30 September

Welcome to the last daily bird report for the 2009 season. What a season it was, and what a day. We surely went out with a bang. Today was, in my opinion, the best day of the season. For one, it was a mythical sunrise- or I should specify that we were nestled under a blanket of fog until about 8:30 when it started to break, revealing a wintry scene on the craggy peaks of Niut. Some of the photos below might give you an idea of how abruptly those mountains rise above the valley floor.

Birds were scrambling to make it south. Although we are slightly lamenting the fact we won’t be banding tomorrow (funding solutions, anyone?), we do not forget the quiet nature of the previous week and the usual patterns of slow days after notable weather events. I suspect today was a one-day wonder and a cleaning out of straggling birds. In addition, we are borderline able to keep the birds safe in the persistent cold weather, not to mention ice on the bridge, etc. The bottom line is we keep it the same as in previous years.

When I could crane my neck away from the Niuts, census revealed a mystery (for you) gull on the lagoon. A flock of 30 or so American Wigeon roared overhead with a jet-like whoosh and posed in front of Mount Moore. A couple of Mountain Bluebirds cooed their way south. A Northern Goshawk startled a Fox Sparrow, a Merlin chased a Meadowlark around the field for five minutes, one of two Harriers grabbed something from the marsh and a Sharp-shinned Hawk made a curious dive toward my head just to see how I would react.
Meanwhile, Cindy was kept busy in the nets. Having approached -but falling short- of our last year’s record high of 1872 birds banded, alas it was looking like we’d never make it- needing to band 45 birds today to beat the mark. Embarking on the last round at 13:10, we were shy by only 14 birds- and we pulled in an impressive 8 before having to finally close up. Sorry, but a record year cannot be the result of bonus time!

Today we banded eight Hermit Thrush: a record for one day. Also, check out some of the other species. Around noon Cindy brought back a Dusky Flycatcher, then later a Yellow Warbler. We banded our first Winter Wren and Flicker of the year. By the end of it all, I released a Kinglet as the last bird of the season and we took down the nets.

Our season wrapped up with 1866 birds banded and 308 recaptures. How this all measures up will have to wait until we crunch some numbers. You’ll have to stay tuned because at some point we will post a report on the site here. In the meantime there are some graphs provided below to show you a few species and their occurrence over time.

I want to say a public thanks to Chris and Cindy for being such great people to work with. On our behalf I wish to thank all of our volunteers for the season, not to mention our support crew of Peter and Roma Shaughnessy, Andrew Harcombe and Wendy Easton.

Last but not least, thanks to everyone who has followed our blog and made it so fun to put together every day. The winner of the t-shirt goes to Ryan Gill for all of his mostly-correct quiz answers.

Please, keep in mind that the volunteer program is enriched by people like yourselves, who are devotees to bird migration. This is truly a special place to spend a week, so if you are interested please click on “get involved” at the top of this form. Keep in mind that volunteer opportunities become scarce as the winter progresses. We sold out in April for this season. Also, it is important to note that NCC welcomes donations to ensure we can continue with future bird monitoring and other important projects.

The answer to yesterday’s bird quiz was Pine Siskin. For the 30 Sep bird quiz, see below. Since Cindy and I are migrating away from our computers, it’s your turn to come up with the definitive answer, via the comments page. I’m sure there are some Brits out there who would like to comment on this species. The bird quizes have been fun, by the way. Thanks.

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First Flicker banded of the season, on the last day!

The banding lane near net 14

Cindy hoping the sun will poke through

Looking from the field to Niut and net 6 area

Looking across the lagoon during census

Quiz: Name the species. To add difficulty, use the reflection only...:-)

We've trained the White-crowned Sparrows to put on their own bands

An emblematic photo for TLBO

Winter is not far away.

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Stay tuned for more interesting patterns and science stuff!

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Season Banding Totals (please excuse the bird codes):

Species ———–	Banded ———–	Recaps ———–
LISP	241	20
WAVI	162	21
SWTH	141	40
OCWA	126	12
RCKI	123	9
COYE	113	66
YWAR	104	13
SOSP	101	50
WIWA	92	2
AMRE	55	16
CEDW	54	1
NOWA	42	10
PISI	37	0
MGWA	35	3
SAVS	35	1
AUWA (YR)	33	2
ALFL	32	8
DEJU	32	2
HETH	32	1
RBNU	28	0
WCSP	23	1
BCCH	21	10
HAFL	21	0
DUFL	20	2
WIFL	17	1
REVI	16	6
MOCH	14	1
GCKI	12	0
MYWA (YR)	10	0
PSFL	7	0
AMRO	7	0
UnFL (AL/WI)	6	2
DOWO	6	0
FOSP	6	1
CHSP	6	1
PUFI	5	2
WETA	5	0
WEWP	4	0
RNSA	4	0
GCSP	4	0
HAWO	3	0
LAZB	3	2
CAVI	3	1
VATH	3	0
MAWR	2	0
WWCR	2	0
LEFL	2	0
SSHA	2	0
SPTO	2	2
Unkn. YR	2	0
RECR	2	0
VESP	1	0
VEER	1	0
OSFL	1	0
TEWA	1	0
NOFL	1	0
RWBL	1	0
TOWA	1	0
WIWR	1	0

