2021, Week 3: Aug 15 – 21
2021, Week 3: Aug 15 – 21
Week 3 of fall banding at VLBO was just slightly more productive than last week with 133 birds banded of 22 species and 37 birds recaptured of 11 species. Our season total stands at 473 birds of 33 species after this week. These results continue this year’s trend of below average numbers of birds banded, as the average for Week 3 is 172.5 birds.
However, we did see some encouraging signs of increased activity on Saturday with 35 birds banded, half of them being Yellow Warblers! This flurry of activity was no doubt attributed to the cool and blustery fall-like weather over the weekend, which even brought some overnight showers. This type of weather often pushes migrating birds down out of the skies, a phenomenon known as ‘fallout’. Week 3 is typically the peak for Yellow Warbler migration through the Okanagan with 20 banded on average at VLBO. The timing this year is similar to past years, and so far this is one of the few of our abundant species that is seeing healthy numbers this year.
The only new arrival this week was Lincoln’s Sparrow which typically first show up this week. Other highlights were 2 Rufous and 1 Black-chinned Hummingbirds, and an adult male California Quail which we released unbanded.
Lincoln’s Sparrow 
Juvenile Black-chinned Hummingbird 
California Quail
The top 3 banded species remain unchanged from last week with Yellow Warbler continuing as the most abundant species with 26 banded, followed by Gray Catbird with 22, Willow Flycatcher with 15. Song Sparrow and Common Yellowthroat tied for fourth with 11. Of these, only Yellow Warbler is above average while the other top species are slightly below average. Western Tanagers continued their strong showing this season with 9 banded which is 4 times the mean for Week 3, and MacGillivray’s Warbler, Western Wood-Pewee and Swainson’s Thrush were also above average. On the other hand, Cedar Waxwing and American Goldfinch were banded in very low numbers compared to their Week 3 means.
The next two weeks are usually the slowest of the season before migration begins in earnest, so it will be interesting to see how they shape up this year. Perhaps we will see some late fledglings or an early push of migrants?
| Species | Banded |
| Yellow Warbler | 26 |
| Gray Catbird | 22 |
| Willow Flycatcher | 15 |
| Common Yellowthroat | 11 |
| Song Sparrow | 11 |
| Western Tanager | 9 |
| Orange-crowned Warbler | 6 |
| Western Wood-Pewee | 4 |
| Swainson’s Thrush | 4 |
| Lincoln’s Sparrow | 3 |
| Veery | 3 |
| MacGillivray’s Warbler | 3 |
| Northern Waterthrush | 2 |
| Eastern Kingbird | 2 |
| Wilson’s Warbler | 2 |
| Cedar Waxwing | 2 |
| Marsh Wren | 2 |
| Rufous Hummingbird | 2 |
| Black-chinned Hummingbird | 1 |
| Bewick’s Wren | 1 |
| Black-capped Chickadee | 1 |
| American Goldfinch | 1 |
| Total | 133 |
2021, Week 2: Aug 8 – 14
Week two of our fall migration monitoring program was even less productive than the first with only 129 birds banded; but diversity was high with 26 species. Similar to last week, this total is far below the average of 188 birds for Week 2. We also recaptured 36 birds of 13 species. Counter to our hopes and expectations, the rain we received over the weekend did not bring more birds, even though it did clear up the smoke for a few days. After a very wet session on Sunday, we had mostly clear skies from Monday to Wednesday before the smoke began to move back in on Thursday. Day time temperatures were again very hot throughout the week.
Despite the overall low numbers, we did see some encouraging signs that migration is beginning. We saw movement through the station for early migrants like Northern Waterthrush, Lazuli Bunting, MacGillivray’s Warbler, and Veery. As well, Wilson’s Warblers finally showed up with three banded on Saturday, the busiest day of the season during which we banded six species of warblers. Other highlights were a Virginia Rail, one Black-chinned, two Rufous Hummingbirds, and two more Yellow-breasted Chats. Other new species for the station this week were Marsh Wren, Veery, Warbling Vireo, and Audubon’s Warbler which pushes the season total to 32 species. The real highlight of the week came on Friday when a juvenile Black-crowned Nigh Heron flushed from the pond during census! This species has not been observed at VLBO since 2007.
