Week 8: Oh the times, they are a changin'

Each time you come out to our field sites, you will notice changes in what birds are present week after week during RPBO's fall migration monitoring.

Golden-crowned Kinglet (above) and Ruby-crowned Kinglet (below) (photos: Mike Motek)

This week, the fields continue to be chock full of Lincoln's Sparrows, and the Savannah Sparrows have arrived in numbers. We caught our first Golden-crowned Sparrows and Ruby-crowned Kinglets in the mist nets as they became increasingly present on site. Flocks of warblers have shifted to being predominantly Orange-crowned and Yellow, with good numbers of Townsend's present, and Hermit Thrushes now can be heard in the morning alongside the Swainson's Thrushes. Just as the passerine action quiets down in the morning, the Turkey Vultures kettle, and are joined by other migrating raptors including Broad-winged Hawk on good days. An erratic swift flock might zip by. Over the ocean, flocks of geese and ducks migrate by.

Lincoln's Sparrow (photo: Emma Radziul)

Savannah Sparrow (photo: Emma Radziul)

At Rocky Point, Orange-crowned Warbler (31) and Yellow Warbler (29) were the most banded birds of the week, followed by Lincoln's Sparrow (27) and Savannah Sparrow (24). 

At Pedder Bay, the most banded birds were Swainson's Thrush (21) and Hermit Thrush (20). Lincoln's Sparrow (20) and Fox Sparrow (19) were the next most banded birds.

Pics of Orange-crowned Warbler  (photos: Evan Lewis)

Pics of Yellow Warbler (photos: Emma Radziul)

On September 8th, to the surprise and delight of long-term volunteers Julie and Sebastian, they extracted a Lark Sparrow from net 1, which is a net just off the ocean and bordering the open central field.  This bulky sparrow showed first-winter plumage with a brown-ish, less distinct harlequin facial pattern and a smooth, white, unpatterned chest with dark central spot. Even though just grown a few months ago, this bird's juvenile flight feathers and coverts were seen to have sun bleaching and wear. A few of its long, patterned tail feathers had been asymmetrically lost and were in the process of regrowing. This is the first Lark Sparrow banded for RPBO. The northernmost portion of the Lark Sparrow's breeding range is south interior British Columbia, and it is a rare migrant through Vancouver Island. Only one other Lark Sparrow has been seen at our field site (in 2023) in 30 years of monitoring.

Lark Sparrow pics (photos: Emma Radziul)

On September 10th, bander Evan Lewis had the pleasure of banding a presumed Golden-crowned x White-throated Sparrow hybrid. This individual's unusually streaky flanks (which are usually smooth and patternless in pure Golden-crowned Sparrows), along with its broken eyeline extending slightly behind the eye, patterning on the hind-crown, and location and extent of yellow on the crown and face point to the parentage of the suspected hybrid. Only 25 observations of Golden-crowned x White-throated hybridization have ever been reported to ebird.

 

                                  

Hybrid Sparrow Pics (photos: Evan Lewis)

On September 13th, two Sharp-shinned Hawks were mist-netted. Look at the size difference between the hatch-year male vs. female (the female being larger). This had been a much-wanted species for bander-in-training Mark Byrne, who was lucky enough to extract and band one.

Sharp-shinned Hawk pics (photos: David Bell)

Rocky Point's weekly total of 258 new birds banded was below the week 8 average of 304 (partially owing to a 1 day closure to our access to RP). Rocky Point's season total to date is 2456 which is above the average year-to-date of 1794 and stands second place all-time for this date. Pedder Bay's weekly total of 184 new birds caught is well below the week 8 average of 293 birds. Pedder Bay's season total to date is 1417, which is the second lowest all-time by this date. The average PB year-to-date is 1725.

On September 12, we captured an Olive-backed subspecies of Swainson's Thrush. The majority of our migratory Swainson's Thrushes are from the Russet-backed group (ustulatus group), which has a reddish tinge to it's back, rump and tail with the tail being redder than the back, and smaller, less distinct breast spots. The Olive-backed group (swainsoni group) has a solid olive back, rump, and tail without contrast or reddish tones and heavy, well-defined black spotting on the throat and chest. The russet-backed Swainson's Thrushes breed coastally, from Southeast Alaska to Northern California west of the Cascades, and winter primarily in West Mexico and Central America, while the olive-backed Swainson's Thrushes breed more centrally and winter further sound in Northwest and central South America.

