Week 7: Strix are for kids

Hello RPBO fans and happy September!

Rebecca Golat here. I am one of the new banding interns as well as a returning owl bander.  

Migration has been steadily increasing throughout the week and we are getting more fall migrants. The increase in owl and raptor presence makes September my favourite month of the year.

P.S. Owl banding starts in less then a week and there are still lots of spots to sign up for volunteering!

The two owl banders, Rebecca and Jannaca helping
 age the SY Barred.-Donna Talluto

Banding highlights

We started off the week with Rocky’s biggest day of the season so far! We banded 101 new birds with 3 recaps. Our most numerous species banded were Savannah Sparrows and in second, Yellow Warblers. That day included a couple firsts such as Hermit Thrush and Yellow-Rumped Warbler(Audubon's) banded for the season.

 

The third banded ALFL
 for RPBO-Siobhan Darlington

Pedder Bay volunteers had a treat on Monday with a bird that has only been banded three times in all of RPBO's history. An Alder flycatcher! We use a formula of  measurements to separate Willow and Alder flycatchers since they look very similar. The 95% confidence interval for western Willow is a Formula R score range of 0.98-2.16, and Alder is 2.41-4.68. Our bird measured out at 3.84! This bird also has a noticeably shorter bill, slight eye ring, and white underbelly and chin, characteristics of Alder flycatcher. 

That wasn’t all for Pedder that day, they also got the third banded Belted Kingfisher of the season! Our volunteer, Liam Singh got the pleasure of banding this feisty HY female. We also had our first Ruby-crowned Kinglet of the year at both stations, which is a sure sign that migration is really getting underway.

HY female BEKI-Siobhan Darlington

SY male Barred. Notice the molt limit between the
 primary/tertials and secondary feathers-Rebecca Golat 

Some more excitement for the week came at Rocky Point first on Thursday, and then again on Saturday. Barred Owls caught in the net! The first, a HY bird, was banded by Donna exactly to the date of the very first Barred owl she banded in 2018. That bird was also a HY. Good timing! The second bird was banded by Mitchell Ogilvie and was a SY male. Mitchell has been patiently waiting to band his favourite bird and got the added treat of both owl banders guiding him through it! 

Donna with a HY Barred. Exactly one year from
 the first one she banded in 2018!-Siobhan Darlington 

Census & Obs Highlights

Outside of the nets we detected large flocks of American Pipits, Band-tailed Pigeons and Vaux’s Swifts. We are also noticing larger numbers of Cooper’s and Sharp-shinned Hawk starting to kettle with a few Red-tailed Hawks and Peregrine Falcons. Rocky Point also had its first Broad-winged Hawk of the season. On Sunday of this week the Pedder bay station got a look at a Western Kingbird above the banding station. Other highlights include, Black Swift, American golden Plover, Pacific golden Plover, and a continuing Northern Waterthrush. 

Courtney Cameron on census at Rocky Point-Donna Talluto

The Steller's jays are starting to slow down at both stations but a few each day are getting dangerously close to the nets. We saw what will likely be our last views of the Purple Martins before these long-distance migrants head to Mexico and Central America. Northern pygmy-Owl have been heard frequently at Pedder Bay. Even two at the same time so there is still another chance of someone getting to band their first one…

Wildlife Sightings

It’s always wild at Rocky Point! The group got a close look at a massive bull Roosevelt Elk that was spotted by David Bell when they were closing the nets. Wolves were heard howling at the upper ponds several times this week as well as regular sightings of Humpback whales and a few Orca whales. While Pedder had its share of Black-tailed Deer and Harbor seals. Signing up for census is a great way to enjoy all of the wildlife Vancouver Island has to offer! 

 Roosevelt Elk at Rocky Point-David Bell

That is all for now. I just got word of a Blackpoll Warbler at Swan Lake so see you there and happy birding!

Weekly Totals

Week 6: Steller things come in pygmy packages

A Northern Pygmy Owl banded at Pedder Bay this week. Photo S. Darlington.

What a week! Migration has really picked up at both stations with jumps in our numbers of banded birds and observations. We had many exciting firsts for our banders and volunteers, and massive flocks of birds overhead. Owls, jays, raptors - I could swear it was October. Read on to learn what went down in the last week of August, 2019.