Total:                     1,866                 308
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Today:

Species	Band	Recap
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	9	1
Hermit Thrush	8	1
Yellow-rumped Warbler	4
White-crowned Sparrow	4
Song Sparrow	3	1
Lincoln’s Sparrow	3
Mountain Chickadee	2
Red-shafted Flicker	1
Dusky Flycatcher	1
Winter Wren	1
Yellow Warbler	1
Fox Sparrow	1	1

—

Total banded	38
Species banded	12
Total recaptured	4
Species Recaptured	4
Census:       # Species	25
Daily total:   # Species	39

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29 September

Well, for our penultimate day of banding we had a few surprises.  First there was fresh snow on the mountains at the south end of the lake at dawn this morning, then the storm front moved in a little closer to home and laid quite a lot of snow on the Niuts, right above the banding station.  Lovely to look at from here at the Lincoln Creek Ranch house this afternoon, with my feet warming by the fire.  We ended up having to close the nets early today, as it was raining  on us while snowing up top and the wind was gusting.

Before closing, however, we did have some excitement in net 17.  It had been a slow day, and I was finishing my rounds with a lonely kinglet I’d picked up in an earlier net, when I turned the corner to net 17 and the Pine Siskins were having a party there!  Now, I know that 25 birds in one net is a regular occurrence for many banding stations, but it was a first for me, and pretty exciting.  There were siskins everywhere!  Six of them were lined up within a 40cm stretch of one trammel alone, all from the same direction – lying wing to wing, they were practically piled up on each other.  I radioed Steve for help and extra bags and we got them out and processed before the storm blew in.

Of note from yesterday:  Steve saw a Horned Grebe on the lagoon.  Today the Hermit Thrushes were showing themselves here and there on the census, and the robins were quite active throughout the day.  Still plenty of juncos, but the Yellow-rumped Warblers were not seen in big numbers today.  Pine Siskins were seen and heard throughout the census area, not just in net 17.  The small herd of cattle that has been grazing on the road side for the past couple of weeks has burgeoned and now there are cows all over the place.  Today they were sneaking in single file past the gate to the lake while I was finishing up the census.

Tomorrow is our last day of banding, and we will be taking down the nets and closing up the station for the season.  Let’s hope today’s stormy weather brings in a final flush of birds for us tomorrow.

The answer to the September 28 bird quiz is juvenile Red Crossbill, congrats to Andrew and Michael for that one.  Indeed, it did look exactly like the drawing in Sibley!  The bill was not crossed, certainly not compared to the adult that was netted at the same time – it must grow and cross over as they age.  Those were the first Red Crossbills banded at the station.

September 29 bird quiz, likely the last of the year, should be an easy one today:

Name the species.

Cindy

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Observation type	Band	Recap
Pine Siskin	26
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	6	2
Lincoln’s Sparrow	3
Red-breasted Nuthatch	2
Song Sparrow	2
Golden-crowned Kinglet	1
Hermit Thrush	1
White-crowned Sparrow	1

Total banded	42
Species banded	8
Total recaptured	2
Species Recaptured	1
Census:       # Species	21
Daily total:   # Species	26

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28 September- new species (x2)!

Today- our third last day- ramped up slightly with 21 birds banded and a few recaptures. A storm was brewing and clouds spilled over from down the lake, and tonight we will see significant snow on the peaks. But we’re cozy in the Lincoln Creek Ranch house.

Did you ever see that movie Groundhog Day starring Bill Murray? That’s how it feels after nearly 60 days in a row of waking up for bird banding. But we love it. And I’ll admit, there were a few fishing forays thrown in there. Poor Bill didn’t know what he was missing.

Anyway, back to birds. I thought I was having an epic census, or rather a return from census because census was rather mellow, when I radioed Cindy and she reported our first two (???) (new banded species for TLBO). One was a young bird- see below for another easy quiz. Excited for her good fortune back at the station, I pressed onward along the beach to go explore the “Second Lagoon” as we call it. This is the one that you have to cross the river to get a look at. I knew I had to find something better than Cindy’s birds and wet feet was a good penance.

