Aug. 31: Mid-Season Report

Last night, after an enjoyable collaborative dinner with Calypso and Evan on their final evening here, we went to bed to the pitter patter of rain that persisted through much of the night. By morning the upper parts of both the Niut and Potato Ranges had a healthy dusting (or more!) of snow that made us feel as if it was more like the end of September than August. It was dry enough in the first hour of our session that after waiting 45 minutes to assess the situation we decided to open up the nets. Predictably, almost as soon as all nets were opened it began to drizzle again and after a half hour we had to close everything back up. In this time we did catch a few birds, mostly Swainson’s Thrushes as well as a Northern Waterthrush which will likely be one of our last banded of this species being an early migrant.

With good activity around the station Sachi set off on a busy census. Near the banding lab, a flock of Warbling Vireos, warblers and a half dozen White-crowned Sparrows were around for much of the morning and later on I would observe them passing back and forth through the lane of a closed Net 14. Sachi tallied good numbers of “Audubon’s” Yellow-rumped Warblers as well as three of the “Myrtle” subspecies which will continue to become more prevalent over the coming weeks. On the lagoon were many waterfowl including 36 American Wigeons, 11 Northern Shovelers, seven Green-winged Teals and three Mallards. Alongside these were a couple goodies in the form of our 2nd Red-necked Phalarope of the season and, lurking behind the little island, our 2nd Bonaparte’s Gull. A juvenile California Gull was also loafing on the back side of the island.

Back at the banding lab, Jannaca and I were able to open nets 1, 13 and 14 (the three closest to the banding lab) amid a lessening in the drizzle and got in a couple net checks before the rain picked up in earnest, forcing us to close up for good. We did catch a stunning male American Redstart which would be Jannaca’s last bird banded at the TLBO this season as she will be heading home early tomorrow morning. While closing nets we noted a small group of swallows including a trio of Northern Rough-winged and a lone Barn along with seven Vaux’s Swifts! This latter are a scarce bird here and this represented just the 5th record of this species for the TLBO.

Today’s eBird list can be found HERE.

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Species	Band	Recap
Swainson’s Thrush	5
Warbling Vireo	3
Song Sparrow	3
Lincoln’s Sparrow	2
Northern Waterthrush	1
Common Yellowthroat	1
American Redstart	1

—

Daily		Season
Birds Banded	16	Total Banded	1037
Species Banded	7	Standard Banded	1032
Birds Recapped	0	Species Banded	47
Species Recapped	0	Total Recapped	135
Species on Census	41	Species Recapped	12
Species Recorded	63	Species Recorded	126

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Mid-Season Report

This August has been our busiest in the 15 seasons that the TLBO has been in operation, both in terms of birds banded and detected overall. Several species seem to have had good breeding years locally, not least the American Redstarts which have smashed their previous record of 86 banded (99 banded to date and we will catch a half dozen or so more I expect!). On day 1 we banded a whopping 22 of this beautiful warbler, certainly a single day record here. To put that in perspective, our lowest season total is 28 banded (2017) and we average 50 per season.

One of a record 99 American Redstarts banded this August

Warbling Vireos and Swainson’s Thrushes, two of our commonest species locally, also have had a great month and top our banding charts so far, between them accounting for 1/3 of all birds banded. In addition to the American Redstarts, a few of the other warblers have been caught in high numbers which is great to see as for most the past 5-7 seasons have largely been a fair bit lower than in earlier years. Yellow Warblers, with 97 banded, are having their first higher year since 2014; Northern Waterthrush, one of the species that sees the least year-to-year fluctuation here, are at their 2nd highest season total with 56 banded just three short of the season record from 2010; and Wilson’s Warblers, with 50 banded, are at their highest since 2014.

Conversely, species of damp meadows and wetlands seem to be having a low year with “Traill’s” Flycatcher (11, including those determined to be either Alder or Willow), Common Yellowthroat (29) and Lincoln’s Sparrows (28) all being banded in low numbers. These latter two are often becoming among our most banded by this time of the season which doesn’t bode well for the first half of September. Time will tell if they arrive in numbers or if perhaps other species pick up their slack in our nets.

