Week 10: Thermal Tango

 

As the weather remains unseasonably warm and sunny, large kettles of Turkey Vultures and hawks have been observed over both Rocky Point (RP) and Pedder Bay (PB), taking advantage of the rising thermals to aid their crossing of the Juan de Fuca strait. Up to 2000 Turkey Vultures were seen at Rocky Point on September 25th. Broad-winged (14 individuals were observed on a single day) and Red-tailed hawks have also been in the mix at both stations.

Turkey Vulture (Sonja Futehally)

 

Turkey Vultures kettling above the station at RP (Sonja Futehally)

                                                                                    

Sandhill Cranes (RP only), Cackling and Greater White-fronted geese are also southbound and have been observed flying over the stations. It is always a treat to see them up close if they choose to stop over in the Greater Victoria Region. Single day high counts of Band-tailed Pigeons (671 at RP), American Robins (219 at RP), American Pipits (295 at RP), and Yellow-rumped Warblers (615 at RP - primarily Audubon's, some Myrtle and intergrades) have been observed at both the stations. Other notable observations include Black Swift, Varied Thrush, Horned Larks and Evening Grosbeak flyover (RP). Horned Grebes and Parasitic Jaegers were also seen during seawatch at Rocky Point.

Most abundant in our nets this week were Fox Sparrows, Lincoln’s Sparrows, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Hermit Thrushes and Golden-crowned Sparrows, you might have some of these species in your back yard as well! White-throated Sparrows are also starting to trickle in, both at the stations and in the nets.

Banding highlights for the week include a Black-throated Gray Warbler (HY male) and a Marsh Wren (HY) at Pedder Bay (4th record for the station); a Red-breasted Sapsucker (HY) and a recap Purple Finch at Rocky point originally banded in 2019! 

Black-throated Gray Warbler (David Bell)

                                                   

Marsh Wren (Ashlea Veldhoen)

                                                          

Red-breasted Sapsucker (Sonja Futehally)

                                                  

Zygodactyl toe arrangement of a Red-breasted Sapsucker (Sonja Futehally)

                       

Notice the toe arrangement in woodpeckers differs from passerines. Passerines have 3 toes in front and 1 at the back. This arrangement is known as anisodactyl. Owls, Cuckoos and Woodpeckers have two toes  forward and the other two point back, known as zygodactyl. 

Purple Finch, originally banded in 2019 at RP (David Bell)

                                  

We were also able to welcome visiting banders from Delta Marsh Bird Observatory to our Pedder Bay station. Sharing insights and experiences from other stations is always enlightening!

The crew at Pedder Bay station (Daniel Donnecke)

Though some days yielded less than expected from our nets for this time of year, as was the case at Rocky Point on Sept 23rd, we were however lucky to watch two Orcas passing through the channel between Bentinck island and the station. A radio message from the BIC had all volunteers instantly drop their lunch boxes and run to shore. We watched them glide though the water, showing their glossy backs when coming up for air, their aura silencing us, then diving back into the darkness of the ocean. Their undulating movements smooth and effortless. 

Orca at Rocky Point (David Bell)

                                                             

Other wildlife sightings for the week include Humpback whales, Northern Red-legged frog,  Orange Sulphur butterfly, Praying Mantis and Spotted Tussock moth larva.

Northern Red-legged frog  (Aiva Noringseth)

                                               

Orange Sulphur (David Bell)

                                                             

 

Praying Mantis helping out the scribe! (Sonja Futehally)

                                        

Spotted Tussock Moth (Sonja Futehally)

                                                   
 

Sunrise at Rocky Point (Ian Cruickshank)

                                                    

 

There are still volunteer shifts to fill in the coming weeks, for owls and passerines, so if you are interested please sign up on whentohelp.com or email volunteer@rpbo.org if you are new!

 

                                  You can find the details of our banding week in the tables below!

 

                                                          Weekly and Season Species Totals

 

 Pedder Bay            Sept 22    Sept 23    Sept 24    Sept 25    Sept 26    Sept 27    Sept 28    Total
 Banded                      96            64             40           41              47            106             46          440
 Species Banded         20            15             14           15             14             20              17            30
 Recap                         21           16             18           16             12              8                5             96
 Species Recap            8              9               7             6               8               5                5             14
 Rocky Point            Sept 22    Sept 23    Sept 24     Sept 25   Sept 26   Sept 27    Sept 28     Total
 Banded                      34             17            18            35            48             64              33            249
 Species Banded         12            11              9            14             17             18              13             29
 Recap                          0              8              7              7              3                2               5              32
 Species Recap             0              6              6              6              2                2               5              13

                                                                  Week 10: Banding Totals

Week 9: Seasonal firsts and new records!