Remember that our 25th Anniversary Celebration is coming up fast on Saturday, September 14th! Scroll to the bottom of the blog post for event details.

Volunteer shout outs:
First thing's first, we want to thank all of our incredible volunteers for coming out this week. We had some shift shortages that were quickly filled, and some days with full teams so it made our jobs easy. We were pleased to welcome volunteers Kailee Price, Vivian Pattison, and Claire Chiswell to the Rocky Point site for the first time, and see some long term volunteers like Bill Dancer and Rick Shortinghuis join us for census. A special thanks to Mark and Robyn Byrne who have been coming out every weekend this season. Mark banded his first bird, a yellow warbler, on Friday.

 Banding recap:
 On Sunday, August 25th Rocky started off the week with a strong 33 birds banded, and Pedder a cool 24.

Steller's Jay. Photo D. Talluto.

Some of you may have noticed that we've been collecting flat flies from birds. On Monday we sent our flat fly collection of over 50 vials off to VIU with one of our volunteers who will be using them for a study. Stay tuned for updates on the project - we've also got a fresh set of vials to fill!

Things started to pick up at Rocky on Tuesday when we had an invasion of 30 Steller's Jay's on DET with 2 banded. Pedder Bay also had a pair of unexpected birds on obs - two Lewis's Woodpeckers! They stuck around long enough for the folks at Rocky to come over and have a look at the end of the day.

The momentum switched on Wednesday when Pedder was invaded by White-crowned Sparrows, with 20 banded out of 49 total birds.

Golden-crowned Kinglet. Photo D. Bell

Rocky picked up again Thursday with 61 birds banded, including another STJA banded by Ashlea. She was also treated to a Redbreasted Nuthatch and a Golden-crowned Kinglet. The birds continued to hit the nets at high volume on Friday, with 68 banded - most of which were Orange-crowned and Yellow warblers.

Northern Pygmy Owl. Photo S. Darlington

It rained on Thursday afternoon, leaving the nets wet on Friday morning. Things looked pretty quiet at Pedder at 6 am net opening, until Bill heard an owl calling. Then, on the very first net run, Sean checked net 9 while I was called to net 11 for a tangled Swainson's Thrush. Moments later, he walked towards me holding none other than one adorable, tiny Northern Pygmy Owl! I gasped, half expecting to see a thrush in his hand but instead see two owl eyes looking back at me. This bird was a lifer for Sean, and a banding tick for me. I will always remember this feisty little owl, from the warm feelings in my heart to the painful talon marks it left on my fingers and thumbs.

AHY and HY WCSP. Photo D. Bell.   

On Saturday we had our first Golden-crowned sparrow of the season over at Rocky Point, and Pedder Bay swiftly captured the 4th Steller's Jay of the week in net 9. The Northern Waterthrush seen on Friday at closing time by net 12 was seen again on Saturday, but it stealthily evaded capture.

Rocky finished off the week with 338 birds banded of 33 species, with Pedder reaching 222 banded of 25 species. Our most banded bird was the Puget Sound White-Crowned Sparrow, with 80 new bands this week!



 Census & Obs Highlights

Lewis's Woodpecker. Photo S.Darlington

This week we had loads of fly overs and interesting birds on obs. The Steller's Jays arrived in huge numbers, especially compared to the low counts last year.  We had 30 + STJA around each station most of the week. At the start of Donna's census on Thursday, we counted 128 Steller's Jays flying over - with 237 on DET!

The band-tailed pigeon numbers were climbing all week, with over 300 one day. The turkey vultures, sharp-shinned and cooper's hawks were also showing up in good numbers for this time of year.  Lincoln's Sparrows have been caught daily, and Fox Sparrow and Yellow-rumped warblers are on the rise around both sites. Other notable sightings were 4 Sandhill Cranes, 2 Lewis's woodpeckers, 1 Northern Waterthrush, 1 Horned Lark, 1 Rednecked Grebe, 1 Greater White-fronted Goose, 2 Caspian Terns, and 2 Northern Pygmy Owls on obs. 