Now I’m building up the suspense too much because it was just a goose loafing on the lagoon. But a Greater White-fronted Goose to be exact (new species for the station list). The only other sightings I’ve had of these were a flock going over in October a couple of years ago. Also on this lagoon was a Northern Shoveler.

Other notables from today included: Mountain Bluebird, Evening Grosbeak, Cedar Waxwing, Golden-crowned Sparrow, Purple Finch and Winter Wren. Three or four each of Flicker, Varied Thrush, American Robin, Common Raven, and Clark’s Nutcracker were all very vocal. The Osprey chick on the other hand, has not been heard for two days: quieting up, migrating- or otherwise- after the really cold night. It’s really getting into fall now, and if I was a bird I’d want to be in Mexico by now, not out there among the swaying firs.

A freshly abducted Ruby-crowned Kinglet.

Answer to 26 September bird quiz: Spotted Sandpiper, answered correctly by Andrew and Kris. Nice job!

28 September Bird Quiz: Name the species!

Name the species

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Species	Band	Recap
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	8	1
Yellow-rumped Warbler	3
Lincoln’s Sparrow	3
Can’t say	2
Downy Woodpecker	1
Golden-crowned Kinglet	1
Hermit Thrush	1
Common Yellowthroat	1	1
Oregon Junco	1
Song Sparrow		1

Total banded	21
Species banded	9
Total recaptured	3
Species Recaptured	3
Census:       # Species	23
Daily total:   # Species	39

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27 September

This morning was our coldest start of the year – the thermometer read 4 below when we opened the nets and the ‘skulling fluid’ (aka water) was frozen well into the morning.  Not many birds about, even when it did warm up, making for a pretty slow day in the nets.  The large numbers of Lincoln’s Sparrows seem to have moved on, although we are still seeing flocks of Yellow-rumped Warblers, Pine Siskins, and of course Oregon Juncos. Lots of Mallards and American Wigeons were dabbling in the lagoon, and a Great-horned Owl was scared up on the census.

Late in the day we caught a Red-naped Sapsucker which screamed the whole time I was extracting it, and proceeded to make mincemeat out of my fingers, drilling what seems like hundreds of tiny little pinpricks.

Today we banded our 100th Ruby-crowned Kinglet of the year.

I know a blog without photos is like a kinglet without a crown, but sorry, no photos today.

Cindy

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Species	Band	Recap
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	3
Hermit Thrush	2
Orange-crowned Warbler	2
Oregon Junco	2
Red-naped Sapsucker	1
Yellow-rumped Warbler	1
Common Yellowthroat	1
Lincoln’s Sparrow	1
Song Sparrow		1

Total banded	13
Species banded	8
Total recaptured	0
Species Recaptured	0
Census:       # Species	18
Daily total:   # Species	28

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26 September

Well, it looks like we are nearing the tail end of the fall migration, coincidental with our scheduled finish in a few days. Sixteen birds trickled into the nets today. That’s not TOO bad but it really felt slow despite a few flyovers and other sightings of note, and 35 species sighted. Two Varied Thrush were captured, plus a couple of Hermits (which seem to be abundant this year). Two Purple Finches sang along the census route and 25 American Pipits went over in one flock. On the lagoon were two American Green-winged Teal, two Hooded Mergansers, sixteen Mallards, and one female Greater Scaup. The latter is rarely sighted in these parts.
Wolf tracks were noted on the banding path first thing in the morning.

When doing net rounds, we usually start at net one and finish at net 17. This is a great way to go, since net 17 usually has at least one bird in it per round (or 1.34 to be exact, on average). It is quite interesting to note that net 12 is directly beside 17 (they share the same pole) yet it is the fifth slowest net. Net 11 is nearby- our most frequently empty net. This attests to the very specific pathways that birds are using within our study area- it all must have to do with preferred habitat or landscape structure, or vegetation type. Nets 16 and 14 are big catchers- 16 more consistently and 14 a specialist in bigger flocks (we had 15 waxwings in there, plus a couple of 20-bird episodes). Net 7 is across a sketchy footbridge over the river, but it’s worth the journey to every once in a while pull a good bird out, like the Varied Thrush x2 today. See the chart, below.

Net	Banded	Birds/Hr	Recaps	% time used
17	412	1.34	42	0.95
16	289	0.95	28	0.94
14	130	0.46	16	0.87
6	134	0.44	33	0.95
10	111	0.36	25	0.95
15	124	0.40	27	0.95
7	72	0.23	28	0.95
1	120	0.39	28	0.95
13	79	0.26	20	0.93
12	114	0.37	9	0.95
9	96	0.31	20	0.95
11	71	0.23	22	0.95

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26 September bird quiz:

Name the species.

