Week 1, 2020: Birds, bugs and heat!
The first week of VLBO’s 2020 fall migration season has flown by and what a week it was! Opening day was a flurry of mosquitoes, summer heat and of course, birds! We banded 135 birds and recaptured 15 which is the highest total ever! For the week we banded 476 birds of 35 species and recaptured 85 birds of 15 species. This is the second highest total for Week 1 (after last week’s record-breaking season) and is one of VLBO’s busiest week’s ever.
Things are a bit different at VLBO this season due to covid-19. We are banding outside under a mesh tent instead of our mobile banding lab. Also the station is closed to visitors and is operating with limited volunteer capacity. Due to high water levels this year, we couldn’t open 4 of our usual nets this year (nets 10, 15, 17 and 20). Had all 14 nets been open we might have broken last year’s opening week record; indeed our capture rate per net hour is 1.13 compared to 0.90 in 2019. Atrocious mosquitoes, (much worse than recent years) and a heat wave added additional challenges during the first week.
The biggest highlight of the week came on Day 3 when a Rose-breasted Grosbeak found its way into our nets (a hatch year male)! This was only the 2nd record ever for VLBO (the 1st was in 2015)! This rarity in south BC is similar in appearance to a young male Black-headed Grosbeak but with rosy underwing coverts. Other highlights include a second-year Cooper’s Hawk, 3 Bewick’s Wren, 3 Yellow-breasted Chat, 2 Black-chinned Hummingbird and 2 Bullock’s Oriole.
The top species of the week by far was Yellow Warbler (109), a new high, Cedar Waxwing (52), Gray Catbird (50), and American Goldfinch (43). Warblers in general were moving through in high numbers with Nashville (14), Common Yellowthroat (41), MacGillivray’s (5), and Orange-crowned (12) also being above average.
2020 Season during COVID-19
Hi everyone,
Our fall migration season will be starting on August 1st and continuing until October 15th as usual. However, our operations will work a bit differently this year due to COVID-19. We still need the help of our regular volunteers to keep things running smoothly, but the number of volunteers will be limited and our interactions will be modified.
Unfortunately we are also unable to accept visitors to the station at this time. With the recent increase in cases in various part of BC and other parts of Canada, having visitors presents a risk to station staff and volunteers. We don’t have the capacity to manage crowd control measures in addition to our regular banding operations. The situation will be monitored and updated as appropriate and information regarding visitor access will be posted on VLBO’s social media.
Being affiliated with the Canadian Wildlife Service requires us to follow relatively stringent protocols to ensure the safety of our staff, volunteers and birds. Due to the persistence of virus in the population, and particularly with recent local flare ups in the Okanagan, VLBO has developed a COVID-19 Exposure Control Plan for 2020 Operations with guidelines and modified protocols to guide staff, volunteers, and any organized groups that may arrive for work or activities at the Observatory. Unfortunately we will be unable to train any new volunteers to band or extract this season due to the need for close interactions with this process. This means we’ll have to rely even more heavily on our regular volunteers who are already experienced at extracting. Furthermore, having enough census volunteers will be critical as this will free up the banders to focus on banding operations. So if you have a few spare mornings in the next few months and are looking for a good birding opportunity, please take a census shift or two! In past season’s we’ve had a few volunteers commit to a weekly census shift which is extremely helpful for us banding staff.
Anyone who wishes to volunteer must review the Exposure Control Plan and abide by its contents. Check out the volunteer page for more details. We’ll also be without the help of our banding lab this season; instead we will band at tables under a mesh tent. So plan accordingly for that – bring extra water, keep your food appropriately contained, and pack out any garbage. We’ll have a bear proof container to store food on site.
I’ve set up our volunteers SignUp for the 2020 season so please click here or go to the Volunteer page to sign up for shifts.
Week 11, 2019: An Exciting Ending
Our 2019 fall migration season has come to a conclusion this week. While being the slowest week of the season, it was a relatively productive one for this time of year with 93 birds banded of 16 species. It was the second busiest week 11 in the station’s history with an average of 15.5 birds banded per day compared to the 19-year average of 10.5. Our slowest day came on Monday with only 4 birds banded but the final day was surprisingly busy and diverse. Temperatures were more mild than the previous week but we still found frost on the nets on several mornings. We also recaptured 55 birds of 9 species this week.