 

Sunrise at Rocky Point (David Bell, 2022)

This was a week featuring chilly mornings and warm afternoons as well as moderately strong winds on the 15th and 16th. This pushed much of the lingering smoke out of the area making for slightly better air quality than in the previous week much to the banding crews' and birds' delight. Numbers remained relatively high at both stations until mid-week, at which point a controlled burn initiated by the Province of BC on the DND lands at Rocky Point (RP) meant nets were closed early in order for staff to vacate the site and allow DND and Provincial staff to carry out the controlled burn in the back meadow behind the station & net lanes.

While the record for days with the highest volume was hit in our previous week, an impressive 125 birds were caught the following day at Rocky and 95 at Pedder Bay on September 15. In total, 495 birds (up 15.6% from the seasonal weekly) were processed at Rocky Point and a very exciting number of 589 (up 60% from the seasonal weekly average) were caught at Pedder Bay, both of which are greater than their seasonal average for Week 9 of 428 for Rocky and 368 for Pedder Bay respectively, making Pedder Bay on track for a (fingers crossed) potentially record season. 

AHY Male Sora banded Sep 17 (Ashlea Veldhoen, 2022)

AHY M Sora (Ashlea Veldhoen, 2022)

Volunteer Sultana assisting Bander Ashlea with banding a Sora (Sonja Futehally, 2022) 

Top species at Rocky included Ruby-crowned Kinglet (63) and a tie between Lincoln's Sparrow and Fox Sparrow (61). Rocky also saw a few new species this week, featuring the season's first Myrtle Yellow-rumped Warbler,  Rocky's eighth ever record of Sora (the ever-elusive local living in the marsh near Net 3) and one bird who was first of the season and caught very far from its typical range: a Nashville Warbler! Two more exciting firsts for the season at Rocky was a Swamp Sparrow, banded on Sept 19 and was what is likely either the arcticus or curtatus subspecies of Spotted Towhee. We typically catch at least one of these in the nets each year, but it takes a keen eye to "spot" one of these Towhees, and an even steadier hand to take the measurements to confirm it. Another Sharp-shinned Hawk is also in the books with one new hatch-year bird banded on Sept 19. 

First Swamp Sparrow of 2022 (David Bell, 2022)

Spotted Towhee Pipilo maculatus arcticus (David Bell, 2022)

 

HY Female Nashville Warbler, banded Sep 21 (David Bell, 2022)

HY Female Nashville Warbler (David Bell, 2022)

Top species for this week at Pedder included Hermit Thrush (90) and Lincoln's Sparrow at (84). This season has also seen a record high number of Swainson's Thrush with 249 (248 in 2019), and Lincoln's Sparrow with 297 (249 in 2019). We also had another of the season at Pedder on Sept 19 with a White-throated Sparrow. 

HY Sharp-shinned Hawk, banded Sep 19 (David Bell, 2022) 

 

As mentioned above, this week controlled burns began at Rocky Point, slightly reducing net hours and staff and volunteer hours on site as the crews work to control invasive plants and maintain the grassy meadows at Rocky. We are hopeful that they will be complete in the next week so that banding at Rocky can continue in full force. 

Avian observations were plentiful this week with high numbers of Broad-winged Hawk (14), Red-tailed Hawk (14), Sharp-shinned Hawk (also 14!), and Turkey Vultures (185) on Sept 19, and one very special observation of a Loggerhead Shrike flying over the back meadow on Sept 18. We also had first of the season Black-legged Kittiwake sighted flying over the channel between RP and Bentick Island, Iceland Gull, Long Billed Dowitcher, Brewer's Blackbird, White-throated Sparrow and Greater White-fronted Goose! At Pedder we also had a first of the season sighting of Horned Lark, as well sightings of Broad-winged Hawk, Common Loon and a beautiful White-throated Sparrow. Cackling Geese were sighted for the first time this season at over both stations. Non-bird observations this week were fewer than typical, but an unusual find near the nets was this Bee-mimic Robber Fly (Diptera: Asilidae, exact species unknown). Robber flies hunt other flying insects by catching them using their raptorial front legs and kill the insect by injecting their paralyzing saliva with their tongue, only to suck out the liquefied contents of the insects body with their proboscis. A ferocious predator of the insect world, to be sure! We also saw a striking Pacific tree frog at Rocky. As an amphibian more often heard than seen it was quite a treat! 

Bee-mimic Robber Fly (David Bell, 2022)

Pacific Tree Frog (David Bell, 2022)

Migration this week continues to bring exciting birds to our nets, and we are looking forward to seeing what next week will bring. As always, if you're interested in volunteering please get in contact with volunteer@rpbo.org , or visit http://rpbo.org/volunteer.php. No experience is required. New volunteers are always welcome, and continuing volunteers are encouraged to sign up for shifts at Pedder Bay. As the season progresses, we tend to see a dip in volunteers at Pedder Bay, so be sure to sign up if you see an open shift available! Banders and experienced volunteers are always there to help teach new skills and impart new knowledge to volunteers, so please come out to see what banding is all about! 