SPECIES	Band	Recap
Orange-crowned Warbler	4
Hermit Thrush	2
Varied Thrush	2
Song Sparrow	2
Red-breasted Nuthatch	1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	1
Yellow-rumped Warbler	1
Lincoln’s Sparrow	1
Oregon Junco	1

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Total banded	15
Species banded	9
Total recaptured	0
Species Recaptured	0
Census:       # Species	23
Daily total:   # Species	35

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25 September

A cold start this morning, with barely a bird to be heard.  No chipping from the shrubbery, no furtive movements through the grasses, only a flock of Canada Geese flying north from the lagoon.  However, when the sun finally showed itself enough to warm us up, the birds warmed up too and started to move in the area.  Captures were low today though, with only 15 banded and one recapture.

Of note today were the six species of woodpeckers seen or heard in the area:

Red-naped Sapsucker	1
Downy Woodpecker	2
Hairy Woodpecker	1
Black-backed Woodpecker	1
Pileated Woodpecker	1
Red-shafted Flicker	3

The only ones missing are the Red-breasted Sapsucker, which was sighted on surveys across the river in June, and was banded in previous years, but has not been seen yet this fall, and the Three-toed Woodpecker.

Steve continues to be skeptical about my ID of the Black-backed Woodpecker, but I keep telling him that the drum is distinctive.  I suppose it might be a Three-toed (drum is quite similar), but since a Black-backed was seen in the area shortly after drumming in the first week of September, I’m sticking with Black-backed.  We are likely going to have to hunt this one down to prove that I am correct and put the dispute to rest.  Perhaps I should put some money on it first.

The answer to the September 23 bird quiz is Yellow-rumped Warbler with a deformed bill.  The first to get it correct (by one minute!) was Kris Andrews.  Again, if the awarding of points were up to me, Ryan would get points for creative nomenclature:  Yellow-rumped Crossbill.

Cindy

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SPECIES	Band	Recap
Mountain Chickadee	4
Hermit Thrush	3
Song Sparrow	3
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	2
Cedar Waxwing	1
Fox Sparrow	1
Lincoln’s Sparrow	1
Black-capped Chickadee		1

Total banded	15
Species banded	7
Total recaptured	1
Species Recaptured	1
Census:       # Species	19
Daily total:   # Species	37

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24 September

The blog was waylaid by post-banding activities, and we just got back. Walking back from an evening adventure, we encountered several birds by the lake calling (sparrows, Hermit Thrush), looking like they were getting ready to move tonight. It’s totally calm out. Two Great-horned Owls were dueting on the other side of net seven, looking like they might have a scrap. We saw them both in separate trees. An American Dipper has been hanging out just outside of NCC property along the lakeshore.

After many days of finishing census at the lake, one’s attentions tend to wander, and just happening to have a pair of binoculars handy is a great way to look around for things to do. In this case, some rock outcroppings. So that was related to the adventure. Laurenz happened to bring his climbing equipment, of all things, for a week of bird banding. So we were good to go explore some cliffs (although quality and exact size were unknown from census, they turned out to be good).

As for banding, it was a slow start, as in an hour and a half late because of persistent north winds. When it finally died we ended up with a couple birds per round for a total of 26 banded. Laurenz brought back six in one round. Not bad for this time of year I suppose. I have a feeling with some cooler weather coming in we should have good numbers the next few days. The afternoon was totally beautiful, calm, and warm so for the time being we’ll relish that.

Highlights of the day included a Mourning Dove (rarely sighted here), an Evening Grosbeak (same, away from feeders), and a flock of 25 American Wigeon. One lonely Kestrel was all that represented our raptor totals; in fact, nobody heard nor sighted any Osprey.

I have to go and nurse my bleeding knees and knuckles.

First ascent on a 35m 5.8 on solid granite. This is like finding an albatross in the desert. CM photo.

Laurenz checking for Canyon Wrens.

A view overlooking Tatlayoko Lake and the Potato Range.

SO

Species	Band	Recap
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	10	1
Lincoln’s Sparrow	4	1
Orange-crowned Warbler	3	1
Hermit Thrush	2
Yellow-rumped Warbler	2
Oregon Junco	2
Red-breasted Nuthatch	1
Yellow Warbler	1
Common Yellowthroat	1

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Total banded	26
Species banded	9
Total recaptured	3
Species Recaptured	3
Census:       # Species	24
Daily total:   # Species	33

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23 September

Another gorgeous day in the Tatlayoko valley started out warm and clear with a light north wind.  When the wind switched to southerly, as it usually does each day, it carried warm air and felt positively tropical.  Unfortunately it got quite strong as the morning went on and we had to close early as the nets were billowing and we were in fear of getting bashed on the head by falling debris.

