Week 6; 2019: Rain grounds warblers
Songbird migration in the South Okanagan continued to gather momentum this past week as cooler temperatures and periods of rain brought periods of high bird activity to the station. Rain on Sunday and Tuesday caused us to lose 1.5 days of mist netting but despite that we still managed to band 224 birds of 22 species and recaptured 63 of 15 species. This banding total is the second highest ever for week 6 during what is usually a slower week leading up to the peak of migration, with a station average of 165 birds. Species diversity has declined considerably, as is typical this time of year with more and more species departing. The week started relatively slow with about 30 birds banded per day during the first three days but that increased to around 50 birds after the rain on Sunday. That day we were only able to open some nets for 10 minutes before the rain continued, but we did catch one new Song Sparrow during that time.
We passed several milestones this week including our 2000th bird of the season on Wednesday, which is the earliest we’ve ever reached this total! We also banded our 9th and 10th Yellow-breasted Chat which sets a new record for most chats banded in one season. Other highlights were a Tennessee Warbler, a rare migrant and the 3rd of the season, our second Sharp-shinned Hawk, and individual late Northern Waterthrush and Western Tanager.
Orange-crowned Warblers retained the top spot as most banded species with 56. Common Yellowthroats are increasing in number with 44 banded, and are now third highest overall. The other tops species this week are Lincoln’s Sparrow (40) and Song Sparrow (25). Yellow Warblers have slowed with only 12 banded this week as have Gray Catbirds, and Willow Flycatchers are almost absent now. Most species of warbler and sparrows were banded in above average numbers this week except for Wilson’s Warbler with only 1 banded. Ruby-crowned Kinglet and Willow Flycatcher are also above average.
Below are the banding totals:
| Week 6 | ||||||||
| Species | Totals | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
| Orange-crowned Warbler | 56 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 16 | 16 | 10 | |
| Common Yellowthroat | 44 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 4 | 16 | |
| Lincoln’s Sparrow | 40 | 4 | 10 | 6 | 7 | 2 | 11 | |
| Song Sparrow | 25 | 3 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| Yellow Warbler | 12 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 1 | |||
| ‘Audubon’s’ Warbler | 10 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 2 | |||
| Gray Catbird | 7 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | ||
| ‘Gambel’s’ White-crowned Sparrow | 3 | 1 | 2 | |||||
| Ruby-crowned Kinglet | 3 | 1 | 2 | |||||
| Willow Flycatcher | 3 | 1 | 2 | |||||
| Yellow-breasted Chat | 3 | 1 | 2 | |||||
| Dusky Flycatcher | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Marsh Wren | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Savannah Sparrow | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Spotted Towhee | 2 | 2 | ||||||
| Unidentified Yellow-rumped Warbler | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Warbling Vireo | 2 | 2 | ||||||
| Northern Waterthrush | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Swainson’s Thrush | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Tennessee Warbler | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Western Tanager | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Wilson’s Warbler | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Total # | 224 | 27 | 27 | 32 | 1 | 53 | 34 | 50 |
| Species # | 22 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 1 | 12 | 9 | 9 |
| mean/day | 32 | 50.8 | 50.2 | 49.7 | 48.5 | 48.6 | 48.2 | 48.3 |
The recapture totals are as follows:
| SPECIES | Totals | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
| Orange-crowned Warbler | 15 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 | |
| Song Sparrow | 14 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 3 | |
| Common Yellowthroat | 12 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 1 | ||
| Gray Catbird | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Willow Flycatcher | 3 | 2 | 1 | |||||
| Black-capped Chickadee | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Gambel’s White-crowned Sparrow | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Lincoln’s Sparrow | 2 | 2 | ||||||
| Spotted Towhee | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Yellow Warbler | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| American Goldfinch | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Bewick’s Wren | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Downy Woodpecker | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Marsh Wren | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Swainson’s Thrush | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Total # | 63 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 19 | 8 | 11 |
| Species # | 15 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 7 | 5 | 6 |
Our banding totals at the end of Week 6.