Weekly and Season Species Totals

Week 9: Banding Totals (Click to enlarge)

Week 8: The Ascent

 As we transitioned into week 8 of migration monitoring, both stations maintained the moderate volume of passerines that we have been accustomed to throughout these rainless weeks. Though our numbers have been climbing gradually, we have been lacking in weather systems to stall migration movements and produce days of high volume when the skies clear up. That is, until the smoke arrived. As the north-east winds dragged with them billows of smoke from interior wildfires, many migrating birds put a halt on their journey to wait out the smoke cover. And when the skies finally cleared on the night of the 13th, a massive push in migration was reflected in our net lanes!

A smoke-tinged sunrise at Rocky Point. (Ashlea Veldhoen)

On the 14th of September, the Rocky Point (RP) and Pedder Bay (PB) stations both produced their highest volume days this season with 167 and 129 new birds, respectively. This week RP yielded a total of 454 new birds, with PB bringing in a solid 413. The average for Week 8s at these stations are 295 and 287, respectively. With the bustling week past, we’re on pace for our 2nd busiest season of all time! Top captures at RP included Pacific-slope Flycatcher (70), Lincoln’s Sparrow (64), and White-crowned Sparrow (54). PB’s most common species banded were Lincoln’s Sparrow (98), Swainson’s Thrush (52), and Fox Sparrow (44). Not only did this week yield us large days but also some new species for the season! RP saw its FOY Sharp-shinned Hawk, Audubon’s Warbler, Hutton’s Vireo, and Hermit Thrush. PB was reacquainted with its first Golden-crowned Kinglet and Ruby-crowned Kinglet of the season, and both stations shared in their first Golden-crowned Sparrow and Gambel’s subspecies of the White-crowned Sparrow.

FOY Audubon's Warbler (David Bell)

FOY Hutton's Vireo! (David Bell)

The Pacific-slope Flycatcher that broke our season record! (David Bell)

As I'm sure most of you know, volunteering at Rocky Point Bird Observatory is rewarding, enlightening, and exciting! We are always glad to share knowledge and create memories with our large team of dedicated scribes, extractors, census-takers, and bird-bag-makers. Some volunteer highlights from this week include long-time member Rebecca Reader-Lee banding her first Sharp-shinned Hawk, our visiting volunteer Louis Driver banding a Townsend's Warbler as his 100th species banded, and brand new volunteer Lauren Wiegel releasing her first Anna's Hummingbird! I'm sure their facial expressions get the point across!

Rebecca banding a SSHA (Ashlea Veldhoen)

Louis' 100th banded species, a Townsend's Warbler (David Bell)

Lauren releasing an Anna's Hummingbird (Ashlea Veldhoen)

In other news, some construction has been happening at the Rocky Point station this week! Our hard working volunteers spent some quiet net rounds assembling an impermanent MOTUS tower for the remainder of the passerine and owl migration season. If you are unfamiliar, MOTUS towers are receivers for radio telemetry tags that are small transmitters applied to some owls and passerines. If a bird carrying this tag passes through a tower's range, it will recognize the unique frequency of that tag and record its date, time and location. With this technology we are learning more about the migration paths of many different species. Learn more at motus.org

Dedicated volunteers hoisting the MOTUS tower! (Ashlea Veldhoen)

Observations at the stations can include an incredible amount of species of birds, but we all know that the presence of wildlife does not stop there. Every now and then we are greeted by a bumbling bear or a curious mink (who force us to keep a close eye on our nets!). The preliminary flocks of Sandhill Cranes have been giving us incredible views of their lanky profiles and sharing their dinosaur-like calls with our ears. The diversity, grace, and curiosity of these animals remind us of the beauty and importance of the area we occupy, and to share it with our non-human relatives as if they were our own family.

A large (and likely in-charge) American black bear perusing the shore (David Bell)

A resident mink slinking around the rocky beach (David Bell)

Sandhill Cranes displaying their impressive wingspan (David Bell)

As migration climbs to its crescendo, we are excited to see more birds in the nets and welcome back our winter-species! Mid-September also means it's time for owl banding to commence, so if you're keen on being apart of a nighttime banding experience sign up as a visitor or volunteer before all the spots are taken up! We are very excited to see some new and returning faces to our owl program.