We banded 18 birds despite the early closing, including another Fox Sparrow, which impressed Laurenz with it’s beefiness.  Large numbers of Pine Siskins were heard and sighted on the net rounds and on the census, and we did catch a few as well.  They have remarkably short legs and small heads for their size.

The answer to the September 19 bird quiz is Cassin’s Vireo.  Well done Ryan and Chris C, and if it were up to me I’d give consolation points to Kris A for an excellent dither.  Below is a better view of the vireo in question (courtesy of Steve) – notice the lovely spectacles.

Cassin's Vireo

September 23 quiz bird, courtesy of Laurenz, captured today:

Name the species.

Cindy

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Total banded	18
Species banded	9
Total recaptured	1
Species Recaptured	1
Census:       # Species	21
Daily total:   # Species	30

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22 September

Things are slowing down as we approach the tail end of migration for our most species. I hesitate to say that we won’t have any busier days before Sep 30th, but right now it looks to be under 20 banded as the norm, meaning we might lag behind last year’s overall total. Perhaps it’ll pick up before Thursday’s cold front. We are way under our annual total for Yellow-rumped Warblers, but generally more foul weather is needed to keep the birds in area and to get them low down, in our nets.

A magnificent day at the banding station began with the usual slight north breeze, but today it didn’t become a strong south gale, thankfully. Instead, it was calm and pleasant with only the sound of the grader working on the Tatlayoko Road to break the silence. Someone will report a flat tire, I’m sure. I also heard a dog barking and oh yeah, a few birds including numerous Song Sparrows, a Golden-crowned, several White-crowned Sparrows, and other skulkers. Two Ruby-crowned Kinglets were recaptured, hanging around after last week’s fallout. Raptors were scarce today.

Laurenz banded two birds with deformed bills- one YR Warbler with one that looked like a Snail Kite and a Lincoln’s that had a crossed bill.

Lots of Blue Darner dragonflies around today.

Cindy took a much-deserved day off to visit Bella Coola, and I will be heading there tonight for a day of coho fishing tomorrow. Laurenz went hiking into the Niuts for the afternoon.

No photos today- the salmon await.
Steve

 

 

Spp.	Band	Recap
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	4	2
Yellow-rumped Warbler	3
Hermit Thrush	2
Song Sparrow	2	2
Lincoln’s Sparrow	2
Black-capped Chickadee	1
Mountain Chickadee	1
Orange-crowned Warbler	1
Common Yellowthroat	1
Oregon Junco	1

 

Total banded	18
Species banded	10
Total recaptured	4
Species Recaptured	2
Census:       # Species	27
Daily total:   # Species	32

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21 September

Today we got a late start due to high winds in the morning, and didn’t get the nets open until almost 9a.m.  We also had our slowest day in the nets, with only 11 banded and 3 recaptures.  Census numbers were also down, but a Winter Wren and a MacGillvray’s Warbler were both sighted near the lagoon, which kept it interesting.

Ruby-crowned Kinglets, which have been passing through the area of late, are one of the smallest birds that we band, weighing in between 5.5 and 7 grams.  Today I discovered that in the breeding season they lay up to 12 eggs!  That’s the largest clutch size for any North American passerine for its size.  12 is the maximum clutch size ever found though; the average is 7.64 eggs, which would still require 78% of the female’s body weight to produce.  Tiny, but sturdy.  And in fact they must be sturdy if they can be caught in our nets early on cold mornings and survive their temporary absence from foraging.  They forage mostly by gleaning spiders and other insects from leaves and branches, so they are not dependent on hawking flying insects which would be scarce in the cold.

The aspen trees in the bottom of the valley are just starting to turn yellow, but today I noticed that if you go up in elevation just a short ways they are already losing their leaves.  Portions of my bike ride up to the mine today had a mat of yellow leaves crunching beneath the tires.  The rainfall we had the other night has been completely soaked up and the ground is dry again – no standing water anywhere.  Although there is a small wet area that we move through in the census (just where you turn left at the big rootball for those who have done it) and today I confirmed that yes, that is a small patch of stinging nettle growing there.  Had to test it, couldn’t resist.

Cindy

Total banded	11
Species banded	8
Total recaptured	3
Species Recaptured	3
Census:       # Species	22
Daily total:   # Species	31

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