively low number of recaps toward the end of the week either means our birds have moved on or they've learned where the nets are and are now avoiding us. Our oldest bird for the week was a "Puget Sound" White-crowned Sparrow banded here in August 2018 as an after-hatch-year, making it at least three years old.

First Cooper's Hawk of the season! (Donna Talluto)

After hatch-year (left) vs. hatch-year (right) female Wilson's Warblers - spot the differences! (Emma Radziul)

A photo quiz at Emma's request - answer at the bottom! (Emma Radziul)

Rocky fared better this week, seeing more average numbers in the nets for this time of year, and managing its first Lincoln's Sparrows of the season. The nets were found by the usual suspects, with White-crowned Sparrows (37), Wilson's Warblers (28), Pacific-slope Flycatchers (27) and Willow Flycatchers (18) putting in a good showing. Our oldest recap there was a Wilson's Warbler originally banded in July 2018 as a hatch-year, making her two years old now. The week's highlight came on the 18th, when Jo came back from a net round with a bird she wasn't quite sure about. It turned out to be a nice hatch-year male American Redstart, our 6th banding record for fall migration and a new Victoria bird for me (and a lifer for Rebecca, who got to band it!). We also managed to band 'Freddie', our unofficial mascot for the season, after it landed on the banding gear, practically begging for some jewelry. 

American Redstart! (Rebecca Golat)

Freddie!

New arrivals for this week included Northern Pintail, Northern Shoveler and Wilson's Snipe. The continuing Gray Catbird put in a few appearances, and could be heard most mornings in its usual spot by the front pond. Its tail and wings appear to be fully molted and regrown now, so who knows how much longer it will stick around. Fog on most mornings made obs difficult, but numbers of warblers and shorebirds continue to increase around the census areas, and the first of our 'late season' birds should be showing up any day now.

Rocky on a particularly low-vis day (David Bell)

A "Gray-headed" Orange-crowned Warbler, a sure sign of fall migration (Rebecca Golat)

Non-avian highlights were topped by regular sightings of the lone wolf at Rocky. All the rain brought out some Red-legged Frogs and Rough-skinned Newts, making us watch our steps carefully on the paths! Humpback Whales and the usual River Otters, Raccoons, Black-tailed Deer, etc. rounded out the week.

Red-legged Frog (Emma Radziul)

The 'obs chair' at Pedder (David Bell)

Daniel enjoying the new 'stump pillow' at Rocky! (Donna Talluto)

 

Pedder Bay	Aug 18th	19th	20th	21st	22nd	23rd	24th	Total
Banded	15	5	8	10	16	20	19	93
Species banded	8	5	7	6	9	10	10	23
Recap	5	5	6	4	5	5	3	33
Species recap	3	5	4	4	4	4	2	10

Rocky Point	Aug 18th	19th	20th	21st	22nd	23rd	24th	Total
Banded	28	48	19	6	22	30	46	199
Species banded	12	14	9	5	12	13	15	29
Recap	4	17	6	7	6	8	8	46
Species recap	4	4	4	5	4	4	6	10

 

(click to enlarge)

Quiz answer: Chipping Sparrow