Wednesday, October 20, 2021

Week 13: Thanksgiving in Nashville

 

Nashville Warbler (David Bell)


I am sad to say that this will be our last blog of the 2021 fall migration season. It has been a wonderful season with a great crew of banders, and as always, the very best volunteers!

Owl banding continues until the 31st of October and there are still a few shifts left. But act quick because they are going fast. Check out our Facebook and Instagram posts for further updates and news for the remainder of the season. 

Week 13 was a short week and extra short at Rocky Point due to blasting for two days. All we had time for was about an hour and a half of observations before we had to leave. Highlight bird of the week, Nashville Warbler, came on the very last day to treat the dedicated crew at Rocky Point. Geese and duck migration gave us a show at both stations during the rainy days, which was unfortunately most of the last week. 


Marsh Wren (Liam Singh)

The last week of the season at Rocky Point packed in some excitement despite it only being 4 days long. The regular fall visitors were present to wrap up the season with 19 Pacific Wrens, 50 Ruby-crowned Kinglets, 22 Fox Sparrows and 22 Golden-crowned sparrows bringing season total for each to 100, 285, 237 and 265 respectively. The most-caught sparrow of the season was a tight race but White-crowned Sparrows (Puget Sound variety) narrowly edged out Golden-crowns 269 to 265 with Fox sparrows coming in third with 237. One of those Fox Sparrows this week was a red morph, which is only the third record for RPBO with the second coming a couple weeks ago at Pedder Bay. Last week saw one last Pacific-slope Flycatcher banded bringing the season total to 239, a single late Swainson’s Thrush and three more Steller’s Jays to finish the season with 39. The highlight of the week however, was a Nashville Warbler. This hatch-year female was caught in net 10 on the second last net check of the season, talk about leaving things to the last minute! Rocky Point's season total for new bands is 3576 and 643 recaptures.

Red Fox Sparrow (David Bell)

Duck migration was in full swing the last few days of banding with Long-tailed Duck, Greater Scaup new for the season as well as huge numbers of dabblers and divers. On the 17th the crew counted 320 American Wigeon, 360 Northern Pintail, 450 Green-winged Teal and 425 Surf Scoters as well as many other species of duck. Brants are here as well as Dunlin,  Red-breasted Merganser and a few Northern Fulmars have been spotted. David Bell also found a Sooty Grouse during one of the days when banding was cancelled due to blasting on the 15th. A Rough-legged Hawk was also seen flying right over the station on the 17th. 


Female Cooper's Hawk (Samuelle Simard-Provençal)

Pedder Bay’s last week also saw its share of highlights. Regular fall birds included 28 Ruby-crowned Kinglets, 42 Fox Sparrows and 15 Golden-crowned Sparrows bringing season totals for each to 169, 403 and 199 respectively. The sparrow race at Pedder Bay wasn’t nearly as close as Rocky Point with Fox Sparrows the clear frontrunner at 403, second and third went to Golden-crowned Sparrow (199) and White-crowned Sparrow (171 of the Puget Sound variety). Highlights for the week included another female Cooper’s Hawk, three more Anna’s Hummingbirds bringing the season total to 91 and a late Hutton’s Vireo, only the fourth of the season. The Hutton's Vireo was caught along with a Ruby-crowned Kinglet for an awesome comparison. Pedder Bay's season total for new bands is 2987 and 723 recaptures.


Two different species... Who's who? (Rebecca Reader-Lee)


Northern Shoveler, Red-necked Grebe, Western Grebe, and Ancient Murrelet were all added to the observations for the season at Pedder Bay. Also, a mysterious turkey was spotted near net 13 after the Thanksgiving long weekend… 
Mystery turkey washed into the estuary (Rebecca Golat) 

Turkey eating a turkey? (Rebecca Reader-Lee)

Picked clean (Rebecca Golat)

Once again I would like to thank all of the volunteers who came out this season rain or shine. You not only make this project possible, you make it so much fun! 

Have a great winter and I hope to see you out birding.

See you next year!