Week 5, 2019: Early Fall Arrivals
Bird activity was on the rise again as August came to an end this week with a considerable increase in birds banded from last week. We banded 265 birds, which sets a new record for Week 5, and 28 species. In addition to that, we recaptured 84 birds of 12 species. These numbers are well above average but not quite at the level of the beginning of our season. The otherwise relatively slow week was punctuated by a busy weekend with both days seeing around 70 birds netted. That finishes off the best August VLBO has ever had on record with 1654 birds of 54 species banded with a daily mean of 53.4 birds banded and 15 species! This far surpasses the previous record set last year of 1091 banded. The weather was mostly clear and dry except for some heavy rain Tuesday night which left a lot of moisture at the station.
New species this week were a couple of earlier arrivals – a Ruby-crowned Kinglet and an ‘Oregon” Junco, and an always exciting bird to catch, a Sharp-shinned Hawk! Other highlights were our 4th Bewick’s Wren, three Lazuli Buntings, and single late Rufous Hummingbird and Northern Waterthrush.
Orange-crowned Warbler is the most banded species with 42, followed by Lincoln’s Sparrow (37), which have drastically increased this week, Common Yellowthroat (33), and Yellow Warbler (32). These are all at least double the average for Week 5. White-crowned Sparrows have appeared in good numbers while Willow Flycatcher and Cedar Waxing dwindled.
We regularly catch two different Orange-crowned Warbler subspecies – Vermivora celata orestera (on the left) and V.c. lutescens (on the left).
Below are the banding totals:
| Week 5 Totals | DAY | |||||||
| Species | Totals | 29 | 30 | 31 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Orange-crowned Warbler | 42 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 11 | 9 | 4 | 4 |
| Lincoln’s Sparrow | 37 | 4 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 11 | 9 | |
| Common Yellowthroat | 33 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 5 |
| Yellow Warbler | 32 | 7 | 5 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Gray Catbird | 29 | 4 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 5 | 2 | |
| Song Sparrow | 20 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| Willow Flycatcher | 11 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 3 | |
| Gambel’s White-crowned Sparrow | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | ||||
| Audubon’s Warbler | 6 | 2 | 4 | |||||
| Cedar Waxwing | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | ||||
| Spotted Towhee | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | |||
| Wilson’s Warbler | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | |||
| American Goldfinch | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Black-capped Chickadee | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | ||||
| Lazuli Bunting | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Savannah Sparrow | 3 | 2 | 1 | |||||
| Marsh Wren | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Swainson’s Thrush | 2 | 2 | ||||||
| Veery | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Bewick’s Wren | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| House Finch | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Northern Waterthrush | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Oregon Junco | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Red-eyed Vireo | 1 | 1 | 3 | |||||
| Ruby-crowned Kinglet | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Rufous Hummingbird | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Unidentified Yellow-rumped Warbler | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Total | 265 | 31 | 28 | 57 | 55 | 21 | 38 | 35 |
| Species | 28 | 8 | 8 | 15 | 15 | 7 | 9 | 10 |
The recapture totals are as follows:
| Week 5 Totals | Day | |||||||
| SPECIES | Totals | 29 | 30 | 31 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Common Yellowthroat | 25 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 2 | 2 | |
| Song Sparrow | 14 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Gray Catbird | 13 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 2 | ||
| Orange-crowned Warbler | 12 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | |
| Black-capped Chickadee | 7 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | |||
| Willow Flycatcher | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Marsh Wren | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Spotted Towhee | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Yellow-breasted Chat | 2 | 2 | ||||||
| Bewick’s Wren | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| MacGillivray’s Warbler | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Swainson’s Thrush | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Species | 84 | 11 | 16 | 15 | 15 | 9 | 9 | 9 |
| Totals | 12 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 7 |
Week 4, 2019: Back to Normal
The busy start to our season fizzled out this week as numbers returned to more normal values. We banded 178 birds of 30 species which is still above the station average of 130banded and 24 species for Week 4. We also recaptured 64 birds of 14 species. Late August is typically a slow time for migration as many of the early migrants have already departed but some of the later season species are still to come.
