Week 13: Rubies and Gold

Off and on rain this week didn't stop the birds, and we had a rather steady flow of migration throughout the last week of the season. Owl monitoring continues until the end of October; although it has been a low year, there are probably still a few on their way south!

Drizzly days meant lots of rainbows over Rocky! (David Bell)

At Pedder, the junco party continued with 56 individuals banded; topping the charts for the week and bringing us to a season total of 331, shattering the previous record of 264 set in 2016. Other top captures were Fox Sparrow (46) and Ruby-crowned Kinglet (39). Our first Swamp Sparrow, second Varied Thrush, and 7th, 8th and 9th Northern Flickers of the season were the other highlights for the week here. Surprisingly, the oldest bird of the week award went not to a sparrow, but to a Hermit Thrush originally banded here 17 Oct 2015 as a hatch-year, making it five years old!

Pedder's first and only Swamp Sparrow of 2020 (Rebecca Golat)

Up close and personal with an Anna's Hummingbird (David Bell)

An intergrade Northern Flicker - a good reminder that yellow shafts
do not always equal "Yellow-shafted"! (Liam Singh)

At Rocky, none of our volunteers will be surprised to learn that Ruby-crowned Kinglets were the top capture this week with 84 banded. Rounding out the top three were also crowned birds: Golden-crowned Kinglet (33) and Golden-crowned Sparrow (25). A single House Finch was our only new species for the year, but we also caught our second Sharp-shinned Hawk and third Townsend's Warbler of the season. Oldest recaps here were a Spotted Towhee banded in 2017 as a hatch-year (three years old now), and a Ruby-crowned Kinglet banded in 2018 as an after-hatch-year, making it at least three years old!

Ruby-crowned Kinglet showing off those orange feet (Liam Singh)

Varied Thrush (Liam Singh)

New arrivals for the season at Pedder were Golden Eagle (seen after standard period unfortunately!), Swamp Sparrow, Cackling Goose and Lapland Longspur, while Rocky added Lesser Scaup, Snow Goose, Golden Eagle, Ancient Murrelet, Black-legged Kittiwake and Cassin's Auklet - late fall has definitely arrived! There were still a few warblers hanging on this week, and there are still a few species yet to arrive that we missed for the season (Rough-legged Hawk, Northern Shrike, Snow Bunting to name a few), but overall migration is on its last legs for this year - just the waterfowl, gulls, seabirds and a few more wintering species left to arrive!

Pedder waterfall in fine form (Emma Radziul)

This juvenile Snow Goose kept us company on seawatch at
Rocky on our last day (David Bell)

Our non-avian highlights for this week were definitely topped by the return of the wolf pack. After mostly seeing the lone wolf and hearing distant howling all season, a total of nine(!) individuals were seen together on the 16th. I guess they know we are almost done for the year and are making their way back into 'our' space. Near-daily sightings of Humpbacks were the other main highlight of the week. Surprisingly this season went by with very few bear sightings - only two or three at each station; compare that with the 'herds' we usually get feasting on acorns daily in October!

A buck heralding the dawn on the Pedder hill (David Bell)

As mentioned, owl monitoring goes until the end of the month; so far our nocturnal banders have caught around 500 Northern Saw-whet Owls, five Barred Owls and a single Long-eared Owl! Let's hope the owls keep moving through on these colder nights.

Finally, a huge thank-you to all of our volunteers, the RPBO board members and my fellow banders for making this another great season! Despite reduced staffing due to the ongoing pandemic we managed to have quite a smooth season, with above-average numbers of birds at both stations. If the table below doesn't work for you, we ended up with 3622 banded at Rocky Point and 3257 at Pedder Bay for the 2020 season.

Fall colours at the end of Migration! (Donna Talluto)

 

Rocky Point	Oct 13th	14th	15th	16th	17th	18th		Total
Banded	43	61	66	21	56	25		272
Species banded	15	13	19	7	14	10		26
Recap	6	9	14	1	9	8		47
Species recap	5	5	7	1	6	7

Pedder Bay	Oct 13th	14th	15th	16th	17th	18th		Total
Banded	20	37	56	21	48	27		209
Species banded	8	9	14	8	10	9		20
Recap	5	13	8	5	17	9		56
Species recap	4	6	5	4	7	4

 

(click to enlarge)

Week 12: Storm's a'Brewin

 

The second last week of banding featured mornings filled with the song of Varied Thrush and bird bags full of kinglets. The weather was a mixed bag with multiple days of volunteers braving the wind and rain to deliver some precious birds.

Brewer's Blackbird, a RPBO first! (David Bell)

Banding Highlights

While there were not an overwhelming number of birds at Rocky Point, a season and station first arrived with the fall weather.  A total of 97 Ruby-crowned Kinglets were banded, the closest competitor being Pine Siskin at 24. The week included the first record Brewer’s Blackbird for RPBO's migration program, a after-hatch-year female caught in net 2. It also featured the first Swamp Sparrow of the year. A late season Hutton’s vireo and Yellow Warbler also made an appearance. In total 246 birds were banded bringing the season total for Rocky Point to 3350.

Swamp Sparrow (David Bell)

Pedder Bay saw similar conditions with 46 Ruby-crowned Kinglets being the most banded bird. Close behind was Fox Sparrows at 38 and Oregon Juncos at 28. Two Northern Flickers made their way into the nets along with one Steller’s Jay. Three White-Throated Sparrows and three Myrtle Warblers were also banded. In total 214 birds were banded bringing the season total to 3048.