Wildlife Sightings

We had a few furry friends around the stations this week. Ann Scarfe saw a wolf right by net 5 on Thursday at Rocky, the first sighting this year! The rest of us were unfortunately too slow to catch a glimpse. There have been near daily sightings of humpback whales at Rocky, and the occasional pod of orcas. One fawn decided to make a new door out of net 11 at Pedder Bay, and a black bear made an appearance at Rocky.

Rough-skinned newt. Photo D. Bell.

That's all for this week, I hope you join us as things ramp up at RPBO with the onset of big banding and observation days. We could use all hands on deck - plus you wouldn't want to miss the next pygmy owl ;)

Thank you for joining us!

- Siobhan Darlington, Passerine Bander 

Weekly Stats:
 

Pedder Bay	Aug 25th	Aug 26th	Aug 27th	Aug 28th	Aug 29th	Aug 30th	Aug 31st	Total
Banded	24	34	39	49	23	31	22	222
Species banded	15	12	16	15	10	15	13	25
Recap	8	2	13	11	9	6	10	59
Species recap	7	1	10	7	6	5	4	17
Rocky Point	Aug 25th	Aug 26th	Aug 27th	Aug 28th	Aug 29th	Aug 30th	Aug 31st	Total
Banded	33	47	44	36	61	68	49	338
Species banded	11	17	15	16	19	15	18	33
Recap	5	7	4	6	7	7	8	44
Species recap	4	6	2	4	4	4	6	12

Week 6 vs. Season summary by species:

RPBO 25th Anniversary Celebration

*Saturday, September 14, 2019 Please join us for FREE Bird Walks and tours of the Banding Station. See the amazing birds that pass through the station year after year! Understand how the work of a banding station protects birds and the places they live! Learn first-hand how your support of RPBO makes a huge impact on conservation efforts!Please park at Glenrosa Farm Restaurant 5447 Rocky Point Road Metchosin, BC Parking is in the field. Please watch for the signs and wear field-friendly shoes!*

*The 25th Anniversary Celebration will showcase our banding operations with guided tours and demonstrations, and further our public education mandate with bird walks and educational stations. (And there will be cake!)*

*Click here <http://cts.vresp.com/c/?RockyPointBirdObserv/cbc42cc595/TEST/16b738d367> to sign up for a bird walk, or drop by the banding station on Pedder Bay Drive between 8 and 11 am Register now! Tours are filling quickly!*
 

Week 5: A drizzly week, but Rocky's in the lead!

Cotton candy skies at Pedder Bay on August 24, 2019. Photo: Ashlea Veldhoen

Hello all! 

Pleased to e-meet you all. My name is Ashlea. This was my second week as an intern with Rocky Point Bird Observatory, and I am as thrilled as ever to be a part of this great organization! I'm here this week to give you all an overview of week five's activities here at RPBO.

Thank you!

We'd like to thank all of the volunteers who came out for what turned out to be a fantastic week. Without support from people like you, this work wouldn't be possible! To that end, if you are a volunteer, please continue to sign up for as many shifts as you can in advance. If you are a new follower of RPBO, check out http://rpbo.org/volunteer.php to learn more about how you can get involved! 

We had a busier week than usual for this time of year, with over 200 new bands at Rocky and over 180 at Pedder Bay. At Rocky, we were inundated with flycatchers this week with 46 newly banded Pacific Slope Flycatchers and 34 newly banded Willow Flycatchers, with "Puget Sound" White-crowned Sparrows - or as we affectionately like to call them, 'Pizzwizz' for their name's short form PSWS - and Wilson's Warblers following closely behind with 26 and 25 new bands, respectively. At Pedder we had the similar species in the top three, but the Pizzwizz White-crowned Sparrows came up in higher numbers (20 banded), followed by Willow Flycatchers and Swainson's Thrushes at 14 and 12 new bands, respectively.

Banding & Obs Review:

We began the week with Rocky in a slight lead with 908 birds banded. Though the week started slow, things began to rapidly pick up despite the somewhat drizzly weather we had during the latter part of the week.

On Sunday (Aug 18) we had a slower day with 13 new bands at Pedder Bay and 26 newly banded birds at Rocky Point, and were happy to find five Vaux's Swifts flying overhead with a group of about 20 Northern Rough-winged swallows!