The highlight of the week was a single Brewer’s Sparrow which is a new species for the station, pushing the station species total to 113! It was followed by a lone Clay-colored Sparrow the next day, which is also not commonly banded (it’s only the 14th record). Other interesting birds banded include our 3rd Gray Flycatcher and 4th Sora of the season, which both occurred on the same day as the Brewer’s Sparrow, making that a very exciting day indeed! We also banded a Hairy Woodpecker, (only the 8th record), 2 late Rufous Hummingbirds, 3 Western Tanager, and a Pacific-slope Flycatcher.
This week, Willow Flycatcher was the most banded species with 28 which pushed the season total past the record of 128 set last year! Following closely is Gray Catbird (27), Orange-crowned Warbler (19), and Common Yellowthroat (16). Yellow Warblers are dwindling with also 16 banded this week but we passed 300 for the season, and Eastern Kingbirds have now departed with only 1 banded early in the week. Interestingly sparrows had good showings this week, especially Spotted Towhee which also surpassed the previous record of 18 in one season. Orange-crowned Warblers continue to move through early, while Wilson’s Warblers were almost absent this week after being above average during the first three weeks. We recaptured at least two older birds this week – a breeding Willow Flycatcher banded as a HY in 2014, making it 5 years old, and Yellow Warbler that is at least 5 years old!
Another highlight was a Blackpoll Warbler observed during census! This species which breeds in central BC and usually migrates east of the Rockies has not been detected at VLBO since 2004. We enjoyed a visit from the Central Okanagan Naturalists as well as a few other family groups.
Below are the banding totals:
| Week 4 Totals | DAY | |||||||
| Species | Totals | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 |
| Willow Flycatcher | 28 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 4 |
| Gray Catbird | 27 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 1 |
| Orange-crowned Warbler | 19 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 2 |
| Common Yellowthroat | 16 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 2 | |
| Yellow Warbler | 16 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 | |
| Song Sparrow | 15 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| Lincoln’s Sparrow | 10 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| Spotted Towhee | 6 | 1 | 4 | 1 | ||||
| Swainson’s Thrush | 6 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Audubon’s Warbler | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | ||||
| American Goldfinch | 3 | 2 | 1 | |||||
| Western Tanager | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Wilson’s Warbler | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Black-capped Chickadee | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Gambel’s White-crowned Sparrow | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Rufous Hummingbird | 2 | 2 | ||||||
| Savannah Sparrow | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Clay-colored Sparrow | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Downy Woodpecker | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Dusky Flycatcher | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Eastern Kingbird | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Gray Flycatcher | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Hairy Woodpecker | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| House Wren | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Marsh Wren | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Nashville Warbler | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Northern Waterthrush | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Pacific-Slope Flycatcher | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Sora | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Western Wood-Pewee | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Brewer’s Sparrow | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Total | 178 | 33 | 28 | 23 | 16 | 26 | 28 | 24 |
| Species | 31 | 18 | 11 | 12 | 7 | 14 | 11 | 13 |
The recapture totals are as follows:
| Week 4 Totals | Day | |||||||
| SPECIES | Totals | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 |
| Orange-crowned Warbler | 12 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | |
| Common Yellowthroat | 10 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | ||
| Gray Catbird | 10 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Song Sparrow | 9 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | |||
| Black-capped Chickadee | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Willow Flycatcher | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | ||||
| American Goldfinch | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Red-eyed Vireo | 2 | 2 | ||||||
| Yellow Warbler | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Bewick’s Wren | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| MacGillivray’s Warbler | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Swainson’s Thrush | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Veery | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Wilson’s Warbler | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Totals | 64 | 9 | 9 | 11 | 9 | 6 | 8 | 12 |
| Species | 14 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 7 |
Week 3, 2019: Diversity and Numbers
Week 3 of our migration monitoring season is already over and again it was a busy one, relative to past seasons. While slower than the first two weeks of this season, we still set a new record for Week 3 with 305 birds banded, well above the average of 164. The week started with three very productive days of 50-60 birds banded but activity slowed after that to 30-some birds per day. The second half of August is typically a slower time so this is to be expected. This trend will likely continue into next week, especially if the stagnant, clear weather persists. Species diversity remained high with 38 species banded this week which is also a new high, far above the average of 25.6. We recaptured 107 birds of 17 species which is very consistent with the first two weeks.