Photo quiz- HUVI left and RCKI right



Season totals at Rocky Point (David Bell)

Season totals at Pedder Bay (Samuelle Simard-Provençal)








Wednesday, October 13, 2021

Week 12: Biggest Week, Littlest Owls

This point in the season is usually when we start to miss the busy days of late September, and look forward to sleeping in on a rainy October morning as migration winds down. Not this year though! This week turned out to be our busiest of the season (so far... six days left to change that?), with a total of 941 new birds banded between the stations. Rocky had 489 new captures (average 328), bringing us to a season total of 3372, while Pedder was not far behind with 452 (average 248) new captures for a season total of 2825. Both stations had a century day this week (more than 100 birds banded), and had Rocky not needed to shut a few nets for an hour on the 7th they undoubtedly would have had another. 

Northern Pygmy-Owl (David Bell)

Pedder once again was the only station to add a new species for the season in the nets; three actually, with a pair of tiny owls and a couple of White-throated Sparrows. On the 9th, young volunteer Adam Ross was excited to find a Northern Pygmy-Owl in net 5 (a long-awaited banding tick for myself)! At just over 73 grams, it was actually the largest of this tiny species that we've banded in the past few years. On the 12th, Pedder became the first to get a (new) daytime Northern Saw-whet Owl this season, with one in net 10 at the start of the day. Rocky had a recap Saw-whet on the 7th as well. Otherwise, the nets were mainly dominated by Golden-crowned and Fox sparrows, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, and Hermit Thrushes - typical late-season fare. Some stragglers are still making their way through though, with a late Wilson's Warbler and some late Swainson's Thrushes. The other highlights of the week were a couple of Fox Sparrows. One was a recapture that was originally banded in 2017. This was the 14th time we have recaptured it (multiple times each year since banding), and in that time it has been processed by eight different banders! One would think it'd have the nets figured out by now, but maybe it's just saying hi to the new crew before it settles in for the winter. The other Fox Sparrow highlight was a putative Red x Sooty intergrade; it looks mostly like a Red Fox Sparrow but has reduced streaking on the back and the red colouration is a bit browner than usual.

Northern Saw-whet Owl (Samuelle S-P)
Four-year-old Fox Sparrow (Rebecca Golat)
Red x Sooty Fox Sparrow (with berry juice on face - David Bell)
Red-shafted x Yellow-shafted Flicker (Rebecca R-L)
White-throated Sparrow (adult - David Bell)

Busy days in the nets left us less time for observations this week; nonetheless a few good birds were found! At Pedder, a flyover Snow Bunting on the 11th was a station first, and a Northern Harrier was (oddly) new for the season on the 7th. This species has been around in far lower numbers than usual this season, at least from what we've noticed. At Rocky, a Glaucous Gull on the 12th was a second station record; a Western Palm Warbler and a Snow Bunting (likely the same individual that went over Pedder) on the 11th were also nice! Other new birds for the season at Rocky included Western Meadowlark on the 8th, Herring Gull on the 10th and a House Sparrow on the 11th. Pine Siskins were also noted in growing numbers this week, with a peak of 525 flying east on the 12th. Waterbirds are also picking up, with plenty of ducks, gulls, loons, and cormorants moving through - on the 12th we noted over 1200 cormorants of all three species (mainly Brandt's). As with the nets, some late stragglers were also seen this week, notably fairly large numbers of Vaux's Swifts still passing through. We typically only get a few individuals into the first week of October, but this year we are still seeing flocks of up to 35 individuals going over. 

Barred Owl - the same one as seen on Chek News on their 5pm 9 Oct broadcast! (Rebecca R-L)

Black Bears continue to be in evidence around the census area at Rocky, with at least eight being seen regularly. Humpbacks are also still around in good numbers out in the strait. Our resident Black-tailed Deer provide a source of entertainment as they chase each other around and occasionally wander through the stations, mostly ignoring our presence and occasionally chewing on the net ropes.

