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).