The most exciting birds of the week were two Virginia Rails, the first a relatively young juvenile which was only about half the size of the second, an adult! Other highlights were three juvenile Red-eyed Vireos and one ASY recap banded last year all in the same day, a Bullock’s Oriole, a new species for the season, as well as our third Bewick’s Wren of the season, and another Yellow-breasted Chat. Other new species added this week include Pacific-slope Flycatcher, Lincoln’s Sparrow, and Warbling Vireo.
Not surprisingly, Yellow Warbler was once again our top species with 65 more banded. Gray Catbird (40), Willow Flycatcher (30), and Song Sparrow (25) rounded out the top four. Orange-crowned Warbler, American Goldfinch, Common Yellowthroat, Spotted Towhee and Wilson’s Warblers were also banded in above average numbers while Cedar Waxwing numbers really dropped. Northern Waterthrush continue to lag below average.
This week we beat the previous record for most American Goldfinch banded in one season (112 in 2015) with the total currently standing at 131! That adds to Yellow Warbler, Cedar Waxwing, Eastern Kingbird, Least Flycatcher, and House Finch which we’ve already banded in record high numbers!
Several visitors dropped by the station this week, including members of the South Okanagan Naturalist Club on a birding outing led by Alex Bodden.
Below are the banding totals:
| Week 3 Totals | DAY | |||||||
| SPECIES | Totals | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 |
| Yellow Warbler | 65 | 15 | 9 | 18 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 7 |
| Gray Catbird | 40 | 10 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 9 |
| Willow Flycatcher | 30 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 3 |
| Song Sparrow | 25 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 1 |
| Orange-crowned Warbler | 24 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 1 |
| American Goldfinch | 21 | 1 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 2 | |
| Common Yellowthroat | 21 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| Spotted Towhee | 8 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 1 | |||
| Cedar Waxwing | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | ||||
| Wilson’s Warbler | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | ||||
| Western Wood-pewee | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| MacGillivray’s Warbler | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | ||||
| Veery | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | ||||
| Eastern Kingbird | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Swainson’s Thrush | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Northern Waterthrush | 3 | 1 | 2 | |||||
| Least Flycatcher | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Red-eyed Vireo | 3 | 3 | ||||||
| Lincoln’s Sparrow | 3 | 2 | 1 | |||||
| Warbling Vireo | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Marsh Wren | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Dusky Flycatcher | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Audubon’s Warbler | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| House Finch | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Western Tanager | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Pacific-slope Flycatcher | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Virginia Rail | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Nashville Warbler | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Yellow-breasted Chat | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Red-winged Blackbird | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Black-capped Chickadee | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Black-headed Grosbeak | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Lazuli Bunting | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Bewick’s Wren | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Red-shafted Flicker | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Rufous Hummingbird | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Savannah Sparrow | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Bullock’s Oriole | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Totals | 305 | 58 | 50 | 60 | 39 | 35 | 32 | 31 |
The recapture totals are as follows:
| Week 3 Totals | Day | |||||||
| SPECIES | Totals | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 |
| Song Sparrow | 25 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 3 |
| Gray Catbird | 14 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| Orange-crowned Warbler | 13 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 4 | |
| Common Yellowthroat | 12 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | |||
| Yellow Warbler | 10 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| Veery | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | ||||
| Black-capped Chickadee | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | ||
| American Goldfinch | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Yellow-breasted Chat | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||
| MacGillivray’s Warbler | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Least Flycatcher | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Willow Flycatcher | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Bewick’s Wren | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Red-eyed Vireo | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Spotted Towhee | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Swainson’s Thrush | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Wilson’s Warbler | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Total | 107 | 15 | 12 | 14 | 13 | 15 | 22 | 16 |
Week 2, 2019: The record season continues on
This year’s surprising surge of birds continued through Week 2 with more unprecedented numbers of birds being banded. This week we banded 459 birds of 34 species which is down slightly from week 1, as it always is, but still is almost triple the station average and completely surpasses the previous high of 260. We averaged almost 66 birds per day with the busiest day of the week coming Sunday, Aug. 11, with 107 birds banded, thanks to 57 Yellow Warblers passing through the nets! Once again, new records for number of birds banded were set for every day but one this week. We also recaptured 105 birds of 21 species.