Curious deer checking out our operations (David Bell)

Everything looks good, I'm outta here (David Bell)

Paddle-tailed Darner (Rebecca R-L)
What happens when a Black Bear runs through a net (David Bell)

Busy days of passerine banding have been followed by busy nights of owl banding this week as well. Rocky took the crown for current busiest night with 54 Northern Saw-whet Owls banded on the 10th! We are now up to over 600 owls banded for the season; if you can sign up for a shift, the banders would love the help!

House Finch - as seen on CTV news 9 Oct 6pm broadcast (David Bell)

Orange-variant House Finch (aka Fuzzy Peach - Rebecca Golat)
 

Rocky Point
Oct 6th  
7th
8th
9th
10th
11th
12th
Total
Banded
56
99
78
48
35
118
55
489
Species banded
14
13
12
14
9
17
13
25
Recap
8
4
15
10
3
8
3
51
Species recap
4
4
6
6
3
3
3
12
Pedder Bay
Oct 6th
7th
8th
9th
10th
11th
12th
Total
Banded   
47
118
90
60
22
70
45
452
Species banded
9
9
16
15
8
12
14
30
Recap
9
8
15
16
10
15
14
87
Species recap
5
5
8
7
6
8
7
16

 

(click to enlarge)



Sunrise over Rocky (David Bell)
 

Thursday, October 7, 2021

Week 11: Double sCoop with a Cherry on Top


What a week! While some days have been wet, and many days have been rainy, we can safely say that every day has been a good day. October has begun and we sure can see the changes at the station. The leaves are quickly turning orange and filling our nets, and the temperature is definitely getting colder. It's definitely time to bust out the long johns. 


Hatch year female Cooper's Hawk (Samuelle Simard-Provençal).

Wednesday was a wet one, and Rocky staff took the opportunity to search (unsuccessfully) for the Orchard Oriole banded the day before while the nets were closed (until the sun dried things out). While the search was not fruitful, there were some good sights to be had. Greater White-fronted Geese were plentiful along the back road, and the Cackling Geese were passing over in good numbers. 


Greater White-fronted Geese (David Bell). 

This week, our Pedder Bay station is well below average in numbers having caught 233 birds this week (average 296), bringing us to a season total of 2373 new birds (average 2705). In contrast, the Rocky Point station continues to be above average with 364 birds caught this week (average 379) for a total of 2883 for the season. 


Strapping lads looking for the MEGAs among the Turkey Vulture Kettles (Liam Singh). 

Interesting captures at Rocky Point this week include TWO Cooper's Hawks (one of which Sam had to run a half marathon to extract out of the net), straggler Swainson's Thrushes and Pacific-slope Flycatchers, a Varied Thrush, an increase of Ruby-crowned Kinglets, and a lovely Cedar Waxwing. Interesting captures at Pedder Bay this week include a red Fox Sparrow (only the second banding record ever for RPBO!), a female Sharp-shinned Hawk, the second Hutton's Vireo for the season, and more Anna's Hummingbirds. Turkey Vulture numbers continue to be impressive as well!

Turkey Vultures galore! Can you find anything else of interest in here?? (David Bell). 


Feeling like you want in on the action? Make sure to sign up for some migration shifts here. If you are not a morning person, that's ok... we still have open shifts for our Northern Saw-whet Owl banding program too! All of our banders are excited to see familiar faces again, and to meet new volunteers. If you are new to RPBO and haven't signed up to volunteer yet, you can fill out an application here.  

 
Hatch year male Cooper's Hawk (Rebecca Golat). 

Hatch year female Cooper's Hawk (Joachim Bertrands).

Red Fox Sparrow (Samuelle Simard-Provençal). 

Hutton's Vireo. A new banding tick for our former intern Rebecca! (Samuelle Simard-Provençal).


On the owl front... we are still catching owls! We continue to release birds fitted with motus tags this week, and we hope to collect some interesting data from the project. Monday night, three additional owls were sent off with their lovely (and pricey) tags. Monday night also provided a special treat for owl bander Megan and visiting passerine banders Dave and Sam... RPBO's first Barn Owl capture! It was an exciting night for all who got to see this beautiful hatch year female bird up close. 