Lazuli Bunting 
Virginia Rail 
Yellow-breasted Chat 
Wilson’s Warbler 
Orange-crowned Warbler 
Yellow-rumped Warbler 
Northern Waterthrush
The most frequently banded species of the week were Yellow Warbler (24), Gray Catbird (20), Willow Flycatcher (17), and Northern Waterthrush (10). While most of the common species were banded in unusually low usual numbers, Northern Waterthrush, Western Tanager, and MacGillivray’s Warbler were banded in above average numbers.
| Species | Count |
| Yellow Warbler | 24 |
| Gray Catbird | 20 |
| Willow Flycatcher | 17 |
| Northern Waterthrush | 10 |
| American Goldfinch | 7 |
| Western Wood-Pewee | 6 |
| Western Tanager | 5 |
| MacGillivray’s Warbler | 5 |
| Veery | 4 |
| Common Yellowthroat | 4 |
| Wilson’s Warbler | 3 |
| Yellow-breasted Chat | 2 |
| Song Sparrow | 2 |
| Orange-crowned Warbler | 2 |
| Lazuli Bunting | 2 |
| Cedar Waxwing | 2 |
| Black-capped Chickadee | 2 |
| Warbling Vireo | 1 |
| Virginia Rail | 1 |
| Spotted Towhee | 1 |
| Nashville Warbler | 1 |
| Marsh Wren | 1 |
| Eastern Kingbird | 1 |
| Black-headed Grosbeak | 1 |
| Bewick’s Wren | 1 |
| Audubon’s Warbler | 1 |
| Rufous Hummingbird | 2 |
| Black-chinned Hummingbird | 1 |
| Total | 126 |
2021, Week 1: Aug 1 – 7
The first week of our fall migration monitoring program has flown by and it has been a very unusual start! We banded just 208 birds of 23 species and recaptured 45 birds of 10 species which is the lowest weekly total since 2012. Contrary to last year when we had a record high opening day, this season was the slowest opening day since 2010. And the following days did not show much improvement, though the daily total did creep up a little every day. We had to contend with dense smoke from nearby wildfires for the first six days which may have been a factor contributing to the low levels of activity. Otherwise temperatures were mild in the mornings and soared into the 30s during the day for most of the week, until rain brought some relief Saturday night. The busiest days of the week came on Friday with 38 new birds and 4 recaps and Saturday with 21 new and 16 recaps.
Western Tanager 
Yellow Warbler 
MacGillivray’s Warbler
Highlights of the week include two Yellow-breasted Chats, five Western Tanagers, two MacGillivray’s Warblers and one Northern Waterthrush. Although these species are all expected for this time of year, we don’t catch them in any great numbers. We also banded six Bewick’s Wren, which is a Week 1 record for a species that was very uncommon at the station not many years ago. No rarities have found their way into our nets quite yet.
Anna and Matthias each with a Black-headed Grosbeak 
Juvenile male Black-headed Grosbeak
The most frequently banded species of the week were Yellow Warbler (42), Willow Flycatcher (36), Gray Catbird (26) and American Goldfinch (18). However, these are all below average in number for Week 1 of the season.
| Species | Count |
| Yellow Warbler | 42 |
| Willow Flycatcher | 36 |
| Gray Catbird | 26 |
| American Goldfinch | 18 |
| Song Sparrow | 17 |
| Cedar Waxwing | 11 |
| Common Yellowthroat | 9 |
| Bewick’s Wren | 6 |
| Black-capped Chickadee | 6 |
| Western Tanager | 5 |
| Lazuli Bunting | 5 |
| Spotted Towhee | 4 |
| Black-headed Grosbeak | 4 |
| Orange-crowned Warbler | 3 |
| Eastern Kingbird | 3 |
| Yellow-breasted Chat | 2 |
| Western Wood-pewee | 2 |
| MacGillivray’s Warbler | 2 |
| Downy Woodpecker | 2 |
| Swainson’s Thrush | 1 |
| Northern Waterthrush | 1 |
| Nashville Warbler | 1 |
| House Finch | 1 |
| Brown-headed Cowbird | 1 |
| Total | 208 |
2021 Season is a Go!
Hi prospective volunteers!
August has arrived which means Vaseux Lake Bird Observatory (VLBO) is once again set up to monitor fall migration of passerines every morning through mid-October! As the province is opening up again, we are returning to our normal pre-pandemic operations. Visitors are once again welcome at the station and we will offer hands-on training for volunteers. While we currently have no covid-related restrictions in place, we are continuing to monitor the local case loads and may re-instate restrictions if the situation changes. Masks are not required but please continue to practice social distancing etiquette and regular hand hygiene when you visit.
