It All Began With A Vesper

Vesper Sparrow - Avery Bartel

At long last, the moment we’ve all been waiting for is here! Fall migration has descended upon the banding stations in full force this week, and I for one am very excited to usher in this new era of bounty. This week started out on a bit of a low note as military activity on the 8th at Rocky only allowed us to squeeze in an hour of banding before we hard to pack up and leave. Most of the volunteers from Rocky decided to head over to Pedder for the rest of the day, and were rewarded by getting to see one of the best captures for the year, a VESPER SPARROW!! This is the first banding record for this species at our banding station, and Blair and I are kicking ourselves for not sticking around after we got the boot from Rocky Point. To the untrained eye, this relatively drab sparrow might easily be confused with one of our more common sparrow species the Savannah Sparrow. However, Vesper Sparrows are overall larger than the Savannah, have a white eye ring, a longer tail, and the outermost tail feathers are all white (similar to our Juncos). Pedder Bay banded a total of 34 new birds on the 8th, which up until this point was considered to be a pretty darn good day. Little did we know, our Vesper was a harbinger of good tidings for the coming days...

...well maybe not Saturday the 9th. A small weather system blew in, bringing with it some much needed rain and cooler weather. Though we were able to open the nets for the first part of the morning, we soon had to close up as the rain got too heavy to band. Rain can be a bummer, especially for our volunteers who may only have the one day to come out and help. But for Banders, rain can mean the end to a bird banding dry spell, as we tend to see an influx of migrant birds that were held back due to the bad weather. Sure enough, when nets were opened back up on Sunday, volunteers and banders alike were kept busy with what turned out to be the busiest day of the season for both stations. 78 new birds were banded at Pedder, and 80 at Rocky!! Swainson’s Thrushes and Fox Sparrows were the most commonly banded birds, but we still saw good numbers of Lincoln’s Sparrows banded at both stations as well.

Busy net run at Pedder Bay - Christian Kelly

As the weather improved over the next couple of days we saw a small dip in banding numbers, which may have lulled us into a false sense that things would return back to our comfortable, humdrum life at the banding shack. No Chance! Though I can’t speak for Rocky as I was not there, but as we went to open nets at Pedder on Wednesday the 13th, the surrounding grass and trees were trembling from the movement of hundreds of birds moving through the foliage. What happened next could only be described as a sparrow invasion! From the get go, our nets were filled with sparrows, and pretty much remained that way until the end of the day. We were so busy at Pedder (and a little short staffed) that we had to close all of the nets for an hour in order to catch up with processing all of the birds we had waiting at the station. Despite the closure, we still managed to band 149 new birds at Pedder. This was not only a record high for the season, but also the best day Pedder since the station opened full time in 2012! Imagine how many birds we might of caught had we been able to keep the nets open... Rocky point had an equally impressive day with 137 new banded birds, and were able to keep their nets open for the full banding session. I hate to say it, but on this day Pedder was definitely better (shhh don’t tell Rick I said that). As stated earlier, this day belonged to the sparrows. At Pedder, a total of 54 Fox Sparrows (!!), 10 Song Sparrows, 22 Lincoln’s Sparrows, and 31 Golden-crowned Sparrows were banded. I repeat, 54 Fox Sparrows!!! In one day!! Insanity. Lincoln’s Sparrow was the top banded bird at Rocky that day with 34 banded. They also banded 12 Savannah Sparrows, which were not seen at Pedder that day. As week 8 winded down, the birds did not. While it was nowhere near as intense as the previous day, we still managed to process 86 new at Pedder Bay, and 64 new at Rocky Point.

Wolf at Rocky Point - Blair Dudeck 

It is hard not to focus on on the banding activity this week, but there were still some other highlights worth mentioning. Raptor migration has started to pick up and we are seeing more and more vultures kettling over the front meadows at Rocky Point. In the midst of our busiest day (Wednesday), keen eyes were able to pick out a BROAD-WINGED and SWAINSON’S HAWK hiding within the mass of circling vultures. They Swainson’s was spotted again (briefly) the following day. Both Hawks are rare visitors to the coast, and we are all now nursing sore necks from looking up for a chance to spot more rarities. We are hearing a lot more American Pipits fly over the station, but still no Horned Larks. The wolf at Rocky Point continues to show itself to a select lucky individuals. It even stopped to pose for Blair long enough for him to snap this great shot through the scope.