We had several very exciting captures this week, the top two of which were a Western Kingbird – only the 2nd ever banded at VLBO with the only other record in 2001, and a Steller’s Jay – the 4th record! Other interesting captures included 2 Sora, 3 Yellow-breasted Chat (several of which were recaptured during the week), 4 Western Tanager, 2 Lazuli Bunting, and one Red-eyed Vireo, the last three of which don’t often find their way into our nets despite regularly occurring in the South Okanagan.
Yellow Warbler once again topped the charts with a whopping 128 banded this week – even more than the first week. This means we smashed the record for most Yellow Warblers banded in one season of 148, almost in just this week alone! Willow Flycatcher, Cedar Waxing, Gray Catbird and American Goldfinch were also among the top of the list, in that order. In addition to all of the aforementioned species besides Gray Catbird, other species with unusually high numbers this week were Wilson’s Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Orange-crowned Warbler, Western Wood-Pewee, Eastern Kingbird, Dusky Flycatcher, Swainson’s Thrush and Spotted Towhee. The only species with noticeably lower than average numbers for the week are Veery and Northern Waterthrush. It would appear that several species have indeed begun migration relatively early this year, in particular, most warblers and flycatchers.
Warm and sunny conditions were prevalent this week aside from some showers on the weekend.
Our season totals after Week 2.
Below are the banding totals:
| Week 2 Totals |
DAY |
|||||||
| SPECIES |
Totals |
8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
| Yellow Warbler | 128 | 14 | 14 | 8 | 57 | 13 | 9 | 13 |
| Willow Flycatcher | 57 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 13 | 5 | 12 | 8 |
| Cedar Waxwing | 52 | 9 | 12 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 15 |
| Gray Catbird | 40 | 11 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 4 |
| American Goldfinch | 38 | 6 | 14 | 1 | 11 | 1 | 5 | |
| Common Yellowthroat | 22 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 2 |
| Song Sparrow | 20 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| Wilson’s Warbler | 18 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 5 | |
| Western Wood-Pewee | 8 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | ||
| Orange-crowned Warbler | 7 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | |
| Northern Waterthrush | 7 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | |||
| Eastern Kingbird | 6 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||
| Marsh Wren | 6 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | |||
| Spotted Towhee | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Dusky Flycatcher | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Black-capped Chickadee | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | ||||
| Swainson’s Thrush | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Western Tanager | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||
| House Wren | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Nashville Warbler | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Yellow-breasted Chat | 3 | 1 | 2 | |||||
| Sora | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Veery | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Audubon’s Warbler | 2 | 2 | ||||||
| MacGillivray’s Warbler | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Lazuli Bunting | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Rufous Hummingbird | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Calliope Hummingbird | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Downy Woodpecker | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Red-shafted Flicker | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Western Kingbird | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Red-eyed Vireo | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Steller’s Jay | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| House Finch | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Totals | 459 | 61 | 77 | 36 | 107 | 48 | 63 | 67 |
The recapture totals are as follows:
| Week 2 Totals |
Day |
|||||||
| SPECIES | Totals | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
| Common Yellowthroat | 20 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| Song Sparrow | 17 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| Yellow Warbler | 15 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 2 | |
| Willow Flycatcher | 10 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| American Goldfinch | 10 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ||
| Gray Catbird | 7 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Orange-crowned Warbler | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | |||
| Black-capped Chickadee | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Yellow-breasted Chat | 3 | 1 | 2 | |||||
| Wilson’s Warbler | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Downy Woodpecker | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Dusky Flycatcher | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Eastern Kingbird | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Bewick’s Wren | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Marsh Wren | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Veery | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Swainson’s Thrush | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Cedar Waxwing | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Nashville Warbler | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Northern Waterthrush | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Spotted Towhee | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Total | 105 | 22 | 21 | 12 | 14 | 17 | 8 | 11 |
Week 1, 2019: A week to remember!