We open our nets half an hour before sunrise and close six hours after that, which works out to approximately 5:00 am to 11:00 am. I’ll be the Bander-in-Charge again this year and Anna Skurikhina is returning as assistant bander for the third year in a row.
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 post for step-by-step instructions. You can also proceed to our Volunteer page to learn more. 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. You can also proceed to our Volunteer page to learn more.
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. Have a look at 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/annual-reports.
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, or email (vlbovolunteer@gmail.com).
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.
2020 Season Summary
Our 20th season of fall migration monitoring was unpredictable and atypical in many ways but it finished with numbers in line with most recent seasons. August started with a bang with our busiest opening day ever – 150 birds in total! The first half of August was similarly busy to our record-breaking season last year with 776 birds banded by August 14th, and we weren’t even able to open all of our nets due to high water levels until the third week. The second half of August was a different story, however. Slow days punctuated the rest of August and continued well into early September, which is usually a quiet period, but this year even more so than average. September was an unusual month as we didn’t see a typical peak around the middle of the month and then a drop off near the end. While the middle two weeks of September were slightly more productive than the rest, overall, daily numbers of birds banded were pretty evenly distributed with the second, third and fourth week totals being 190, 154, and 181, respectively. Figure 1 shows multiple peaks during the latter half of September compared to the overall station average value which declines after mid-September. October was highly variable this year with some very productive days and other slow days. Due to poor weather we were unable to open the nets on three days in October.
While not comparable to last year’s record season, as a whole the 2020 season finished with 2121 birds banded of 63 species. This total makes it the 4th most productive season ever after 2019, 2006, and 2018. This respectable total is largely thanks to our busy opening two weeks where we averaged 55 birds per day and 0.92 birds per net hour which is incredible! To put that into perspective, during the entirety of September we banded 754 birds, equal to 25 per day, and 0.34 per net hour. We finished the season with an average of 27.9 birds per day and 0.39 new birds per net hour (does not include recaptures). We finished the season with 494 recaptures which is a relatively lower total and the 7th highest finish.
This season was a mixed bag in terms of species totals. Some of our stalwart breeders continued on recent upward trends with productive seasons, like Cedar Waxwing, Yellow Warbler, American Goldfinch, and Marsh Wren, as did common migrants Lincoln’s Sparrow, Audubon’s Warbler, and Spotted Towhee. Some had relatively poor showings however, in particular Orange-crowned Warbler, Wilson’s Warbler, and many others had very average seasons. Yellow-breasted Chat, Cedar Waxwing, Lark Sparrow, Cooper’s Hawk set new season records, and Bewick’s Wren tied the record from 2016. American Tree Sparrow was the only new species for the station this year, and coincidentally also the last bird of the season. Additional rare captures included VLBO’s 2nd Rose-breasted Grosbeak, 3rd and 4th Lark Sparrow, 9th Mountain Chickadee, Gray Flycatcher, Golden-crowned Kinglet, two Fox Sparrow, and a Steller’s Jay recapture that was banded in 2014.
The Top 10 species this season, in order, were Lincoln’s Sparrow, Yellow Warbler, Cedar Waxwing, Common Yellowthroat, Gray Catbird, Song Sparrow, Audubon’s Warbler, Orange-crowned Warbler, Willow Flycatcher, and American Goldfinch.
Thanks to all the volunteers who helped out this year in spite of challenging times with the pandemic. You all helped to make it another successful season of fall migration monitoring!