Monday picked up a little bit at Pedder, with 32 new birds banded while 28 birds were banded at Rocky, while Tuesday slowed back down to normal, with 18 new bands at Pedder and 23 new bands at Rocky, where during census we counted a small group of 60 Common Murre off EDYE Point.

Male (left) and female (right) hatch-year Western Tanagers caught at RP on August 21, 2019 at RP. Photo: David Bell

Wednesday was rainy and resulted in us closing the nets a half an hour early at Rocky. Even still, the 17 new birds banded brought the total number of birds banded at Rocky to 1002! The day became a bit more exciting when David spotted a Wandering Tattler flying off the southern tip of Bentinck Island, making its characteristic "kree-kree-kree!" (If you're interested in hearing what Dave heard, listen here at AllAboutBirds.org.)

We were also treated to four hatch-year Western Tanagers in the net at once - two of each sex, leading to a great comparison photo (above) between a HY male and HY female Western Tanager. Hatch-year males feature brighter yellow head, brighter yellow upper wing bar, and brighter yellow rump with darker, more defined primary feathers when compared the female on the right, which is much duller overall.

With the return of the sunshine on Thursday the birds seemed be much more active, with double the amount of birds banded at Pedder (32) compared to the day before and more than triple at Rocky, withed 62 new birds banded.

Orange-crowned Warbler 'celata' subspecies. Caught at RP on Aug 24, 2019. Photo: David Bell 

Friday continued to see a further increase in the number of birds in nets. We had 45 new bands at Pedder and an even busier day for Rocky with 76 birds banded. This combined with a second observation of a Wandering Tattler spotted for a second time by David Bell proved to be a very exciting day with not much rest for our dedicated team of volunteers! We closed the week with a slower but still busy day at both sites, with 31 new bands at Pedder Bay and 43 new bands at Rocky and a very special capture of an Orange-crowned Warbler of the 'celata' subspecies, which is typically found east of the Rockies. It features a gray head much like the 'Oreothlypis orestera' subspecies of BC's interior, but is generally a bit smaller in size with a slightly shorter bill.

This week's totals for Pedder Bay was 187 birds banded of 32 species, bringing the season total to: 994, and a total of 276 banded at Rocky, breaking the 1000 mark and bringing Rocky into the lead with a season total of 1183. Click the chart below for a summary of species we banded at both sites.

Weekly totals for Rocky Point and Pedder Bay August 18-24, 2019

Wildlife Sightings

Rough-skinned Newt at RP. Photo: Ashlea Veldhoen

The drizzly day on Wednesday meant the nets were slow at Rocky, but it allowed us more time for doing some observations around the site. We found a few Rough-skinned Newts, plenty of slugs, a Pacific Treefrog and a multitude of deer. As we were sheltering from the rain together at the station, we heard Dave's voice calmly crackling through the radio "...orcas off EDYE point.” As quickly as I'd ever done, I snatched my binoculars from the table and hurriedly made my way to the front nets where Dave was standing. It was raining lightly with cool wind, and thick fog draped over the ocean like a blanket.

All was quiet...and then we heard it, a blow! I peered through my binoculars into the fog hanging low above the water and saw an imposing pitch-black dorsal fin emerge from the water, and then another, and another, and another. 

They were a pod of transient orcas, 3 big males, 3 calves and 9 or 10 female orcas in all. For the next 15 minutes Dave, myself and the volunteers watched this small pod 'spyhopping' as they skirted the coastline until they melted mysteriously back into the fog.

To be able to work in the presence of such raw majesty is a great privilege, and its experiences like these that keep myself - and hopefully, others - inspired and excited to continue working towards a better future for those to come.

Thank you so much for reading & hope to see you in the field!

-Ashlea
RPBO Banding Intern

Week 4: Sippin' that Tennessee Honey

In a typical year, we'd be in the midst of the August doldrums, marked by slow days for birds in the nets and much napping (I mean...obs). While there were echoes of these with a couple of quite slow days at Pedder, migration seems to have started early this year and we were treated to several busy days this week!

The nets were slow and steady to begin the week, then on the 13th Ashlea and I spent the morning running around, as we ended the morning with 63 total birds with no extractors! Pedder went back to slow and steady after that while Rocky stayed relatively hot, ending the week with a solid 76-bird day. At the end of week four, we are almost 300 birds ahead of last year at this time.