In other news, Owl Banding starts up on the 15th, so stay tuned for further updates on these feathered cuties.

The Numbers:

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Rocky Point	8th	9th	10th	11th	12th	13th	14th	Total
Banded	12	15	80	21	65	137	64	394
Species Banded	8	11	18	11	16	21	17	33
Recap	1	5	9	6	4	6	9	40
Species Recap	1	4	5	5	3	4	6	10

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Pedder Bay	8th	9th	10th	11th	12th	13th	14th	Total
Banded	34	22	79	35	54	149	86	459
Species Banded	13	11	16	10	15	20	13	27
Recap	13	4	17	23	18	13	33	121
Species Recap	7	3	7	13	10	8	9	20

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Species	Rocky Week 8 Totals	Rocky Season Totals	Pedder Week 8 Totals	Pedder Season Totals
Virginia Rail	0	1	0	0
Sharp-shinned Hawk	2	2	0	0
Cooper's Hawk	0	0	1	3
Northern Pygmy-Owl	0	0	0	1
Barred Owl	1	2	0	0
Anna's Hummingbird	0	1	0	16
Rufous Hummingbird	0	28	0	46
Belted Kingfisher	0	0	0	1
Red-breasted Sapsucker	0	0	0	3
Downy Woodpecker	0	3	0	3
Hairy Woodpecker	0	1	0	2
Olive-sided Flycatcher	0	4	0	0
Willow Flycatcher	2	59	1	33
Least Flycatcher	0	1	0	0
Hammond's Flycatcher	1	15	0	9
Pacific-slope Flycatcher	19	190	5	58
Cassin's Vireo	0	0	1	4
Hutton's Vireo	1	6	0	0
Warbling Vireo	2	23	0	17
Steller's Jay	2	13	1	2
Northern Rough-winged Swallow	0	2	0	0
Chestnut-backed Chickadee	1	40	1	70
Bushtit	0	16	0	35
Red-breasted Nuthatch	0	2	0	1
Brown Creeper	2	16	0	8
Bewick's Wren	1	33	0	24
House Wren	1	14	1	33
Pacific Wren	2	5	0	2
Golden-crowned Kinglet	2	4	0	3
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	1	2	2	2
Swainson's Thrush	16	68	42	145
Hermit Thrush	7	7	23	24
American Robin	0	5	4	22
Varied Thrush	0	1	0	0
European Starling	0	2	0	0
Cedar Waxwing	0	14	0	14
Orange-crowned Warbler	30	90	14	80
Yellow Warbler	23	68	16	37
"Audubon's" YR Warbler	0	2	0	0
Black-throated Gray Warbler	1	7	2	7
Townsend's Warbler	0	4	0	3
MacGillivray's Warbler	0	31	0	46
Common Yellowthroat	7	42	4	30
Wilson's Warbler	7	152	14	120
Western Tanager	0	4	2	17
Black-headed Grosbeak	1	4	2	6
Spotted Towhee	18	44	21	116
Chipping Sparrow	2	18	0	35
Savannah Sparrow	33	46	1	1
Fox Sparrow	50	59	121	147
Song Sparrow	24	86	33	114
Lincoln's Sparrow	65	114	47	89
White-crowned Sparrow	30	141	23	225
Golden-crowned Sparrow	27	27	47	49
Dark-eyed Junco	11	23	27	97
Red-winged Blackbird	0	7	0	0
Brown-headed Cowbird	0	17	0	0
Purple Finch	0	14	3	13
House Finch	0	1	0	1
Pine Siskin	0	3	0	0
American Goldfinch	2	55	0	7
TOTALS	394	1639	459	1821

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Week 7: A Lewis' Woodpecker and Migration Hits RPBO!