Week 11 was full of surprises with three new species banded, especially after not catching any new species last week. The first, Swamp Sparrow, was expected as we typically catch a few of these uncommon migrants late in the season. We also banded a Purple Finch which – a big surprise as this species rarely ventures into the South Okanagan, and as such it was the first ever record for VLBO! The final new species was a Northern Shrike, only the 2nd record for VLBO! We even recaptured this same individual on the final day. Other highlights were a 3rd Brown Creeper, VLBO’s 10th record, and our 5th Sharp-shinned Hawk of the season.
Ruby-crowned Kinglet continued their streak with the top spot this week (30 banded), followed by Song Sparrow (22), and then distantly following was Lincoln’s Sparrow (8), and Marsh Wren (8). Other winter residents like ‘Oregon’ Dark-eyed Junco and Black-capped Chickadee (as recaps) were also prominent. Interestingly we banded 5 Common Yellowthroats which is quite high for mid-October as the average for week 11 is only 0.6. We also banded 2 more ‘Red-shafted’ Flickers, finishing the season with 9 which is a new station high.
Thanks to the influx of birds at the beginning of the month, this October was the busiest ever with 425 birds banded, which is well over twice the average of 188. We concluded the 2019 season with 3672 birds of 70 species banded and 965 recaptures of 36 species. All of these stats are new records for VLBO, making this by far the most productive season we’ve ever had!
Data entry and number crunching is now underway so keep an eye out for our final report in the coming weeks! Thanks again to everyone who volunteered their time and experience and to all the visitors who donated funds to support our station!
Below are the banding totals:
| Week 11 | Date | ||||||
| Species | Totals | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 |
| Ruby-crowned Kinglet | 30 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 1 | 2 |
| Song Sparrow | 22 | 3 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 3 | |
| Lincoln’s Sparrow | 8 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Marsh Wren | 8 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | |
| ‘Oregon’ Junco | 7 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | ||
| Common Yellowthroat | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||
| ‘Red-shafted’ Flicker | 2 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Swamp Sparrow | 2 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| ‘Audubon’s’ Warbler | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Black-capped Chickadee | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Brown Creeper | 1 | 1 | |||||
| ‘Myrtle’ Warbler | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Northern Shrike | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Purple Finch | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Spotted Towhee | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Wilson’s Warbler | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Total | 93 | 15 | 26 | 19 | 16 | 4 | 13 |
| Species | 16 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 8 |
The recapture totals are as follows:
| Week 11 | Date | ||||||
| Species | Totals | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 |
| Song Sparrow | 23 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 2 |
| Black-capped Chickadee | 13 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 1 | |
| Ruby-crowned Kinglet | 9 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | |
| Lincoln’s Sparrow | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Downy Woodpecker | 2 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Oregon Junco | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Orange-crowned Warbler | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Northern Shrike | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Bewick’s Wren | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Total | 55 | 8 | 8 | 11 | 15 | 6 | 6 |
| Species | 9 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 7 |
Our final banding totals for the fall of 2019.
Week 10, 2019: Kinglets on the Move
Week 10 of our migration monitoring season was another record week as far as banding goes with 180 birds banded of 17 species and 62 recaptures of 8 species. The banding total far surpasses the previous record for week 10 (set in 2017) and is twice the station average. The week started in similar vein to the previous week with very high migrant activity around the station. Unfortunately the high numbers were so unexpected for this time of year that we ran out of bands for the smaller birds, which comprise the vast majority of what we are catching right now. New bands did not arrive in time which meant that we did not open the nets during the first two days (Thursday and Friday) of the week. Saturday continued right where Wednesday left off and presumably the two days in between would have produced similar numbers. The activity observed during census on those days certainly supports this speculation. As such, the week total should be much higher still. The season’s first frost on Saturday night brought a sudden halt to the deluge that had been present for the past week. But even though activity slowed down after Saturday, the numbers for the remainder of the week (up until Wednesday) are still well above average for October. The mean number of birds banded per day was 36 while the station average for week 10 is only 13.
Clear and sunny but cool weather predominated this week.
No new species were banded this week but several interesting birds still produced highlights including our first Flicker Intergrade (a mixture of the ‘Red-shafted’ and ‘Yellow shafted’ subspecies) of the season, a very late MacGillivray’s Warbler, and our 4th Sharp-shinned Hawk!
Ruby-crowned Kinglets continued their surge from last week and finished far beyond any competitors for the top spot this week with 78 banded. Song Sparrow was a distant second (24), followed by Orange-crowned Warbler (20), which are finally trailing off after a very extended migration period and peak last week, and ‘Audubon’s’ Yellow-rumped Warbler (17). Song Sparrow became the latest species to set a new season record (surpassing 240 set in 2016), ending the week with 242.