A very pale young Warbling Vireo (Siobhan Darlington)

Top captures this week at Rocky were Pacific-slope and Willow flycatchers, White-crowned Sparrow, Warbling Vireo and Orange-crowned Warbler. The latter had quite a high proportion of the interior 'Gray-headed' subspecies group; hopefully a sign of more interior rarities to come! New captures for the season there were Golden-crowned Kinglet and Lincoln's Sparrow. Pedder was led by White-crowned Sparrow, Willow Flycatcher and Wilson's Warbler, while the only new capture for the season was a Brown-headed Cowbird. An interesting recapture came in the form of an old female "Oregon" Dark-eyed Junco on the 12th, in net 11 at Pedder. She was originally banded in August 2012 here, and caught in the same net! This is the first time we have seen her since then. The rarity of the week came on the 16th, when we caught a hatch-year Tennessee Warbler in net 1 at Rocky! This is only the second banding record for RPBO; the previous one was in September 2006.

Tennessee Warbler (David Bell)

Pacific (left) and Gray-headed (centre) Orange-crowned warblers providing a nice comparison to the Tennessee Warbler (right) (David Bell)

7-year-old recap "Oregon" Junco (David Bell)

With migration picking up, we are getting new arrivals almost daily on census and obs. Arrivals at Rocky this week included Wilson's Snipe, Northern Harrier, Surf Scoter, Horned Grebe and a couple of early American Pipits, while an Eastern Kingbird was a census highlight on the 14th. Arrivals at Pedder included Vaux's Swift, Savannah Sparrow, Sharp-shinned Hawk and what might be the first Whimbrel recorded there (a flyover on the 12th).

Eastern Kingbird (David Bell)

Non-avian observations were a little slim this week, although the wolves seem to be getting more active and we heard them on multiple mornings from both stations. Still no sightings though! Daily groups of River Otters at Rocky and the omnipresent and ever-entertaining Black-tailed Deer at Pedder, along with some fishing Raccoons at both stations rounded out the mammal section.

Ashlea with her first hummingbird (Siobhan Darlington)

Thanks again to all of the volunteers who came out this week! Still plenty of gaps for the upcoming weeks, especially for census and extractors. We'd also like to congratulate Mark and Robin Byrne for getting their extractor status this week!

Townsend's Warbler (Siobhan Darlington)

Rocky Point	Aug 11th	Aug 12th	Aug 13th	Aug 14th	Aug 15th	Aug 16th	Aug 17th	Total
Banded	36	23	33	39	29	28	66	254
Species banded	13	14	15	13	12	14	16	31
Recap	8	4	7	7	7	7	10	50
Species recap	5	4	3	3	3	3	4	11

Pedder Bay	Aug 11th	Aug 12th	Aug 13th	Aug 14th	Aug 15th	Aug 16th	Aug 17th	Total
Banded	24	24	53	23	11	14	30	179
Species banded	14	16	15	13	8	7	12	25
Recap	10	8	10	6	7	3	6	50
Species recap	5	8	5	4	5	3	4	12

(Week 4 numbers - click to see full size)

"Gray-headed" Orange-crowned Warbler (Ashlea Veldhoen)

Week 3 : Pedder is better

RBNU (Siobhan D.)

Hello RPBO lovers, here we are. It’s my turn to tell you about the third week of the season. And what a week! We have already gotten a good amount of bird species and numbers so far this year. It's always a delight to see beautiful colourful birds in hand such as this Red-Breasted Nuthatch (RBNU) caught at Rocky Point this week. 

YEWA (Siobhan D.)

Some people are saying “Pedder is better”. You have to judge for yourself! But I can tell you that every morning, we've been hearing and seen the display of a few individuals of Common Nighthawk. A couple of hours later, it's the time for swallows and Purple Martin to fly over the sation. And if it's slow for banding, you can fill your mug with coffee between two net round ! 