Pics of Olive-backed Swainson's Thrush (photos: David Bell)

On September 12th, an Upland Sandpiper was seen flying over Pedder Bay, and heard and recorded giving a liquid "qui-di-dit" call. This was the first record of this species for Pedder. Bander David Bell is quite familiar with this species having worked with grassland breeding birds in the Canadian Prairies for the past several spring/summer seasons, and this bird did not elude the keen eyes of visitors Taylor and Adam, who laid eyes on this uniquely shaped shorebird as it flew over.

First of the season observations at Rocky Point this week include: Osprey (Sept 10), White-throated Sparrow (Sept 13) and Cackling Goose (Sept 13). First of the season observations at Pedder Bay also include Northern Harrier (Sept 10).

We hope everyone had a lovely September week. Stay tuned -- or better yet, get out to the field! -- to find out what will show up next at RPBO's two migration monitoring sites.

Three photos of Common Yellowthroat (photos: Evan Lewis)

MacGillvary's Warbler (photo: Emma Radziul)

Chestnut-backed Chickadee (photo: Emma Radziul)

Hutton's Vireo (photo: Emma Radziul)

Click on photo to expand

Week 7: Down in the Bayou

The beginning of September usually marks a turning point in the season for us, as our early season migrants are mostly gone, our late season migrants begin to arrive, the weather begins to change, and the hopes for vagrant birds increase. It also marks a change in our staffing, as our summer interns Evan and Heather head back to school (along with some of our volunteers!), and our fall intern Gaelin begins his time with us. Good luck to all of you, and welcome Gaelin!

The bird of the week! Can you ID it? (David Bell)

Despite the heat and high pressure that persisted through the week, and the smoke haze from fires burning well to the south of us, the birds were moving, and our most exciting bird of the week likely felt right at home in the heat! Although some nights showed good movements of migrants on the nocturnal radar, the nets were fairly slow this week, as seems to be typical on hot, sunny days during fall migration. It seems that the birds mostly either keep going or land farther inland on these days, and likely don’t move around as much when they are on site. This gave us plenty of time for observations and keeping up with our station chores such as maintenance and data entry, though! If you are interested in seeing how many birds move each night, check out BirdCast for Clallam County, WA, here: https://dashboard.birdcast.info/region/US-WA-009.

The month began with quite the sunrise at Rocky Point! (Mara Hanneson)

Rocky Point sunrise (David Bell)

We just couldn't get enough! (David Bell)

Our top capture this week was Lincoln's Sparrow, with 71 individuals banded between the two stations. Rocky Point banded a total of 269 birds, only a little below the Week 7 average of 289. This put Rocky Point over the 2000 mark for birds banded this season, a full six days earlier than the previous earliest date to reach this milestone! Pedder Bay was a bit slower, as has been the norm this season, with 185 birds banded, a fair bit below the average of 281 for this week. The only new species captured this week was a Sharp-shinned Hawk at Rocky Point; hopefully we will catch more of these tiny raptors in the coming weeks! While no rare species were captured at either station this week, some uncommonly-banded birds included two Barred Owls, two Hutton's Vireos, a Cassin's Vireo, and a Black-throated Gray Warbler at Rocky Point, while Pedder Bay caught a Black-throated Gray Warbler, three Townsend's Warblers, and a Black-headed Grosbeak. 

This Yellow Warbler was the 2000th bird banded at Rocky Point this season (David Bell)

Townsend's Warblers (Mara Hanneson)

Red-breasted Nuthatch (Mara Hanneson)

Brown Creeper (David Bell)

A nice male Oregon Junco (Heather Tocher)

Our “oldest bird of the week” award this week went to a Spotted Towhee originally banded at Rocky Point in 2017 as a hatch-year, making it seven years old now. As it was in the process of completing its prebasic molt, it was looking a little rough, missing most of its head feathers. We hope it will finish molting soon and get back to looking its best! The runner-up at Rocky Point was a Chestnut-backed Chickadee banded in 2019; surprisingly it was caught twice this week (on the 5^th and 7^th), and both times in Net 8 – you’d think it would learn! Pedder Bay's contender was a White-crowned Sparrow originally banded in 2018; it was also caught last week, and both captures this season have been in the same net as well (Net 14)!