The final species totals are as follows:
| Species | Banded | Recaptures |
| Lincoln’s Sparrow | 230 | 16 |
| Yellow Warbler | 189 | 19 |
| Cedar Waxwing | 188 | 7 |
| Common Yellowthroat | 188 | 80 |
| Gray Catbird | 183 | 54 |
| Song Sparrow | 179 | 122 |
| Audubon’s Warbler | 161 | 3 |
| Orange-crowned Warbler | 146 | 18 |
| Willow Flycatcher | 105 | 29 |
| American Goldfinch | 93 | 10 |
| Ruby-crowned Kinglet | 68 | 11 |
| Marsh Wren | 57 | 13 |
| Spotted Towhee | 26 | 3 |
| Black-capped Chickadee | 24 | 50 |
| White-crowned Sparrow | 20 | 4 |
| Western Wood-pewee | 20 | 2 |
| Pine Siskin | 19 | 2 |
| Nashville Warbler | 18 | 4 |
| Wilson’s Warbler | 13 | 1 |
| Northern Waterthrush | 12 | 1 |
| Unidentified Yellow-rumped Warbler | 12 | 2 |
| Yellow-breasted Chat | 12 | 6 |
| Oregon Junco | 11 | 2 |
| MacGillivray’s Warbler | 10 | 1 |
| Myrtle Warbler | 10 | 0 |
| Bewick’s Wren | 8 | 19 |
| Dusky Flycatcher | 8 | 0 |
| Veery | 8 | 3 |
| Warbling Vireo | 8 | 0 |
| Lazuli Bunting | 7 | 0 |
| Eastern Kingbird | 6 | 1 |
| Savannah Sparrow | 6 | 0 |
| Swainson’s Thrush | 6 | 0 |
| Black-headed Grosbeak | 5 | 0 |
| Virginia Rail | 5 | 2 |
| Western Tanager | 5 | 0 |
| Black-chinned Hummingbird | 4 | 0 |
| Red-shafted Flicker | 4 | 1 |
| Belted Kingfisher | 3 | 2 |
| Chipping Sparrow | 3 | 0 |
| Downy Woodpecker | 3 | 0 |
| House Finch | 3 | 1 |
| House Wren | 3 | 0 |
| American Robin | 2 | 0 |
| Brown-headed Cowbird | 2 | 1 |
| Bullock’s Oriole | 2 | 0 |
| Cooper’s Hawk | 2 | 0 |
| Fox Sparrow | 2 | 3 |
| Lark Sparrow | 2 | 0 |
| Least Flycatcher | 2 | 0 |
| Pacific Wren | 2 | 0 |
| Pacific-slope Flycatcher | 2 | 0 |
| Red-breasted Nuthatch | 2 | 0 |
| American Tree Sparrow | 1 | 0 |
| Calliope Hummingbird | 1 | 0 |
| Cassin’s Vireo | 1 | 0 |
| Golden-crowned Kinglet | 1 | 0 |
| Gray Flycatcher | 1 | 0 |
| Hammond’s Flycatcher | 1 | 0 |
| Mountain Chickadee | 1 | 0 |
| Northern Saw-whet Owl | 1 | 0 |
| Rose-breasted Grosbeak | 1 | 0 |
| Red-eyed Vireo | 1 | 0 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 1 | 0 |
| Swamp Sparrow | 1 | 0 |
| Steller’s Jay | 0 | 1 |
| Total | 2121 | 494 |
| Species | 63 | 33 |
2020, Week 11: A Climactic End!
Our final week (Oct 10-15th) was an eventful one because of both weather and interesting birds! We banded only 57 birds of 10 species which is below average for Week 11 which is only 6 days, and we missed two days to poor weather which made the week even shorter. Considering we could only band on 4 days this week, the daily average of 14.3 birds is actually well above the Week 11 average of 10 birds/day. In fact, our Wednesday total of 29 birds, thanks to good mid-morning activity of mixed flocks, is the highest single day total ever recorded during the final week at VLBO. High winds kept us from opening on Saturday and a combination of wind and rain again kept us closed on Tuesday. Fall truly set in this week with cold nights and much cooler daytime temperatures.
Wet weather prevented us from opening on Saturday 
Gloomy weather moved in this week
Fittingly, the most exciting birds of the week came on the last day of the season. The morning started with our 2nd Pacific Wren of the year which are always a treat to band. Soon after we noticed a Steller’s Jay fly across the marsh to the willows around net 19 and sure enough, not long after, it hit our nets and we were lucky enough to get our hands on it before it escaped. Steller’s Jays are hard to catch in our songbird mist nets due to their size and intelligence; only 4 have been banded at VLBO in the past. We were thus very surprised to see this bird was actually a recap – we assumed it would be the individual banded here last year but turns out it was actually banded in 2014! That more than likely makes this bird our oldest recap of the season.
After our captures started to peter out for the day, we found an American Tree Sparrow in our nets during closing. A relatively uncommon winter migrant that normally arrives just as we are finishing up our season means we’ve never banded this species before. That makes the final bird of the season a new species for the station! A final highlight came as we were taking down the nets and Anna spotted a bobcat on the net trail just a few metres from her! Luckily I also caught a glimpse as it scurried off through the roses. This is the first bobcat we’ve ever encountered at the station – what a nice surprise to finish off with!
