Rocky Point Bird Observatory: 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.