The 2019 fall migration monitoring season is underway at Vaseux Lake Bird Observatory and we had a crazy record-breaking first week! We banded 596 birds and recaptured 110 for a total of 706 captures, which are astonishing numbers compared to typical seasons at VLBO. We also had several unbanded birds this week which would have pushed the banded total over 600. The 18-year average for the first week is 208 birds; though the trend has been increasing especially in the last five years. Even so, the previous high was 383 birds (last year) which pales in comparison. It’s also actually the second busiest week in the station’s history after a very busy peak migration week in 2006.
One of the busy net runs of the week!
On opening day we banded 122 birds and equaled that total on day 2. It seemed like birds were literally falling off the trees and that continued through the rest of the week with well above average numbers every day. In fact, every day but one set a new record high for that respective day. The number of recaptures was also well above average as is to be expected with so many birds banded.
The species total for this week was 42, which is also incredible considering the previous high is 33 species and the station average about 26. This high total is partially due to many migrants showing up early that are not always banded during the first week, including Savannah Sparrow, Least Flycatcher, House Wren, Chipping Sparrow, Wilson’s Warbler and Audubon’s Warbler, and several less commonly banded species including Tennessee Warbler (the 16th and 17th records), Gray Flycatcher (11th and 12th records), Belted Kingfisher, Sora, Red-winged Blackbird, and House Finch (6th-9th records). These were among the many highlights of the week as were three Yellow-breasted Chats, two Bewick’s Wren, and three species of hummingbirds.
Many species had high totals but Yellow Warbler (96), Cedar Waxwing (91), American Goldfinch (72) and Common Yellowthroat (53) were banded in ridiculous record high numbers – all of them about four times the average for week 1. Gray Catbird (60) and Willow Flycatcher (41) also had good numbers but fairly typical for the last few years. Other notable numbers include Orange-crowned Warbler (19) which average only 3 for week 1, Eastern Kingbird, MacGillivray’s Warbler, Swainson’s Thrush, and Spotted Towhee. No species were noticeably below average and the only species that average at least 1 during week 1 but weren’t banded are Bullock’s Oriole and Pine Siskin.
Banders Anna Skurikhina and Matthias Bieber with a pair of juvenile Belted Kingfishers netted together.
This season we welcome new banding assistant Anna Skurikhina who is a keen new birder a quickly becoming an expert extractor.
This week saw some of the hottest weather so far this summer as clear sunny skies dominated. However, the beautiful weather was marred at end of the week by the Eagle Bluff fire which started Sunday night and burned dangerously close in the distance. Luckily the smoke moved mostly to the south, away from the station.
Sunny clear skies at VLBO
The Eagle Bluff Fire burns in the distance.
Several of the species in high numbers are local breeders but some are also early migrants. It will be very interesting to see if these numbers continue through the season or if migration is happening earlier than normal and will peter out more quickly.