Pacific Wren 
Downy Woodpecker 
American Tree Sparrow
Audubon’s Warbler once again headed the list of most banded species this week with 16, followed by Ruby-crowned Kinglet (9), Song Sparrow (8) and Oregon Junco (7). Yellow-rumped Warblers average only 2 for Week 11 and we banded 20 in total, showing that their migration is extended quite late this year. Ruby-crowned Kinglets were slightly above average while the other species in the top 4 were below average. Marsh Wren continued their strong year with 6 more this week, twice the average, while Lincoln’s Sparrow dropped off with only 2 banded this week which is well below average. Species diversity was low as we missed a few of the more likely late season species this week, including Common Yellowthroat, White-crowned Sparrow, Sharp-shinned Hawk and Swamp Sparrow.
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 
A Western Terrestrial Garter Snake neonate 
Oregon Junco
Stay tuned for a season summary coming soon!
| Week 11 Totals | |
| Species | Banded |
| ‘Audubon’s’ Warbler | 16 |
| Ruby-crowned Kinglet | 9 |
| Song Sparrow | 8 |
| ‘Oregon’ Junco | 7 |
| Marsh Wren | 6 |
| Unidentified Yellow-rumped Warbler | 3 |
| Black-capped Chickadee | 2 |
| Lincoln’s Sparrow | 2 |
| American Tree Sparrow | 1 |
| Downy Woodpecker | 1 |
| ‘Myrtle’ Warbler | 1 |
| Pacific Wren | 1 |
| Grand Total | 57 |
2020, Week 10: Late season action
In an atypical Week 11 (Oct 3 to 9) with surprising highs and lows, we banded 127 birds of 17 species. This total is well above the average of 97 and makes it the fourth most productive Week 11 we’ve had at VLBO. Recaptures were low this week with only 21 birds recaptured of 11 species but a highlight was the return of two Belted Kingfishers that we banded a few weeks ago. The week started with banding totals consistently in the teens, but dropped down to 7 on Thursday, our slowest day of the season, with primarily sparrows hitting the nets. Friday started in similar fashion with only 9 birds banded by 11 am on a consistently gloomy morning. Then, out of the blue on the penultimate net run, a mixed flock of warblers, kinglets and chickadees hit net 5, followed by more in net 7 on the final run. We finished the day with 30 birds, the busiest day of the week. Fall weather arrived this week but not before several more beautiful, warm, and unseasonably summer-like days for October, before cooling on Thursday.
The most exciting bird of the week was a Golden-crowned Kinglet, our 1st of the season and a species not commonly banded at VLBO. Though often mixing with Ruby-crowned Kinglets in higher elevations, they rarely venture into riparian habitat in the bottom of the valley. In fact it’s only the 15th ever banded at VLBO. We also banded a 2nd Fox Sparrow of the season and recaptured it two days later, another Virginia Rail (our 5th) and our 3rd of both Downy Woodpecker and House Finch.
Golden-crowned Kinglet 
Virginia Rail 
Fox Sparrow 
Downy Woodpecker 
Anna banding the Golden-crowned Kinglet
Song Sparrow had all but locked down the top spot with a solid showing this week, until the last hour on Friday when flocks of Yellow-rumped Warblers (mostly Audubon’s but also some Myrtles and Intergrades) hit our nets. Audubon’s Warbler ended up snapping up the top spot with 29 banded, just one ahead of Song Sparrow with 28. Lincoln’s Sparrow numbers started to drop this week with only 18 banded in third place, followed by Ruby-crowned Kinglet with 17. The top three species were all at least twice the average for Week 10 and most other species were also around average or well above, with the exception of Oregon Junco.
Oregon Junco 
House Finch 
Volunteer Zoe Roberts with a Downy Woodpecker 
An adult male ‘Intergrade’ Yellow-rumped Warbler
With only 6 days left we’re currently sitting at 2064 banded of 62 species and 471 recaptures of 31 species.
| Week 10 Totals | |
| Species | Banded |
| ‘Audubon’s’ Warbler | 29 |
| Song Sparrow | 28 |
| Lincoln’s Sparrow | 18 |
| Ruby-crowned Kinglet | 17 |
| American Goldfinch | 5 |
| Marsh Wren | 5 |
| ‘Myrtle’ Warbler | 5 |
| Unidentified Yellow-rumped Warbler | 4 |
| Orange-crowned Warbler | 3 |
| Oregon Junco | 3 |
| Common Yellowthroat | 2 |
| Black-capped Chickadee | 1 |
| Downy Warbler | 1 |
| Fox Sparrow | 1 |
| Golden-crowned Kinglet | 1 |
| White-crowned Sparrow | 1 |
| House Finch | 1 |
| Spotted Towhee | 1 |
| Virginia Rail | 1 |
| Grand Total | 127 |
2020, Week 9: A saw-whet surprise!