As usual, the top species were far above normal numbers this week, especially Ruby-crowned Kinglet which average about 9 for this week. Common Yellowthroat, Wilson’s Warbler, White-crowned Sparrow, and Myrtle Warbler were also above average for this late in the season, while Marsh Wren and Lincoln’s Sparrow were slightly below average, although these numbers would very likely have been higher had we not missed the first two days of the week.
Song Sparrow #241 for the season broke the previous record for this species.
While our school programs ended last week, we did host a Vertebrate Zoology class from Capilano University in North Vancouver on Saturday. The students were lucky to be present for such an atypically busy day for early October, making their visit a big success!
Students from Capilano University at the station.
We also conducted three nights of Saw-whet Owl banding this week, but were only successful on one of them, with 2 hatch-year owls banded the night of October 9th.
Northern Saw-whet Owl
Below are the banding totals:
| Week 10 | Date | |||||||
| SPECIES | Totals | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| Ruby-crowned Kinglet | 78 | 34 | 9 | 24 | 9 | 2 | ||
| Song Sparrow | 24 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 4 | ||
| Orange-crowned Warbler | 20 | 12 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | ||
| ‘Audubon’s’ Warbler | 17 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 3 | |||
| ‘Oregon’ Junco | 7 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | |||
| White-crowned Sparrow | 5 | 4 | 1 | |||||
| Lincoln’s Sparrow | 5 | 3 | 2 | |||||
| Common Yellowthroat | 4 | 4 | ||||||
| ‘Myrtle’ Warbler | 4 | 3 | 1 | |||||
| Black-capped Chickadee | 3 | 3 | ||||||
| Marsh Wren | 2 | 2 | ||||||
| ‘Unidentified’ Yellow-rumped Warbler | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Wilson’s Warbler | 2 | 2 | ||||||
| American Goldfinch | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| American Robin | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Downy Woodpecker | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Flicker ‘Intergrade’ | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| MacGillivray’s Warbler | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| ‘Red-shafted’ Flicker | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Total | 180 | 0 | 0 | 84 | 25 | 36 | 26 | 9 |
| Species | 17 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 4 |
The recapture totals are as follows:
| Week 10 | Date | |||||||
| SPECIES | Totals | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| Song Sparrow | 16 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 5 | ||
| Ruby-crowned Kinglet | 15 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 5 | ||
| Black-capped Chickadee | 10 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | |||
| Orange-crowned Warbler | 7 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Common Yellowthroat | 6 | 6 | ||||||
| Lincoln’s Sparrow | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Oregon Junco | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Downy Woodpecker | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Total | 62 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 10 | 7 | 10 | 16 |
| Species | 8 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 |
Our season banding totals after Week 10.
Week 9, 2019: A Sudden Surge
Week 9 of our migration monitoring season brought a big surprise as a massive late surge of migrants came through the station during a time when migration is typically winding down. As it turns out, the peak of migration during the 2019 season was actually this week, and not during week 7 and 8 as expected. We banded 548 birds of 24 species which is over four times the average for week 9 and almost three times the previous high for the week. It’s also the second highest of the season, not far behind our record opening week. The week started with two relatively average days before activity picked up on the weekend and peaked with our second and fourth busiest days of the season on Sunday (125 banded) and Monday (133 banded). We actually had four consecutive days in a row with over 100 total captures which is a rare thing for VLBO. We also recaptured 129 birds of 18 species which is the highest recap week total of the season. The weather this week was uncharacteristically cold, gloomy and wet, which probably played a big role in the number of birds stopping at the station. During more typically clear and mild weather in other years, many of these birds are presumably passing overhead without stopping. The sudden onset of cold and snow in the surrounding hills likely triggered many birds to move out.
Gloomy dynamic skies graces the station this week
Snow overnight at higher elevations was alarming for birds and people alike!
While numbers were high, species diversity was quite low compared to earlier in the season, though we still tied the record for species banded during week 9 with 24. However, the biggest push came from Audubon’s Warbler (112), Ruby-crowned Kinglet (92), Orange-crowned Warbler (87) and Common Yellowthroat (77). Ruby-crowned Kinglet should actually hold the top spot by far, but the big numbers this week were so unexpected that we unfortunately ran out of the band size that fits this species after banding 50 on Monday. We had to release an additional 91 Ruby-crowned Kinglets unbanded which means their total for the week should be around 180, considering their low recapture rate. This is completely unprecedented as the VLBO season average for this species is only 40! Needless to say, we passed the season record for Ruby-crowned Kinglets on Thursday, then doubled it by Monday and would have tripled it by Wednesday. This also means the banding total for the week should be higher still and would have been the highest of the season if we were able to band all the kinglets netted.