With the new month came an increase in birds in our nets and the arrival of several of our late season migrants. While we had pretty much full net hours at Pedder Bay throughout the week, Rocky Point was able to run nets for just 1 hour on four of the seven days this week due to military activities that required us to leave by 8:00am, unfortunately this will be a common occurrence for the rest of the month.

Species such as Lincoln's Sparrows and Swainson's Thrush  that peak in the first couple weeks of September saw their numbers rise noticeably in week 7. Other species that saw an increase in our nets this week include many of the sparrows such as Spotted Towhee, Fox Sparrow, Savannah Sparrow (Rocky Point) and Oregon Junco (mainly Pedder Bay) as well as Yellow Warbler (Pedder Bay).

Visiting volunteer Alister with a Yellow Warbler Mikolaj Szoszkiewicz

On their way out are the Flycatchers which have decreased across all species that we detect here with some, such as Olive-sided now virtually finished passing through. Swallows and MacGillivray's and Wilson's Warblers are on their way out as well and the Steller's Jay's that were so abundant last week, while still common, have reduced in numbers appreciably. We are hoping that we will still get another push of the latter a bit later on.

We have noticed an increase in Western Tanagers over the past week, in particular at Pedder Bay, with a season high 4 banded September 7th and groups of up to a half dozen or more around.

Among the new arrivals this week that will soon be filling our nets were Hermit Thrush -1 banded at Pedder Bay on September 2nd, Ruby-crowned Kinget - 1 banded at Rocky Point, also on September 2nd, and Golden-crowned Sparrow - 2 banded at Pedder Bay on September 6th.

Christian and Rick with a couple Western Tanagers! Mikolaj Szoszkiewicz

Outside of the nets we detected our first American Pipits of the season at Rocky Point with a high of 18 seen on September 4th. Also new for the season were a Sandhill Crane heard and seen first thing in the morning at Rocky Point September 5th and 1 American Wigeon among the increasing number of waterfowl at Rocky Point on the 4th. On the other end of the spectrum, while opening nets at Pedder Bay on September 2 we heard what will likely be our last Common Nighthawk of the year as these early migrants have likely left for warmer climes.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, the week belonged to Lincoln's Sparrow, with 75 banded between the two stations (18% of out total combined catch for the week!) and Swainson's Thrush, though the latter were by far more prevalent at Pedder Bay where the 40 were banded this week accounted for almost 15% of the weeks catch.

Both stations had a standout day this week with Pedder Bay taking the honours of most birds banded in a day with 66 new bird and 12 recaps on the 6th, the second busiest day of the season at that site. The catch included 10 each of Swainson's Thrush and Fox Sparrow, 4 Cedar Waxwing and a Black-throated Gray Warbler.

Lewis' Woodpecker Daniel Donnecke

Rocky Point's big day was more notable for what was outside of the nets as the catch for that day was a modest 24 new birds, including a season high of 5 Savannah Sparrow, and 7 recaps. In the skies there was much activity as a whopping 225 Vaux's Swifts were counted along with an estimated 200 Band-tailed Pigeon and the aforementioned Pipits. The highlight of the week though came right at the ed of the morning when a Lewis' Woodpecker was spotted atop one of the Douglas-firs near the station! These unusual woodpeckers that look like they were coloured in by a half-blind child with a set of rejected oil paints are known for their pre-migratory wanderings and once bred on southern Vancouver Island in times when the Garry Oak ecosystem was more extensive. Also atypical is there habit of feeding primarily by catching flying insects in sallies out from an expose perch, rather than by rooting out grubs in tree trunks like the most of the rest of their brethren.

Red-breasted Sapsucker Mikolaj Szoszkiewicz

Other noteworthy happenings from week 7 include up to 3 Ring-billed Gulls at Pedder Bay and the first Black Swift of the season, also detected at Pedder Bay, on the 4th. The 3rd Cassin's Vireo of the season was banded at Pedder on the 2nd and was followed the next day by a beautiful Red-breasted Sapsucker!

Finally, the week wasn't without it's humorous moments. The standout in this regard occurred early one morning at Rocky Point when, while opening nets, Blair got a shot of adrenaline as a bat flew into his face! Normally pretty adept at avoiding solid objects, this individual clearly was not expecting to encounter a moving object.