During Week 9 (Sept. 26 to Oct. 2) of our fall migration monitoring program, we banded 181 birds of 20 species. This total is above the long-term average of 146 for the week, which shows that bird activity is not winding down quite yet and suggests that migration is drawn out over a longer period this year, rather than the usual peak we see during weeks 7 and 8. We also recaptured 42 birds of 10 species. The week started well with 30 to 40 new birds during the first three days before numbers dropped into to the 20s. The low came on Thursday with only 10 birds, one of the slowest days of the season. Average daily banding totals typically drop into the teens for most days in October so we will see if this late stream of migrants continues or finally dries up. After smoke and wind made for two challenging weeks of weather, Week 9 was very agreeable with mild, sunny fall days for most of it. Albeit, most mornings were cold with temps below 5°C finally causing the water birch and alder leaves to drop.
The big surprise of the week was an exceedingly cute one which awaited us in net 20 on our first net run on Sunday – a saw-whet! Northern Saw-whet owls move through the area in low numbers during the fall and in past seasons we would band owls at night. Unfortunately we are not able to run our owl banding program this year so it is fitting that one paid us a visit during the early morning hours! This is the first saw-whet we’ve caught during our regular morning banding. The other main highlight of the week was our first Hammond’s Flycatcher of the season. We typically catch one or two each year. We finally added Dark-eyed Junco to our species banded list this week with one ‘Oregon’ banded, a relatively late first record. A late House Wren was another nice surprise this week, while our 8th Bewick’s Wren represents a new station record for that elusive species!
House Wren 
Oregon Junco 
Bewick’s Wren 
Hammond’s Flycatcher
Lincoln’s Sparrow remained the most banded species for the fourth of the past five weeks and this week they passed Yellow Warbler as the top species of the season, ending the week with 210 banded. Song Sparrows were notably abundant this week as they moved into second place with 30 banded. Orange-crowned Warbler maintained a decent showing with 28 banded, followed by Ruby-crowned Kinglet with 24, their biggest week so far. The top four species were all well above average for a change. Wilson’s Warbler continued their poor showing with only 3 banded, though now an average number, while Yellow-rumped Warbler and Dark-eyed Junco were below average for Week 9.
Wilson’s Warbler 
American Goldfinch 
Song Sparrow 
One of the beavers that has taken up residence at VLBO
September concluded with very mediocre numbers – 754 banded, just below the long-term average of 771, and the lowest number since 2014. The 41 species banded this month was slightly above average however. The busiest day of September was the 8th with 58 birds banded, the only day over 50 for the entire month; a far cry from the hundred bird days we had during peak migration last year.
| Week 9 Totals | |
| Species | Banded |
| Lincoln’s Sparrow | 43 |
| Song Sparrow | 30 |
| Orange-crowned Warbler | 28 |
| Ruby-crowned Kinglet | 24 |
| ‘Audubon’s’ Warbler | 16 |
| Common Yellowthroat | 10 |
| Marsh Wren | 6 |
| White-crowned Sparrow | 5 |
| Spotted Towhee | 3 |
| Wilson’s Warbler | 3 |
| Cedar Waxwing | 2 |
| ‘Myrtle’ Warbler | 2 |
| American Goldfinch | 1 |
| Black-capped Chickadee | 1 |
| Bewick’s Wren | 1 |
| Hammond’s Flycatcher | 1 |
| House Wren | 1 |
| Northern Saw-whet Owl | 1 |
| ‘Oregon’ Junco | 1 |
| ‘Red-shafted’ Flicker | 1 |
| Savannah Sparrow | 1 |
| Total | 181 |
2020, Week 8: Autumn brings wind
We eagerly hoped for a flux of migrants this week in the wake of the passing smoke on Saturday. This was not really the case with 154 birds banded of 19 species banded during Week 8 (Sept 19-15), which is less than last week and below the long-term average of 200 for this week. We also recaptured 36 birds of 10 species. After the weekend we did see signs of increased migrant activity but our banding operations were interrupted by strong early morning southerly winds on Wednesday and again Friday. We could only open the nets briefly both days and only caught a few birds. Sustained winds over Wednesday night caused the demise of our banding tent and knocked down a few small trees. Thursday was the busiest day of the week with 45 birds banded. Accounting for the mist net hours lost to wind produces a capture rate 0.35 birds per net hour this week, which is actually just above the station average capture rate of 0.34 for Week 8, assuming full net hours are normally attained.