Interestingly, Common Yellowthroat were dwindling at the end of last week when suddenly numbers increased again and culminated with a whopping 34 banded on Wednesday!
Aside from the sheer number of birds, several new species for the season brought highlight moments. The biggest of these was when an American Kestrel got caught in net 4 on Monday! This is a first for VLBO and a big surprise as we don’t even see many kestrels at the station. Other new species for the season were White-throated Sparrow, and Pine Siskin, while a Slate-colored Junco, our 2nd Cassin’s Vireo, 2nd and 3rd Townsend’s Warbler, and 3rd Sharp-shinned Hawk were also highlights.
In addition to the top four species, the migrant waves also brought in good numbers of Marsh Wrens, Song Sparrows, Lincoln’s Sparrows, ‘Myrtle’ Warblers, Wilson’s Warblers, and even a few more Dusky Flycatchers which is quite late in the season.
We also surpassed the milestone of 3000 birds banded this week, concluding with an even 3400. After the first two days of October we’ve already almost surpassed last year’s dismal October total. Who knows how the rest of the month will pan out?
Below are the banding totals:
| Week 8 | Date | |||||||
| Species | Total | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 1 | 2 |
| ‘Audubon’s’ Warbler | 112 | 21 | 5 | 24 | 33 | 18 | 5 | 6 |
| Ruby-crowned Kinglet | 92 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 22 | 50 | ||
| Orange-crowned Warbler | 87 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 38 | 19 | 9 | 5 |
| Common Yellowthroat | 77 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 14 | 34 | 13 |
| Lincoln’s Sparrow | 45 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 19 | 11 |
| Song Sparrow | 32 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 10 | 3 | |
| Marsh Wren | 23 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 13 | 4 | |
| ‘Myrtle’ Warbler | 21 | 2 | 6 | 9 | 4 | |||
| Unidentified Yellow-rumped Warbler | 12 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 1 | ||
| Oregon Junco | 10 | 4 | 4 | 2 | ||||
| Wilson’s Warbler | 9 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Spotted Towhee | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | ||||
| Dusky Flycatcher | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||||
| American Goldfinch | 2 | 2 | ||||||
| White-crowned Sparrow | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Pine Siskin | 2 | 2 | ||||||
| Townsend’s Warbler | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| White-throated Sparrow | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| American Kestrel | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| American Robin | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Black-capped Chickadee | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Cassin’s Vireo | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Gray Catbird | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Red-shafted Flicker | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Savannah Sparrow | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Slate-coloured Junco | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Total | 548 | 42 | 33 | 62 | 125 | 133 | 99 | 54 |
| Species | 24 | 7 | 11 | 10 | 12 | 15 | 10 | 12 |
The recapture totals are as follows:
| Week 8 | Date | |||||||
| SPECIES | Totals | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 1 | 2 |
| Orange-crowned Warbler | 38 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 6 |
| Song Sparrow | 18 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 2 |
| Common Yellowthroat | 17 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 7 | |
| Ruby-crowned Kinglet | 14 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| Lincoln’s Sparrow | 9 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| ‘Audubon’s’ Warbler | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | |||
| Wilson’s Warbler | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Black-capped Chickadee | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Downy Woodpecker | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| American Goldfinch | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| White-crowned Sparrow | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Marsh Wren | 2 | 2 | ||||||
| Spotted Towhee | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Unidentified Yellow-rumped Warbler | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| American Robin | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Fox Sparrow | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Gray Catbird | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| ‘Myrtle’ Warbler | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Oregon Junco | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Red-shafted Flicker | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Total | 129 | 6 | 10 | 9 | 24 | 28 | 22 | 30 |
| Species | 18 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 12 | 7 | 11 |
Our season totals at the end of Week 9. Red stars indicate record numbers.
Week 8, 2019: A Week of Milestones
Peak migration continued through the past week (Sept 19-25) as we banded 440 birds of 29 species, which is the second highest total for week 8 and the highest species total ever! This equates to about 62 new birds per day which is more than twice the station average for this time of year. The week started with our second biggest day of the year with 129 new birds and 21 birds recaptured. Big numbers continued the next day with 94 birds and then gradually declined from there to more average levels by the end of the week. Mostly rainy weather made for challenging banding conditions as we had to close our nets on several occasions, but it likely also contributed to the high numbers. We hit a huge milestone on Tuesday as we passed the record for total birds banded in a season, set in 2006! We are now entering uncharted territory for VLBO as we approach 3000 birds banded, finishing the week with 2852. Our species total now sits at 64 which is also nearing the record of 66.