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Rocky Point	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	Total
Banded	26	23	22	24	15	21	16	147
Species Banded	12	9	12	11	6	9	11	23
Recap	0	7	11	7	1	3	2	31
Species Recap	0	6	8	5	1	3	1	10

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Pedder Bay	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	Total
Banded	25	31	33	30	36	66	52	273
Species Banded	14	12	12	11	10	20	14	27
Recap	5	6	10	9	11	12	9	62
Species Recap	4	4	5	9	6	8	7	13

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Orcas and Wolves and Pygmy Owls oh my!

Northern Pygmy-owl - Ann Scarfe

For the past few weeks everyone has been talking about these August doldrums, so you are probably wondering if those have finally come to an end? Well the answer is kind of. Both stations did see some very busy days, but those were punctuated by more classically August days. Part of these lower numbers were due to yet more shortened days at Rocky Point due to DND operations. Busy mornings on several days really give the sense that peak migrations is just around the corner! This week did not produce many new species for the year but the lone new bird was pretty incredible, a Northern Pygmy-Owl turned up in the nets at Pedder bay this Sunday!! 

Northern Pygmy-Owls are the smallest owl found in Canada, and though not uncommon are not regularly seen due to their small size and secretive behaviour. Unlike most other owl species which hunt at night, Pygmys are active during daylight hours, and are known to be voracious predators, capable of killing prey much larger then themselves, sometimes species up to 5 times their size, such as flickers and quail!!! Pygmy-Owls are most easily detected by their call, which is a slow and repetitive series of toots, and will often respond to people mimicking these calls.

Orcas near Rocky Point

Not to be completely outdone, Rocky Point was blessed with some incredible non-bird species over the week! A pod of Orcas came right into the channel multiple times during the week looking for seal snacks  and a wolf was also seen on the beaches in front of the banding station!!!

HY male Common Yellowthroat

Rocky Point started out the week with one of one the busier days of the year, catching 41 new birds and only 1 recapture, suggesting that the birds are really starting to move! Over all Rocky Point banded 231 birds, which was almost and increase of a hundred birds from last week's 158. This number would have likely been higher if it was not for partial closures on Tuesday and on Thursday which produced 32 and 13 new birds respectively. Much of Rocky’s increase in productivity was due to the 52 Pacific-slope Flycatchers which found their way into the nets!

Yellow Warbler

Wilson’s Warbler, 19, and Yellow Warblers, 18, also had a strong week. Other highlights at our Rocky Point station were 6 beautiful warblers: four Black-throated Grey Warblers and two Townsend’s Warblers. Another sign that migration is picking up is an increase in raptor activity over Rocky Point with good numbers of Turkey Vultures, Sharp-shinned Hawks and Red-tailed Hawks passing over the station each day. Hopefully, it is only a matter of time before some of the hawks start to find their way into the nets.

Young Red-tailed Hawk checking out Rocky Point

Pedder Bay also saw a good increase in birds banded, jumping from 114 last week to 213 this week! As previously mentioned the highlight was the Northern Pygmy-Owl, but it also had a nice rush of Western Tanagers, catching 7 this week, adding a splash of colour to the browns of the sparrows. Orange-crowned Warblers (19), Swainson’s Thrushes (23) and White-crowned Sparrows (46) made up the bulk of the birds banded at Pedder this week. Hopefully things continue to pick up and we get some more exciting and wonderful birds!

The Numbers:

Rocky Point	25th	26th	27th	28th	29th	30th	31st	Total
Banded	41	28	24	35	32	58	13	231
Species Banded	15	12	13	11	14	16	8	28
Recap	1	7	3	5	4	6	1	27
Species Recap	1	5	3	4	3	4	1	9
Pedder Bay	25th	26th	27th	28th	29th	30th	31st	Total
Banded	26	34	28	19	32	34	41	214
Species Banded	16	14	16	11	14	17	14	31
Recap	7	7	10	10	7	6	14	61
Species Recap	5	5	6	7	4	5	6	12