Belted Kingfisher 
Volunteer Lakesha with a Belted Kingfisher 
Pacific Wren 
Swamp Sparrow
In the short time we opened on those days we did manage to catch some good birds however! Wednesday morning produced our third Belted Kingfisher of the season – another juvenile – and the first of only 3 birds on Thursday turned out to be our first Pacific Wren of the year! We don’t typically catch many of this species so they are always a treat to encounter. Our other new species of the season this week was a Swamp Sparrow, another uncommon late migrant that is becoming more regular this time of year. We also banded our second Red-breasted Nuthatch of the season.
Cedar Waxwing 
‘Myrtle’ Yellow-rumped Warbler 
Orange-crowned Warbler
Lincoln’s Sparrow reclaimed the top spot this week and stayed their above average course with 38 banded. Orange-crowned Warbler moved up to second with 32 which is still quite below the average of 52 for Week 8. Common Yellowthroat and Song Sparrow were 3rd and 4th this week with 18 and 17 banded, respectively. These were both close to average for the week. Audubon’s Warbler were fewer than last week with only 11 banded, and we finally got another Myrtle Warbler which have been few and far between. Ruby-crowned Kinglets are slowly increasing in number but they remained below average this week, as did White-crowned Sparrow, and Wilson’s Warbler with only 1 banded. Marsh Wren and Spotted Towhee were above average. Gray Catbirds held on with 2 more banded this week and the familiar but somewhat forgotten faces of two Cedar Waxwings were a nice surprise one morning. Waxwings closed in slightly on Yellow Warbler for the top spot of the season, now at 186, while Gray Catbird is a close third with 183. Still some ways behind but quickly leaping up the ranks are Lincoln’s Sparrow, now with 167.
One of several Common Garter Snakes around the station 
Pacific Chorus frog hanging around our banding tent
Census produced some other nice highlights this week, including a White-throated Sparrow and 4 American White Pelicans.
Thanks to our volunteer Lakesha Smith for helping us out these past two weeks! Lakehsa is an aspiring young biologist who has banded at Long Point Bird Observatory and the Boreal MAPS program in northern Alberta. Her enthusiasm and optimism lit up our days even during the gloomier weather this week.
| Species | Banded |
| Lincoln’s Sparrow | 38 |
| Orange-crowned Warbler | 32 |
| Common Yellowthroat | 18 |
| Song Sparrow | 17 |
| ‘Audubon’s’ Warbler | 11 |
| Ruby-crowned Kinglet | 9 |
| Marsh Wren | 6 |
| Spotted Towhee | 6 |
| Cedar Waxwing | 2 |
| Gray Catbird | 2 |
| White-crowned Sparrow | 2 |
| Savannah Sparrow | 2 |
| American Robin | 1 |
| Black-capped Chickadee | 1 |
| Belted Kingfisher | 1 |
| ‘Myrtle’ Warbler | 1 |
| Pacific Wren | 1 |
| Red-breasted Nuthatch | 1 |
| Swamp Sparrow | 1 |
| Unidentified Yellow-rumped Warbler | 1 |
| Wilson’s Warbler | 1 |
| Total | 154 |
2020, Week 7: Up in Smoke
This year, migration did not peak during Week 7 (September 12-18th) as is typical of our fall migration monitoring program. In fact, it was actually less productive than last week with 190 birds banded of 23 species, which is below the station average of 217 for this week. Daily numbers were pretty consistent overall; the slowest day came on Tuesday with 11 birds banded and the busiest on Thursday with 47, thanks to an influx of Audubon’s Warblers, while the rest of the days ranged between 22 and 36 birds. Recapture rates were relatively low with only 34 birds recaptured of 13 species, an average of 4.9 per day. Thick smoke from the fires south of the border rolled in Saturday afternoon and persisted through the rest of the week, blocking out the sun and muting the weather in general. The smoke was so dense on Monday and Tuesday that we could barely see the bluffs opposite the marsh and consequently we curtailed our mist netting effort somewhat.