Below are the banding totals:
| Week 1 Totals | ||||||||
| Species | Total | Aug 1 | Aug 2 | Aug 3 | Aug 4 | Aug 5 | Aug 6 | Aug 7 |
| Yellow Warbler | 96 | 9 | 19 | 12 | 10 | 11 | 13 | 22 |
| Cedar Waxwing | 91 | 5 | 26 | 11 | 5 | 23 | 8 | 13 |
| American Goldfinch | 72 | 21 | 15 | 15 | 5 | 8 | 7 | 1 |
| Gray Catbird | 60 | 22 | 12 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 5 | 7 |
| Common Yellowthroat | 53 | 13 | 10 | 7 | 1 | 14 | 7 | 1 |
| Willow Flycatcher | 41 | 11 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 2 |
| Song Sparrow | 30 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Orange-crowned Warbler | 19 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | |
| Eastern Kingbird | 12 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | |
| Swainson’s Thrush | 12 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Black-capped Vireo | 10 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | ||
| Western Wood-Pewee | 8 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| Marsh Wren | 6 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | |||
| Veery | 6 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||
| MacGillivray’s Warbler | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | ||||
| American Robin | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||
| Audubon’s Warbler | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Red-winged Blackbird | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | ||||
| Least Flycatcher | 4 | 2 | 2 | |||||
| Nashville Warbler | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | ||||
| Northern Waterthrush | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Wilson’s Warbler | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Spotted Towhee | 4 | 3 | 1 | |||||
| Black-headed Grosbeak | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | ||||
| House Finch | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Calliope Hummingbird | 3 | 2 | 1 | |||||
| Dusky Flycatcher | 3 | 1 | 2 | |||||
| Yellow-breasted Chat | 3 | 2 | 1 | |||||
| Black-chinned Hummingbird | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Belted Kingfisher | 2 | 2 | ||||||
| Downy Woodpecker | 2 | 2 | ||||||
| Gray Flycatcher | 2 | 2 | ||||||
| Bewick’s Wren | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| House Wren | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Tennessee Warbler | 2 | 2 | ||||||
| Chipping Sparrow | 2 | 2 | ||||||
| Sora | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Rufous Hummingbird | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Red-shafted Flicker | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Western Tanager | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Savannah Sparrow | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Lazuli Bunting | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Total | 596 | 122 | 122 | 80 | 58 | 89 | 69 | 56 |
The recapture totals are as follows:
| Species | Total | Aug 1 | Aug 2 | Aug 3 | Aug 4 | Aug 5 | Aug 6 | Aug 7 |
| Willow Flycatcher | 22 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | |
| Common Yellowthroat | 17 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 3 | |
| Gray Catbird | 16 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 |
| Song Sparrow | 16 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| Yellow Warbler | 11 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | ||
| American Goldfinch | 6 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | |||
| Black-capped Chickadee | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Orange-crowned Warbler | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||
| Veery | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Downy Woodpecker | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Swainson’s Thrush | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Cedar Waxwing | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Dusky Flycatcher | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Eastern Kingbird | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Spotted Towhee | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Black-headed Grosbeak | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Totals | 110 | 11 | 19 | 15 | 14 | 17 | 20 | 14 |
Looking for Volunteers for 2019 Season
Hi everyone!
August is here and Vaseux Lake Bird Observatory (VLBO) is once again ready for fall migration monitoring to begin! To refresh your memories, we will be banding every morning from August 1st to October 15th, starting half an hour before sunrise and ending six hours after that. I’ll be the Bander-in-Charge again this year and the Assistant Bander will be Anna Skurikhina, who graduated from TRU last year and has various wildlife experience in the Okanagan. She is very keen and will add much enthusiasm to the station!
We are using SignUp too coordinate volunteer shifts again so click HERE to sign up! For those of you who are new to the station, please read on to learn more about the station activities, location and directions and how to sign up for shifts!
Location:
VLBO is located approximately 4km south of the town of Okanagan Falls, on the west side of Highway 97. Look for a small pull-off with a fence and several signs, and a wide path that leads down the slope into the trees. There is room for several vehicles to park here. If you come to the “Vaseux Wildlife Centre”, you’ve gone too far. We are almost exactly 1 km north of there. If you are using Google to navigate, searching “Vaseux Lake Bird Observatory will take you to the correct location.