In terms of observations, both our 14 346 detections and total of 126 species are the highest of any single month during the previous 14 seasons. Many of the species mentioned in the above section are following the same trend as what we are seeing in the nets. Mixed flocks dominated by Warbling Vireos have been regular over the past 2-3 weeks, especially in the vicinity of the banding lab and along the Homathko River, near to and just north of our back nets. Meanwhile, good numbers of Swanson’s Thrushes are detected most days in the red osier dogwood-dominated understory around the banding lab. The early season also saw good numbers of Swallows and the 307 total detections is quite high for us. Violet-green are always our most common swallow and accounted for 204 of these detections. Mountain Chickadees also seem to be around in higher numbers than normal with the 137 detections already higher than most full season totals for previous years. Alas, we still have yet to catch one this season! A list of the most common species detected so far can be found below.

The month has had plenty of highlights though nothing too surprising has shown up. In our nets the undoubted highlight was our first banding record of Sora. A hatch-year male was caught in Net 17 on Aug. 28. Other unusual banding records include our 4th Tennessee Warbler on August 3; our 8th Magnolia Warbler on August 10; our 7th Blackpoll Warbler on August 14; our 14th Northern Harrier on August 17 and our 4th Gray Catbird on August 25.

Our 1st banding record of a Sora was perhaps the highlight of the season to date!

Outside of our nets highlights were topped by the TLBO’s first Broad-winged Hawk, a juvenile of which was observed soaring to the east of the banding lab on August 21. Other species of note for us here included a Greater-white-fronted Goose on the lagoon on August 18; a Lesser Yellowlegs (3rd record) noted flying over on August 8; a Mourning Dove spotted in the pines east of the banding lab on August 9; and a Clay-colored Sparrow spotted in the willows along the Homathko hear our nets early on August 17. While we banded one of each, we also saw single Blackpoll, Magnolia and Tennessee Warblers, the latter two of which were for sure different individuals from those banded.

Song Sparrows were our 7th most detected species with 582 detections

It has been a great first half of the season and we are looking forward to what September has in store for us! Below is a table of all birds banded and recapped this August.

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Species	Band	Recap
Warbling Vireo	212	5
Swainson’s Thrush	175	23
American Redstart	99	18
Yellow Warbler	97	5
Song Sparrow	87	53
Northern Waterthrush	56	11
Wilson’s Warbler	50	1
Orange-crowned Warbler	48	3
Common Yellowthroat	29	3
Lincoln’s Sparrow	28	6
MacGillivray’s Warbler	26	3
Western Tanager	20	0
Cedar Waxwing	10	0
Oregon Junco	9	0
American Robin	8	0
Savannah Sparrow	8	0
Traill’s Flycatcher	7	0
Townsend’s Warbler	6	0
Pacific-slope Flycatcher	5	0
Black-capped Chickadee	4	4
Hammond’s Flycatcher	4	0
Red-eyed Vireo	4	0
Pine Siskin	4	0
Sharp-shinned Hawk	3	0
Yellow-rumped Warbler	3	0
Vesper Sparrow	3	0
White-crowned Sparrow	3	0
Willow Flycatcher	2	0
Alder Flycatcher	2	0
Dusky Flycatcher	2	0
Red-breasted Nuthatch	2	0
Spotted Towhee	2	0
Chipping Sparrow	2	0
Evening Grosbeak	2	0
Purple Finch	2	0
Northern Harrier	1	0
Sora	1	0
Red-naped Sapsucker	1	0
Downy Woodpecker	1	0
Hairy Woodpecker	1	0
Western Wood-pewee	1	0
Cassin’s Vireo	1	0
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	1	0
Gray Catbird	1	0
Tennessee Warbler	1	0
Magnolia Warbler	1	0
Blackpoll Warbler	1	0
Red-winged Blackbird	1	0

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Aug. 30: A Dove Blowing in the Wind

Wind management

With a second late night in a row under our collective belts both Avery and I awoke with one functional brain between the two of us. The north wind was blowing strongly as we arrived at the station which meant that net 14 and our hawk nets would remain closed throughout the duration of the morning. Two more nets would succumb to the wind later on. Either the birds had departed overnight or they had found a more suitable place to forage for there was a notable lack of avian activity around the station. Captures were low as our day’s tally was 15 birds banded and two recaptures.

