Rocky Point Bird Observatory: 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!