Volunteers:
Please use our SignUp site if you want to volunteer in the banding lab or conduct the morning census, or even helping to get the station set-up. No registration is required. If you cannot navigate the online sign-up, then email us and let us help with that process: vlbovolunteer@gmail.com. See at the bottom of this email for step-by-step instructions. There are multiple spots for banding assistants and one spot for census each day. Click on the spots to read a more detailed description about each and see what you should arrive. Each volunteer banding session is approximately 6 hours but may end earlier depending on how busy the station is.
If you are signed up for a Spot but can no longer make it, please cancel your SignUp shift. If it’s last minute, please let us know by email at vlbovolunteer@gmail.com or message us on Facebook.
Banding protocols:
If you are new to bird banding, you’re in for an exciting experience! There several different tasks which volunteers can help with including scribing (recording data), extracting birds from mist nets, banding, and census. Apart from scribing, these tasks require skill and training which we are happy to provide. We just ask that you remain patient and recognize that you cannot learn these skills in a day or two.
A few rules of etiquette to note around the station are:
- Please do not touch any birds in the nets unless you are extracting and given authorization to do so by the BiC.
- During banding, keep unnecessary conversation to a minimum and speak in quiet voices. Try not to make any loud noises as this can add stress to the birds.
- No pets at the station.
- Bears frequent the area so do not leave any food unattended outdoors.
Census: Each day, as part of our regular migration monitoring, we conduct a formal census survey which involves walking a prescribed route starting an hour after sunrise, and takes about 80 mins. This is probably one of the tasks we need the most help with because it can be challenging for the banders to do census when banding is busy. For those interested, a successful census taker should be familiar with at least 75% of the species normally encountered at the station by sight and sound. If you are interested but unsure of your skill level, get in touch with me and we can figure it out.
A list of birds found at VLBO and the frequencies at which they occur can be found here: https://ebird.org/canada/barchart?byr=1900&eyr=2011&bmo=1&emo=12&r=L285843
Also, new prospective banders should take a look at the North American Bird Bander’s Study Guide: http://www.nabanding.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/STUDYGUIDE1.pdf
Check out our website for more information about the station, blog posts from past seasons and our protocol. I’ve also attached last year’s Banding Report, if you’re interested in seeing what a typical season of banding at VLBO looks like: https://vlbo.wordpress.com/
Visitors:
If you just want to do a station visit and are not ready for an official volunteer role, we encourage you to email us in advance at vlbovolunteer@gmail.com to let us know you are planning to be at the station. You can also message us through our Facebook page @vaseuxlakebirds. Some days we have group bookings and we would like to ensure that you are picking a day when you will have an enjoyable visit and get the experience you would like.
Follow us!
Just a reminder that we have a number of ways for you to stay connected: Facebook @vaseuxlakebirds, Twitter @vaseuxlakebirds, and again we have the official link for signing up for volunteering at SignUp with tasks starting as soon as July 25th, (https://signup.com/go/HVsVTWS) or email (vlbovolunteer@gmail.com).
If you no longer want to be on our email list
Your name is on this list because you have either volunteered in the past, or indicated that you wanted to be kept up to date for the next banding season at VLBO would like to email you each year as the banding season approaches. This email is to see if you would like to be on our information mail outs for the coming year. Please let me know if you would like to be removed from our list. Apologies if you are included here in error. Our board are a group of busy volunteers and will do our best to keep this list up to date as per your requests.
Let me know if you have any questions.
Hope to see you out there!
Matthias Bieber
Bander-in-Charge
_____________________________________________
More information on how to use SignUp.
We’re using SignUp.com to organize our upcoming SignUps.
Here’s how it works in 3 easy steps:
1) Click this link to see our SignUp on SignUp.com: http://signup.com/go/gJLPxnj
2) Review the options listed and choose the spot(s) you like.
3) Sign up! It’s Easy – you will NOT need to register an account or keep a password on SignUp.com.
Note: SignUp.com does not share your email address with anyone. If you prefer not to use your email address, please contact me and we can sign you up manually vlbovolunteer@gmail.com.