Megan and Dave putting a MOTUS tag on a Northern Saw-whet Owl (Samuelle Simard-Provençal).


Hatch year female Barn Owl (Samuelle Simard-Provençal). 


Other interesting sights for the week include more European Mantises, garter snakes, many dragonflies (particularly Common Green Darners, but also a few Shadow Darners!), plenty of bear sightings, and mink galore. 

Little garter snake! (Samuelle Simard-Provençal). 

 
Lounging black bear (Julie Howe). 


For a more detailed overview of our numbers this week and throughout the season, see the below tables. We hope to see you out in the field next week!











Friday, October 1, 2021

Week 10: Bears in the Orchard

Orchard Oriole (David Bell)

 Week 10 with a 10th record for BC! It was an exciting week but not without its hitches. Controlled fires took place at Rocky on the 24th causing the group to have to leave early. Rain caused some short closures this week as well. However on the sunny days the Turkey Vulture kettles have been stealing the show with numbers from a few hundred up to 1000. The surprise of the week was the Orchard Oriole caught at Rocky on the 28th. The hatch-year female was caught in net 1 and is the 10th record for British Columbia.

Steller's Jay (David Bell)

The fall migrants continue to increase in numbers as September comes to a close. Pedder Bay saw its first Yellow-rumped Warbler of the year (finally the Butterbutts are here). A single Wilson’s Warbler and two Orange-crowned said their farewells before heading south. Some volunteers were lucky enough to band some Steller’s Jays this week and with many more around. Three more Steller’s Jays, 53 Fox Sparrows and 31 Golden crowned Sparrows were banded last week. Kinglets, to the delight of all, also continue to increase in numbers. Six Golden-crowned Kinglets and 22 Ruby-crowned Kinglets were banned this week bringing season totals to 13 and 37 of each at Pedder Bay respectively. Lastly 2 Anna’s Hummingbirds helped bring the season total up to 84.

Recap Chestnut-backed Chickadee banded in 2019 as an AHY (Rebecca Golat)

Rocky point had an eventful week of banding full of normal fall migrants and one less than normal visitor. Ten Steller’s Jays, 37 Fox Sparrows and 28 Golden-crowned Sparrows brought season totals to 15, 107 and 74 respectively. Kinglets have also made themselves known with 11 Golden-crowned and 40 Ruby-crowned Kinglets this week. Yellow-rumped Warblers arrived in numbers at Rocky this week with 6 Audubon’s, 8 Myrtle and 2 Intergrades bringing the season totals to 14, 8 and 2 respectively. The highlight of the week however was a hatch-year female Orchard Oriole. A first banding and observation record for Rocky Point as well as a very rare visitor to the west coast! The Oriole was caught in net 1 and was seen later that day hanging out by the front nets in the rose bushes. 

Orchard Oriole, check out that fault bar! (David Bell)

  
Goose migration season! (Rebecca Golat)


Rocky Point’s new observations for the season included a whole lot of geese! Greater White-fronted Goose, Snow Goose, Cackling Goose, as well as more Canada Geese were added to the ETs. Other observations include:  Long-billed Dowitcher, Red Phalarope, Lapland Longspur, and Brewer’s Blackbird. The surprises came on the 28th; in addition to the Orchard Oriole, a Gyrfalcon was found on census and a Common Grackle was seen on obs - three firsts for RPBO in one day! The Common Grackle is also the fifth record for Victoria.
Pedder Bay had a few new observations including Snow Goose and Cackling Goose.

Common Grackle (David Bell)



The Rocky Point crew got some drama on the 24th while they were opening the front nets in the morning. A Great Horned Owl swooped down and caught a rabbit right under net 1. Life is a nature documentary when you work at Rocky Point.

A whole family of bears have been seen around Rocky. Papa bear was at the front shore snacking on some marine invertebrates while mama bear was seen in the back field having a breakfast of acorns from the oak trees. Two curious baby bears were seen on census playing "who can spook the human the most". 
Black Saddlebags (Samuelle Simard-Provençal)

And finally, a potential preview for next week...


A potential Siberian express...