Some days banding has even been busier at Pedder Bay and this week, we’ve been adding to the PB list some nice firsts of the year for banding such as Golden Crowned Kinglet (GCKI), European Starling (EUST), and Northern Flicker (NOFL). At Rocky Point, we've banded 2 Marsh Wren (MAWR) which is a first of the year and a banding tick for Siobhan. On average, Rocky Point remains the place where we got more birds banded per day (around 30) while at Pedder Bay, the average is 20 new individuals banded. Yellow warblers (YEWA) have arrived in good numbers at both stations and this week, we've also banded a SY ♂ Black-headed grosbeack (BHGR) and one SY ♂ Western Tanager (WETA). Those two nice looking birds where banded at Pedder Bay...

Rae-Ann & Dave @ Pedder Bay (Donna Talluto)

Grey headed OCWA (Siobhan D.)

Another subspecies of Orange Crowned warbler (OCWA) has arrived. You can distinguish them from the ones who breed here by their grey head. Those guys were breeding in Alaska and they are now passing through. Did you know that there is actually 4 sub-species of OCWA in North America ? They differ in plumage color, size and molt patern.

Siobhan spotted a leucistic Warbling Vireo at Rocky Point. A leucistic bird is the result of an abnormal sequence of DNA. Have you already seen a leucistic bird ? Sometime one has a white patch due to a lack of melanine. 

LEGO (David Bell)

Dave found a Lesser Goldfinch (LEGO) hanging out with the American Goldfinches at RP. He first spotted it because of the unusual song he heard. The nonbreeding individuals are quite alike when you compare both species. To give you a few tips, the Lesser Goldfinch is smaller and has a white patch at the base of the primaries. Another feature that can help in the field is the undertail coverts which tend to be more yellow than our usual goldfinch which have white undertail coverts.

Jannaca continues her collection of bird pictures. She is particularly interested in the differences in the Brown Creeper juveniles and adults. So we take different measurements as the bill length, the size of the white patch in the wing, the tail length, etc. She is also trying to document our western species for the Piranga website*. We are enjoying taking pictures with Ann N.’s new invention. If you didn’t see it yet, it’s another good reason to come volunteer at RP. Every year, Ann comes up with new inventions. You never know what’s next !

* Wanna check this website full of informations before banding ? 

Here is the link you need https://www.natureinstruct.org/piranga/view.php/Canada/1B2A6386D509137D

Merlin (Siobhan D.)

A Merlin has been seen a couple of time this week at RP. 

Rocky Point is also the place to be if you wanna seawatch early in the morning. Pigeon Guillemot, Marbled Murrelet, Rhinoceros Auklet, Common Murre, Black Oysterchatcher were at the rendezvous this week !

You might wonder, what do the banders do after banding? No doubt they go birding, go for a swim or have a nap after a long day at the station. Yes, these are all true but this week, some of us also rescued a juvenile Turkey Vulture (TUVU) not feeling well on the side of the road, someone had to run after an escaped calf and, another person even did photoshoot of a kitten! I won’t tell you who was playing with cats - you would be surprised ;-) It’s a fun life!  

Rebecca rescuing a TUVU

So while I was waiting at Matheson lake. Here is what happened with that "lucky" TUVU one afternoon after banding.

"Siobhan spotted him from the road and then Mitchell and I jumped out and tracked him down to the brambles near the swampy section while Siobhan went to get Dave. He was super fast on foot but couldn’t fly. It took all four of us to catch him. Eventually we cornered him in the brambles. Then a short car ride to wildarc! So far so good."

Rebecca Golat - Bander intern

Even though it's a bit exhausting sometime, I won’t swap my job for anything else that’s for sure. I’m really grateful to get this opportunity to work again with RPBO. Thank you to all the volunteers and I’m looking forward to seeing you soon at Rocky Point or Pedder…  

Donna Talluto - Senior Bander

Pedder Bay	Aug 4	Aug 5	Aug 6	Aug 7	Aug 8	Aug 9	Aug 10	Total
Banded	20	14	19	17	20	36	18	144
Sp. Banded	13	9	13	11	10	17	13	33
Recapted	4	4	5	10	6	7	7	43
Sp. Recapted	2	4	4	8	5	6	6	13
Rocky Point	Aug 4	Aug 5	Aug 6	Aug 7	Aug 8	Aug 9	Aug 10	Total
Banded	17	30	22	30	40	32	42	213
Sp. Banded	10	13	11	12	16	13	16	32
Recapted	7	10	4	2	12	4	10	49
Sp. Recapted	5	5	3	2	8	3	4	15