A smoky census at the Rocky Point station (David Bell)

Weekly and season species totals

Details of Week 8's banding totals

Week 7: Land of Lincoln

As we pass the halfway point in the season, the weather remains warm and sunny, and both stations are chugging along nicely! Rocky Point had consistent numbers this week, coming in just a bit below the Week 7 average, while Pedder Bay picked up steam toward the end of the week, finishing just about at the Week 7 average. We are hoping for some rain in the near future to help bring up the numbers in the nets, and (fingers crossed) more interesting birds!

Lincoln's Sparrow (David Bell)

After saying goodbye to our early-season interns last week, we said hello and welcome to two new team members this week, whom most of you will be familiar with already! Sonja Futehally started as our late-season intern, and Ashlea Veldhoen started late this week as our third bander for the remainder of the season. We also welcomed our first long-term visiting volunteer since the onset of COVID, with Louis Driver joining us from England to help out with both the passerine and owl monitoring projects. We're looking forward to spending the busy part of the season with all three of them!

Ashlea banding a Western Tanager (Jannaca Chick)

Sonja banding a White-crowned Sparrow (Jannaca Chick)

Louis banding his first MacGillivray's Warbler (Jannaca Chick)

As the title suggests, Lincoln's Sparrows have arrived in numbers, making their way to the top of the leaderboard for this week with 127 banded of our 535 total birds (23.7%)! Swainson's Thrush (79) and Wilson's Warbler (55) rounded out the top three. Season firsts in the nets were Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Hermit Thrush, Savannah Sparrow (Pedder Bay), and Black-throated Gray Warbler - finally a capture of our logo bird! With many birds seemingly breeding later in the season than usual, we are noticing that some species are arriving late, and some resident birds are still in juvenile plumage. The Spotted Towhee in the photo below is one of these birds just molting out of its 'juvie' plumage and into a sturdier formative plumage.

Black-throated Gray Warbler (Julian Powers)

Townsend's Warbler (Jannaca Chick)

Spotted Towhee (Ann Nightingale)

Having larger numbers of birds in the nets invariably means we get to study individual variation a little more closely. The two comparisons below should help you out when observing these species in the field! The first is a hatch-year (left) and an adult (right) Lincoln's Sparrow - note the buffier plumage and eye ring on the young bird, and the orange base to the bill; the adult has a dark bill base and whiter eye ring and throat, with grayer body and head plumage. The second photo shows two hatch-year Yellow Warblers; a female on the left and a male on the right. The pink mandibles (lower part of the bill) indicate these are young birds; the female is a dull greenish-yellow colour while the male is bright yellow with a hint of reddish streaking coming in on the chest.

Young and adult Lincoln's Sparrows (David Bell)

Female and male Yellow Warblers (Ann Nightingale)

Our only 'old' recapture this week was a Swainson's Thrush originally banded in 2020; incidentally it was also recaptured last week so it appears to be hanging around!

A two-year-old Swainson's Thrush (Jannaca Chick)

New species for the season observed at Rocky Point this week included Pied-billed Grebe, Wilson's Snipe, American Wigeon, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, and Common Tern, while at Pedder Bay, Northern Pintail, Black Oystercatcher, and Ring-billed Gull were season firsts. A few Brown Pelicans were seen on seawatch off Rocky Point, and general bird diversity is slowly picking up at both stations as larger numbers begin to arrive. One highlight on obs last week that didn't get a mention here was a Marbled Godwit - otherwise it has been very quiet for rarities; let's hope we are just building up for a good late season!

Wildlife sightings this week mostly consisted of the usual cast of mammals and herpetofauna; however a couple of neat insects at Pedder Bay stole the show, and were new for the iNaturalist project. The first is a California Horntail, a species of woodwasp (sawfly); the second is a neat Bee-mimic Robber Fly. Apparently these flies eat bumblebees along with many other types of insects, and even spiders!

California Horntail (David Bell)

Bee-mimic Robber Fly (David Bell)

As always, a huge thank-you to all the volunteers who came out this week! It's been great to see everyone working on and improving their bird handling/banding/extracting/identification skills as our season gets busier with more diversity. With our owl monitoring program starting next week, there are plenty of open shifts available; please check your calendars and WhenToHelp to see if any open slots fit your schedule!

Rocky Point	1 Sep	2 Sep	3 Sep	4 Sep	5 Sep	6 Sep	7 Sep	Total
Banded	40	46	36	30	42	32	36	262
Species banded	12	14	13	10	14	12	12	24
Recap	2	2	2	8	2	4	8	28
Species recap	2	2	1	5	2	4	3	11

Pedder Bay	1 Sep	2 Sep	3 Sep	4 Sep	5 Sep	6 Sep	7 Sep	Total
Banded	40	37	25	25	52	36	58	273
Species banded	14	11	10	9	15	11	19	26
Recap	6	4	3	6	13	9	6	47
Species recap	6	3	2	3	4	5	4	10

 

Season totals (click to enlarge)