Highlights this week were many and among them six new species for the season: Townsend’s Warbler – only the 8th ever banded at VLBO, Cooper’s Hawk (12th record), Cassin’s Vireo, Fox Sparrow, Brown Creeper (8th and 9th records), and Pacific Wren! Other highlights were our third Belted Kingfisher, and two Least Flycatchers and a Western Wood-pewee, both species rather late for week 8.
Orange-crowned Warbler is once again the top banded species this week with 78, and we’ve now banded well over 300 for the season. Second place goes to ‘Audubon’s’ Yellow-rumped Warbler (61), followed closely by Common Yellowthroat (59) and Lincoln’s Sparrow (55). We set a new season record for Common Yellowthroat this week, surpassing the 262 banded in 2016. Even though species diversity was relatively high this week, these four species comprised over 50% of the birds caught. Generally, the number of species caught is quite low this time of year, (with an average 0f 11.5 species per day), compared to earlier in the season. In addition to the aforementioned species, Ruby-crowned Kinglet were also very abundant this week with 5 times the average number banded. A new station record was also set for Dusky Flycatcher (24 banded after this week) which were well above average, as were White-crowned Sparrow, Song Sparrow, and Wilson’s Warbler this week. The once abundant Gray Catbird and Yellow Warbler have all but fallen off, which is to be expected.
School programs continued this week as we hosted elementary school children from across the South Okanagan.
Below are the banding totals:
| Week 8 | Date | |||||||
| Species | Total | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
| Orange-crowned Warbler | 78 | 20 | 15 | 11 | 7 | 16 | 6 | 3 |
| ‘Audubon’s’ Warbler | 61 | 15 | 12 | 5 | 16 | 1 | 5 | 7 |
| Common Yellowthroat | 59 | 22 | 19 | 10 | 5 | 3 | ||
| Lincoln’s Sparrow | 55 | 18 | 11 | 10 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 2 |
| Ruby-crowned Kinglet | 49 | 16 | 7 | 2 | 9 | 2 | 8 | 5 |
| ‘Gambel’s’ White-crowned Sparrow | 37 | 6 | 10 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 3 | |
| Song Sparrow | 34 | 9 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| Wilson’s Warbler | 13 | 9 | 2 | 2 | ||||
| Marsh Wren | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | ||||
| Dusky Flycatcher | 6 | 5 | 1 | |||||
| ‘Myrtle’ Warbler | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | |||
| Unidentified Yellow-rumped Warbler | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||
| American Goldfinch | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | ||||
| Black-capped Chickadee | 2 | 2 | ||||||
| Brown Creeper | 2 | 2 | ||||||
| House Finch | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Least Flycatcher | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Oregon Junco | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Red-shafted Flicker | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Savannah Sparrow | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Yellow Warbler | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| American Robin | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Belted Kingfisher | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Cassin’s Vireo | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Cooper’s Hawk | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Fox Sparrow | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| MacGillivray’s Warbler | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Pacific Wren | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Spotted Towhee | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Townsend’s Warbler | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Western Wood-pewee | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Total | 440 | 129 | 94 | 63 | 52 | 40 | 37 | 25 |
| Species | 29 | 15 | 13 | 14 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 8 |
The recapture totals are as follows:
| Week 8 | Date | |||||||
| SPECIES | Totals | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
| Common Yellowthroat | 25 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 1 |
| Orange-crowned Warbler | 16 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Lincoln’s Sparrow | 15 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| Song Sparrow | 15 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | |
| Black-capped Chickadee | 11 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 2 | ||
| Ruby-crowned Kinglet | 10 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | |
| Gambel’s White-crowned Sparrow | 8 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | |||
| Wilson’s Warbler | 8 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Gray Catbird | 2 | 2 | ||||||
| American Goldfinch | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Hammond’s Flycatcher | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Marsh Wren | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Yellow-breasted Chat | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Total | 114 | 21 | 19 | 15 | 21 | 17 | 13 | 8 |
| Species | 14 | 7 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 5 |
Week 7; 2019: Calm and then the storm
Week 7 (Sept 12-18) of the 2019 migration monitoring season was a tale of two parts: an early-week lull and a late week surge, separated by a complete wash out. The week started well with 51 birds banded on Thursday but then declined to 10 new birds on Saturday which was very surprising. Sunday was completely rained out but that set up the perfect conditions for a very big day on Monday, with 155 birds banded – the biggest day of the season and second biggest in the station’s history! For the week we banded a total of 385 birds of 24 species and recaptured 71 of 13 species. The banding total is the second highest ever for week 7, and almost twice the 18-year average. Mid-September is usually the peak of migration for us as September 16 and 17 are the days with the highest average number of
birds banded of the season, aside from August 1. Rainy periods throughout the second half of the week brought in waves and waves of migrants. Wednesday could very well have been another 100+ bird day if we were able to open for the full 6 hours – we banded 65 birds with just over 30 net hours, only about 1/3 of our standard total!