A very old Spotted Towhee, in very heavy molt (David Bell)

With migration shifting, and several days passing the 100-species mark at Rocky Point, it’s no surprise that we had a number of new birds seen at the stations on ‘obs’ this week and a few highlights. New arrivals at Rocky Point included Short-billed Dowitcher, Hermit Thrush, Gadwall, and Broad-winged Hawk, while new arrivals at Pedder Bay included Ring-billed Gull and American Pipit. The highlight of the week at Pedder Bay was a Dusky Flycatcher observed on the 5th, marking a first record for the site. Highlights at Rocky Point included flocks of Sabine's Gulls on the 1st, a Cassin's Auklet on the 2nd, and a Lewis’s Woodpecker and three Arctic Terns on the 6th. The biggest highlight of the week also occurred on the 6th, and rather outshone those other species, any of which could normally be the bird of the week! I've copied the story from my eBird report here:

"Kate and I (DB) did the 11:50 net run to the front as I was going to retrieve my scope and do some last-minute obs before closing time. I was only a few steps ahead of her and focused more on the ocean, when I heard Kate say "uhhhh, Dave?! Raptor? Pale?! What is this?!". As soon as she said my name I turned around and looked where she was looking, to see a medium-sized raptor with narrow, pointed wings circling above the front ponds. As I got my bins up it was turning away from us, and I thought "huh that Peregrine looks a bit weird". As it turned back toward us it clicked first that it was a Kite, and then as it fully swung around it was clear that it was a MIKI! I yelled on the radio for everyone to come up to the front, and luckily the bird stuck around circling for a few minutes, allowing everyone to get good views and photos. After a few minutes it made a beeline out toward Bentinck, and seeing the coast over that way, it turned around and zoomed back inland toward Pedder Bay. We alerted the team there but unfortunately it must have passed by too far for them to see.

First record for BC, a new Canada bird for me, and coincidentally my 500th species photographed in Canada!! What a day."

Incredibly, after this sighting I remembered that I had sent a note to our group chat about a Mississippi Kite seen in Sitka, Alaska back on 28 July of this year, where I had hoped we would catch it on its journey south. I looked up the eBird record, and was simultaneously shocked but also not really surprised (it was a first record for Alaska, and is almost 2000 km away from its nearest usual range!) to see that it looked very similar to our bird! After comparing photos, it shows a lot of the same plumage characteristics and is almost certainly the same bird, six weeks and 1250 km away from where it was first seen! That record can be viewed here: https://ebird.org/checklist/S189309547, with more information on the species here: https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/miskit/cur/introduction. It's not every day you get to add a species to a provincial list! Now we just have to hope it makes another appearance so more people can see it!

Mississippi Kite!!! (David Bell)

Lewis's Woodpecker (David Bell)

Wildlife this week included Black Bear, Humpback Whales, bats, mink, the usual curious deer around the stations, the family of Eastern Gray Squirrels at Pedder which has now moved up the hill, and various interesting insects. The Black Saddlebags made their first appearance of the season this week, and the European Mantis have been out in numbers with the sunny days, while some brilliant blue-green cuckoo wasps (unknown species) have been out as well. Another invertebrate highlight was a squid species that floated by Rocky Point one day this week.

Black Saddlebags (David Bell)

European Mantis (David Bell)

As always, a big thank-you to all of the volunteers who came out this week to help out! There are still plenty of available slots on the schedule, and with migration picking up (and owls starting on the 15th), it's a great time to be at the stations!

Week 7 totals - click to enlarge

Smoky sunrise at Rocky Point (David Bell)

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Migration...

Halfway through the season already! This week the general trends of both stations continued, with Pedder Bay banding 182 new birds, slightly below the week 6 average of 208.  So far this year the total is 1048 birds, slightly below the average of 1255.  The Rocky Point station has continued to run slightly above the week 6 average of 246, banding 312 new birds this week.  The year-to-date total is 1929, well above the average of 1255.

Sunrise at Rocky Point (David Bell)

On the subject of numbers, Pedder Bay reached the 1000th birds banded! Said bird was a Puget Sound White-crowned Sparrow, one of the most common species caught at this station. Rocky Point is also only 71 birds away from the 2000 bird milestone.

