Week 4: It's been a scorcher!

In Week 4, banders and volunteers alike braced soaring mercury to continue bringing you the news from Vancouver Island’s premier migration site. While the number of birds banded was similar to last week with 178 and 119 individuals banded at Rocky Point and Pedder Bay, respectively, we were treated to four species which were our first encounters in the nets this season.

Rocky Point graced us with a Hammond’s Flycatcher serving as a timely reminder to carefully check the Empids as we approach 'silly season' bringing the possibility of some cryptic goodies mixed in among the more expected species. However, Pedder Bay stole the spotlight this week with the first Lincoln’s Sparrow and Townsend’s Warbler of the year and the pièce de résistance, a Pileated Woodpecker!

Hammond's Flycatcher. (Photo: Mara Hanneson)

Townsend's Warbler. (Photo: David Bell)

The Pileated Woodpecker is named for its pointed red cap which is likened to the pointed ‘pileus’ hat worn by peoples of Ancient Greece and Rome—with more bird name changes on the horizon (a la Thick-billed Longspur), let's hope for more of these imaginative and whimsical names in the future! Pileateds are also the largest extant species of woodpecker in North America so somewhat unsurprisingly, they possess some substantial headgear that banders and extractors need to treat with particular respect! Its large size and carpentry skills make it a keystone species and they have a profound impact on their ecosystems through creating some of the largest tree cavities in the forest. Who knows, our Western Screech Owl from last week may have even been raised in a cavity created by a Pileated Woodpecker! 

Bander-in-charge, David Bell, carefully extracting the Pileated Woodpecker under the watchful eye of long-time volunteer Ann Scarfe who initially discovered the giant in our midst. (Photo: Lauren Wiegel)

Ann's Pileated earrings were clearly a good omen! Please leave a comment if you know where to find Little Bunting jewellery... 

The striking underwing of the Pileated Woodpecker.  We can age this bird as a hatch year based on its state of moult and mix of juvenile and formative feathers. (Photo: James Kennerley)

We can tell this Pileated is a male by its scarlet malar stripe. (Photo: James Kennerley)

This Pileated Woodpecker represented the third individual ever captured at Pedder Bay and 11th during migration monitoring. Not to be left behind with the woodpecker action, Rocky Point had its first Red-breasted Sapsucker banded this year which was only the 10th captured here during migration monitoring.

Everyday with our logo bird, the Black-throated Grey Warbler, is a treat! (Photo: Evan Lewis)

The first Hutton's Vireo captured at Pedder Bay this year was a nice way to start a Thursday morning (Photo: David Bell)

American Goldfinches continue to be one of our most frequently captured species. Flocks of this sociable species often fly into the nets together keeping our extractors on their toes! (Photo: Mara Hanneson)

Away from the mist nets, the Northern Parula and Grey Catbird continued to put in appearances at Rocky Point and we enjoyed increases in the numbers of warblers around with mixed flocks getting the adrenaline pumping. Being by the nutrient-rich Salish Sea, we are also incredibly lucky to be constantly left in awe by the marine fauna on our doorstep and we enjoyed our first sighting of a Sea Otter this season, still a somewhat unusual sight at the southern end of Vancouver Island, along with multiple sightings of Orcas and Humpback Whales. These are, of course, in addition to the daily Harbour Seals, Steller and California Sea Lions, River Otters and much more!

Sea Otter at dawn. (Photo: Mara Hanneson)

This week’s heatwave again broke local temperature records and is a constant reminder why collecting consistent long-term data on our bird populations is so important for understanding how they are responding and adapting to our rapidly changing world. This week, RPBO launched a new fundraising campaign, Every Feather Counts, to support this vital research using the data collected by our staff and volunteers over the past 29 years; please consider supporting us and help RPBO continue to advocate for the conservation of our threatened avifauna.