Week 3: Black, White & Least All Over?

White-winged Dove (Cathy Reader)

Week three of our migration monitoring program delivered excitement at both stations, in and out of the nets! Pedder Bay enjoyed hosting many visitors this week, and Rocky Point had one very unexpected guest - a White-winged Dove! This semi-tropical dove surprised the team on Saturday by showing up at (and quite literally IN) the banding station. As the Southern United States is the northernmost expected range for this species, this came as quite a shock! After putting on a show, the dove departed towards Pedder Bay, but unfortunately, was not sighted again. 

A sweet and squeaky encounter! (Emma Radziul)

At Pedder Bay station, 144 new birds were banded, slightly below the average of 157. The season total, 602, is also below the average of 613 to this point. Nonetheless, the station had some interesting species that kept volunteers and visitors excited! The most surprising species banded this week was a young Marsh Wren. This bird was discovered in net 14 - dry, grassy meadow habitat, where it was not expected! A second individual was also observed in the same area that day. On a different day, but in the same area, a black bear was sighted.

HY Marsh Wren (Emma Radziul)

Western Flycatcher (Heather Tocher)

Rocky Point saw 306 new birds banded, for a season total of 956. These totals place the station well above the historical averages (224 for week 3, and 625 for the season to this point)! The good news continues, as there were two extra-special birds in the nets this week...both firsts recorded for RPBO, and coincidentally they were banded on the same day. First, at 06:05, a Least Sandpiper was found in one of the front nets! Although this species is commonly documented in our daily observations, it was a shock to experience an individual in the net. This first-year bird has a wing measuring 88 mm!

HY Least Sandpiper (David Bell)

For those who follow the blog weekly, this second bird will likely come with less surprise. A Black-and-white Warbler was observed on several days this year, beginning on July 22nd. This week, it found its way into our nets! This was determined to be a second-year Female, and she was moulting her flight feathers. As mentioned last week, this species forages in a style similar to nuthatches...did you know it is the sole member of the genus Mniotilta, which means "moss-plucking"? 

SY Black-and-white Warbler (David Bell)

Finally, thank you to all the volunteers who work tirelessly to ensure our operations run safely and smoothly - we couldn't do it without you! We hope to see you out in the coming weeks. Also, thanks to all our visitors (birds and humans alike). 

This AHY Swainson's Thrush exhibited an interesting barring on the wings (Jannaca Chick)

A young Red-breasted Nuthatch, still exhibiting a gape (David Bell)

Black-throated Gray Warbler (Mara Hanneson)

Another gape, this time on a Pacific Wren (Tamara Wolowicz)

Weekly and Season Totals (click to enlarge)