The most exciting moment of the week came with the capture of one of our most anticipated species – not one but TWO Belted Kingfishers! We record kingfishers almost daily but none had found their way into our nets until now, when these two juvenile females, likely distracted by their squabbling, hit net 9. This was also the only new species for the season this week. Another interesting bird was a very late Northern Waterthrush which also happened to be the largest waterthrush we’ve caught this season at a whopping 19.9 grams. We also banded our 4th Virginia Rail of the season as well as our 11th and 12th Yellow-breasted Chat – 12 is a new season record for the species, beating the previous record set last year! We also passed the milestone of 1500 birds banded this week.
A late Northern Waterthrush 
Our 12th Yellow-breasted Chat! 
Anna with a Belted Kingfisher 
Juvenile Virginia Rail
The top 4 species were shuffled a bit this week with ‘Audubon’s’ Warbler taking the top spot with 43 banded and Lincoln’s Sparrow dropping to second with 40. Orange-crowned Warbler (30) and Common Yellowthroat (23) were 3rd and 4th respectively. In stark contrast to the top two species which were well above average in number, Orange-crowned Warbler numbers were 50% of the average for Week 7 and a far cry from their seemingly endless stream this time during the last two years. Wilson’s Warblers also continued to be far below average as did Song Sparrows. Common Yellowthroat, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, and Marsh Wren were about average for the week. Gray Catbird are quickly winding down and Yellow Warblers were completely absent this week, signifying they likely end of their departure from our area.
Orange-crowned Warbler 
A close up of the spots on a Northern Flicker 
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 
Dusky Flycatcher
The smoke may be a factor in the low numbers of migrants passing through this week. However, interestingly, numbers of some species (as mentioned above) were actually typical or above average, and there was a noticeable increase in waterfowl and swallow activity in the area. Large flocks of Barn and Violet-screen Swallows (several hundred all told) foraged over the Okanagan River throughout the morning every day during the second half of the week.
Many of you are probably wondering about the effects of this smoke on bird physiology. You may have seen the news articles about the mass die offs of migrating songbirds, particularly insectivores, in New Mexico which may have something to do with the fires but the causes are yet unclear. Air pollution in general has been shown to be detrimental to birds in many ways including causing respiratory stress, immunosuppression, increased stress levels and detoxification effort, behavioural changes and reproductive impairment. (Sanderfoot and Holloway, 2017). A range of pollutants including carbon monoxide, ozone, sulphur dioxide, smoke, heavy metals and urban and industrial emissions were found to be attributed to these adverse impacts. But the effects of smoke on individual species is mostly still unknown, and the composition of smoke changes as it travels long distances. We don’t really know exactly how the smoke in our area is impacting these migrants. Monitoring bird health and watching for signs of stress is one of the most important duties for banders and we have been extra vigilant during this week. So far we have not observed signs of abnormal stress in the birds we handled this week.
Last year and other recent years, migration peaked during Week 8 so things could still pick up. Let’s hope Orange-crowneds and Wilson’s rebound next week!
| Species | Banded |
| ‘Audubon’s’ Warbler | 43 |
| Lincoln’s Sparrow | 40 |
| Orange-crowned Warbler | 30 |
| Common Yellowthroat | 23 |
| Song Sparrow | 14 |
| Ruby-crowned Kinglet | 7 |
| White-crowned Sparrow | 5 |
| Wilson’s Warbler | 4 |
| Marsh Wren | 3 |
| Belted Kingfisher | 2 |
| Dusky Flycatcher | 2 |
| Gray Catbird | 2 |
| Pine Siskin | 2 |
| Red-shafted Flicker | 2 |
| Spotted Towhee | 2 |
| Yellow-breasted Chat | 2 |
| House Finch | 1 |
| Nashville Warbler | 1 |
| Northern Waterthrush | 1 |
| Savannah Sparrow | 1 |
| Virginia Rail | 1 |
| Warbling Vireo | 1 |
| Willow Flycatcher | 1 |
| Total | 190 |
References:
Olivia V. Sanderfoot and Tracey Holloway. 2017. Environmental Research Letters. 12, 083002
vlbo.wordpress.com 