A hatch year White-crowned Sparrow in the spotlight (Heather Tocher)

This new week brought the first of many first of the season birds for both stations. At Pedder, the first Hermit Thrush, Fox Sparrow, Black-throated Gray Warbler and Oregon Junco were caught this week. Rocky Point had some first of the season birds as well, including a Cooper’s Hawk, Barred Owl, "Traill’s" Flycatcher, Hutton’s Vireo, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Fox Sparrow, and Townsend’s Warbler. It seems many common winter birds have begun their trip down south (or to lower elevations at least), and soon many will appear in full force. Stay tuned for next week’s blog to find out how many decide to make the flight.

The first Hermit Thrush of the season at Pedder (Evan Lewis)

The first Fox Sparrow of the season at Rocky (Heather Tocher)

Rocky's first Golden-crowned Kinglet (Heather Tocher)

The female Cooper’s Hawk (caught in net 1) and the Barred Owl (caught in net 8) were both banded on August 29th at Rocky Point! Both were hatch year birds. Since these were the first large raptors of season, we all got a bit of review on how to safely handle and extract these birds. When large birds fly into the net, they usually just bounce off, so if anyone notices a large bird in a net, they “bag it” as fast as safely possible to prevent escape.  “Bagging” a bird entails pulling the net’s trammel line that is below the pocket with the bird up to the next line, creating an enclosed pocket until safe extraction of the bird can begin. While handling these birds, the most important things to consider are the talons and wings.  One way to contain both the legs and wings is to hold the bird close to your body with a firm grip on both legs without crossing them, as can be see in the one of the photos below.  This hold is called reverse bander's grip. To keep the encounter as low stress as possible (for both the bird and us), a bag is placed over the head when possible.

 Cooper's Hawk being held in reverse bander's grip (Heather Tocher)

Mara in the process of banding her first COHA (Heather Tocher)

Our art board getting decorated (Emma Radziul)

Inspiration for the art board- Barred Owl being weighed safely in a wrap (Heather Tocher)

Wing spread of Barred Owl, showing its namesake barred feathers (Mara Hanneson)

Some other notable birds at Rocky Point included two Red-winged Blackbirds (HY male and AHY female), and a Brown-headed Cowbird.  The Red-winged Blackbirds showed a great example of sexual dimorphism. The most obvious example of this is the plumage difference in adult males and females, but this young male had not yet grown in its red wings.  Despite this, there still was a significant differences in their size. The male weighed in at 63.1g, while the female was only 40.6g!

Comparison between hatch year male (left) and after hatch year female (right) RWBL (Evan Lewis) 

The influx of pelagic birds has continued through to week 6. Some species observed from Rocky Point were Red-necked Phalaropes, Jaegers (Parasitic and Pomarine), Sabine’s Gulls, a Franklin's Gull, and  Shearwaters (Sooty and Pink-footed). On top of these great birds, the same fish and krill that attracts birds brings other wildlife. On August 29^th, many of us were able to see a pod of three orcas as well as a humpback whale.  As with previous weeks, there was one large male (large, straighter dorsal fin) with other female and young orcas (smaller, more curved fins).

Female/ immature (left) and male (right) orcas (Heather Tocher)

At Pedder Bay, Golden-crowned Sparrows and Steller’s Jays, both of which are commonly seen during winter and fall, have been observed near the station. They have not yet hit the nets, but they have certainly started to arrive. One interesting bird that was caught at Pedder this week was a hatch year Wilson’s Warbler with a single leucistic tail feather. This strange characteristic can occur due to a genetic mutation causing little to no pigment to color the feather.

HY Wilson's Warbler with leucistic feather at Pedder (Heather Tocher)

Now, a little bit of background on myself. I am one of the three interns working at RPBO this season, and despite my internship coming to an end, I look forward to volunteering in the future to continue this journey in banding.  Currently, I am going into my second year at UVIC, pursuing a combined major in Biology and Earth Science.  Prior to joining the station as an intern, I had been birding for about 5 years, but was only introduced to the wonderful world of banding last year through a banding workshop for youth in Alberta.  My time here has been packed with amazing experiences, and I have learned more than I could have ever imagined about the basics of bird banding.  I hope to continue pursuing my passion for field biology after completing my degree, and this experience will no doubt be an invaluable steppingstone for my future. I have vastly enjoyed my time at RPBO, and would like to thank everyone who made this such an amazing, and educational, experience!

This was a great week, made possible by the many wonderful volunteers that spend their time helping protect and advocate for these amazing animals. If you are interested in volunteering, please find more information on our website, https://rpbo.org/

Grand totals of week six (click to enlarge)