Great Horned Owl giving Dave the "eye"(David Bell)

A week of mostly usual migrants, species to note include a late Western Tanager frequenting Pedder Bay, Sandhill Cranes at both stations and a Bobolink flyover at Pedder Bay on the 12th. The Blue Jay was also located once more on the 7^th at Rocky Point. Pedder Bay also had two Lesser Scaups which were new for the season. Raptor migration continues with reduced but still large numbers of Turkey Vultures and Red-tailed Hawks at both stations.

Long-eared Owl! (Jannaca Chick)

The owl crew was pleasantly surprised one evening when the “Barred Owl” found in net 5 at Rocky Point turned out to be a Long-eared Owl! The second banding record for Rocky Point. The bird was a hatch-year male and a welcome addition to the night. Owl branded toques, a gift from Tania Tripp will soon be available for $20 to keep the chills off on those long nights waiting for owls in the dark….stay tuned.

Donna, Ann N, and Emma wearing the new owl hats

Sparrows and Kinglets - Oh my!

Sparrows and Kinglets - Oh my!

RPBO Weekly Summary, Week 11 - Sept 28th to October 5th 

What could convince you to get outside while the stars are still out and the moon in still up? 

(photo credit: David Bell) 

    Fall migration bird monitoring, of course!

   Calling first might be the thrushes and the Towhees from the bushes. As the sun comes up, on the wind you will hear the whistled songs of Golden-crowned Sparrows and Fox Sparrows. The jit-jit of Ruby Crowned Kinglets will tick from the bushes, and the tinkling of Golden-crowned Kinglets will be heard overhead. 

    The White-crowned sparrows and American Goldfinch that bread at our sites have moved on and now are seen and caught in smaller numbers. What vagrant might you see? Our most uncommon bird seen this week was a Blue Jay, heard and photographed, but not caught and banded, at Rocky Point.

Sneaky Blue Jay (photo credit: Rebecca Reader-Lee)

     Week 11 at saw an influx of migratory and over wintering sparrows. At RP, our most banded sparrow this week was the Spotted Towhee (69), followed by the Golden-crowned sparrow (33), then the Song Sparrow (25). At PB, the most banded sparrow was the Oregon Junco (85), followed by the Fox Sparrow (56) and Golden-crowned Sparrow (40). 

    High numbers of Ruby-crowned Kinglets (99 - RP, 55 - PB), Yellow-rumped Warblers (38 - RP, 18 - PB) and Pacific Wrens (23 - RP, 14 - PB) round off our most-banded birds this week. 

    Still sticking around, we enjoyed our last-of-the-season Yellow Warblers and Orange-crowned Warblers in the nets, and we observed some Townsends and Wilson's, in addition to some last of the migrating Swainson's Thrushes, House Wrens, Pacific-slope Flycatchers, and Violet Green Swallows.

    Large flocks of Pine Siskins criss-crossed our sites and came down from the skies occasionally to feed. Varied Thrush and Steller's Jays became more common visitors to our sites. 

Hutton's Vireo (photo credit: Emma Radziul)

    "It's a big kinglet?!?" .. Nope, a Hutton's Vireo! Note it's larger size, characteristic hooked bill, large and prominent head, and thick grey/blue legs, in addition to the different behaviors of this species in the field. 

Now that's a kinglet (photo credit: Emma Radziul)

    Identifying Yellow-rumped Warbler to subspecies kept our banders and volunteers on their toes this week. There were even 4 Intregrade Yellow-rumped Warblers showing a mix of characteristics of both subspecies caught in the nets. 

    This week has shown us it's a good year to see and hear White-throated Sparrow in our area, having banded a season total thus far of 11 at Rocky Point and 6 at Pedder Bay. Previous max records were 12 at RP (average is 5 WTSP per year) and 11 at PB (average is 5 per year). 

    Magnificent displays of Turkey Vultures have been seen, with numbers in the hundreds intermittently seen from Pedder Bay, and numbers regularly upwards of 1000 this week at Rocky Point. Mixed in to these kettles have been Broad-winged Hawks and other buteos, accipters and falcons. 

Turkey Vultures peppering the sky (photo credit: Rebecca Reader-Lee)

Red-tailed Hawk (photo credit: Rebecca Reader-Lee)

Broad-winged Hawk and Turkey Vulture (photo credit: Rebecca Reader-Lee)

These raptors sometimes are seen low to the ground, hunting, and occasionally getting caught in the nets! This week, RP banded one Cooper's Hawk and one Sharp-shinned Hawk, much to the delight of all present.

Cooper's Hawk banding (photo credit: David Bell) 

    Another crowd favorite has been the Sandhill Cranes, observed daily this week at Rocky Point and beautifully photographed by Cathy Reader. 

Sandhill Cranes coming in for a landing (photo credit: Cathy Reader) 

Northern Saw-whet Owl banding has seen some great nights this week, with the busiest night having caught 37 owls at a single site.

Norther Saw-whet Owl (photo credit: Rebecca Golat) 

     So if you're thinking of signing up for owls (which ends this month on the 31st) or passerines (which ends on the 18th), don't miss out, there are still some shifts to sign up for on When To Help. See you out there, whether it be for an early morning or a late night. Let's make the very end of the season a good one.

Beautiful misty morning at Pedder Bay by the inlet (photo credit: David Bell)