Aside from the sheer number of birds passing through, highlights were another Tennessee Warbler (the 4th of the season) our record 11th Yellow-breasted Chat, 2 Hammond’s Flycatchers, a new species for the season, and 3 MacGillivray’s Warblers, which we hadn’t banded since mid-August.
Variation in the plumage of Orange-crowned Warblers.
Lincoln’s Sparrow (84) and Orange-crowned Warbler (81) were neck in neck for the most banded species of the week, followed by Wilson’s Warbler (53) and White-crowned Sparrow (35). Ruby-crowned Kinglet, White-crowed Sparrow and Wilson’s Warblers all saw big increases from single digit numbers last week, especially Wilson’s Warbler which jumped from 1 banded last week to 53 this week! In fact, Wilson’s Warbler numbers were only about average for the season and below average week, but this week we passed the season record of 76 set last year! The only species that was noticeably missing or below average was Pine Siskin, which are typically banded in small numbers during this week. Most species, particularly the top four, as well as Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Yellow Warbler and Dusky Flycatcher were way above average.
OSCA’s school programs also started up this week which made for a continuous flurry of activity at the station! These will continue during week days through the following week as well.
Below are the banding totals:
| Week 7 | Day | |||||||
| Species | Total | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
| Lincoln’s Sparrow | 84 | 11 | 2 | 3 | 46 | 15 | 7 | |
| Orange-crowned Warbler | 81 | 11 | 5 | 1 | 35 | 14 | 15 | |
| Wilson’s Warbler | 53 | 3 | 30 | 9 | 11 | |||
| ‘Gambel’s’ White-crowned Sparrow | 35 | 6 | 1 | 15 | 11 | 2 | ||
| Common Yellowthroat | 32 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 13 | 4 | 3 | |
| Ruby-crowned Kinglet | 19 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 7 | ||
| Song Sparrow | 17 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 2 | ||
| ‘Audubon’s’ Warbler | 13 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 4 | |||
| Yellow Warbler | 11 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 1 | |||
| Gray Catbird | 6 | 1 | 4 | 1 | ||||
| Dusky Flycatcher | 5 | 1 | 4 | |||||
| Marsh Wren | 4 | 1 | 3 | |||||
| MacGillivray’s Warbler | 3 | 1 | 2 | |||||
| Spotted Towhee | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Warbling Vireo | 3 | 2 | 1 | |||||
| Hammond’s Flycatcher | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| ‘Myrtle’ Warbler | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Savannah Sparrow | 2 | 2 | ||||||
| Swainson’s Thrush | 2 | 2 | ||||||
| Unidentified Yellow-rumped Warbler | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Black-capped Chickadee | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Downy Woodpecker | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| House Finch | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Tennessee Warbler | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Willow Flycatcher | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Yellow-breasted Chat | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Total | 385 | 51 | 29 | 10 | 0 | 155 | 75 | 65 |
| Species | 24 | 9 | 10 | 6 | 0 | 13 | 14 | 13 |
The recapture totals are as follows:
| Week 7 | Day | |||||||
| SPECIES | Totals | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
| Orange-crowned Warbler | 21 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 2 | |
| Common Yellowthroat | 17 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 1 | |
| Song Sparrow | 10 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Black-capped Chickadee | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Lincoln’s Sparrow | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | ||||
| Gray Catbird | 3 | 1 | 2 | |||||
| Tennessee Warbler | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Wilson’s Warbler | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Yellow-breasted Chat | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| American Goldfinch | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Gambel’s White-crowned Sparrow | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Ruby-crowned Kinglet | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Yellow Warbler | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Total | 71 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 0 | 17 | 9 | 8 |
| Species | 13 | 5 | 8 | 7 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 5 |
Our season totals at the end of week 7.
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 |