Left: “Oregon” Junco in juvenal plumage. Right: a good example of the narrow and pointed shape of juvenal tail feathers

A hatch-year “Oregon” Dark-eyed Junco (our ninth of the season) in juvenal plumage provided a great illustration of the shape and quality of juvenal tail feathers which we use for aging. For the second day running Swainson’s Thrush were our top banded bird at five whilst Warbling Vireos, which had cleared out overnight, were tied in second with Lincoln’s Sparrow at two birds banded apiece. The sluggish day would end on a high note as the final bird banded of the session was our 2nd Red-breasted Nuthatch of the season! We don’t tend to capture of many of these lovely birds whom often tend to be under-appreciated due to the fact that they are year-round residents.

Our second hatch-year male Red-breasted Nuthatch of the season!

Besides the howling of the wind and subsequent sound of the dancing leaves the station was rather quiet. The odd flyover flight calls of a Yellow-rumped Warbler were few and far between with half the individuals seen today (45) compared to yesterday. The silence was punctuated on a couple occasions with the sweet piercing calls of individual Evening Grosbeaks as they cruised overhead. This species has been rather numerous around the station and seems to be a daily fixture which is likely due to the finch irruption of last winter. As with other finches, like Red Crossbills, they can be “typed” based on their flight calls. Currently there are 5 recognized flight call types (denoted numerically 1-5) in North America. The predominant flight call type in our region is “Type 1”, but we always have our ears peeled for an errant Type 2, 3 or 4. If you are interested in typing fiches by flight call this is a perfect species to start with for with a little practice they are very easy to differentiate by ear and spectrogram. To learn more, check out this great article: https://ebird.org/news/evening-grosbeak-call-types-of-north-america

A record shot of our first Eurasian Collared Dove of 2021 that leaves a lot to be desired.

Out in the field American Pipits were scarce as we only saw one. In anticipation of the arrival of more individuals of this species Avery and Jannaca set about erecting our “Pipit Fence” which we first created back in 2018. It consists of a line of three two-panel nets that run along a small rise in the field to the north of the station. Pipits may have been scarce but their more refined brethren the Horned Lark were out in numbers as Avery and I flushed a flock of 20 which was our first record of this species in 2021. While Avery was off on a windy census Jannaca and I were treated to views of our first Eurasian Collared Dove of the season as it alighted atop a panel of the Russel fence to the east of us. With those two additions our season tally jumped to 125!

Indian Paintbrush: a spot of colour in an otherwise dreary day

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Species	Band	Recap
Swainson’s Thrush	5	2
Warbling Vireo	2
Lincoln’s Sparrow	2
Song Sparrow	1	1
Red-breasted Nuthatch	1
Orange-crowned Warbler	1
Yellow Warbler	1
Wilson’s Warbler	1
Oregon Junco	1
American Redstart		1

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Daily		Season
Birds Banded	15	Total Banded	1021
Species Banded	9	Standard Banded	1016
Birds Recapped	4	Species Banded	47
Species Recapped	3	Total Recapped	135
Species on Census	25	Species Recapped	12
Species Recorded	51	Species Recorded	125

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Aug. 28: Sora for Not Writing this Blog Earlier!

It has been an eventful past couple days with much in the way of extracurricular activity which has left us without time to write our usual daily blog posts! With plenty to report we decided to go back and do separate daily posts for each of the 28-30th so our apologies if these end up a bit out of order.

We were welcomed early on in the morning by our first Northern Goshawk of the season. A juvenile decided to circle right over the banding lab and alight in a nearby tree, not once but twice! We never did figure out what attracted it to that particular, innocuous enough seeming, perch but we weren’t going to complain as we got awesome views and it was a lifer for one of our volunteers, Jannaca. To learn more about this large somewhat secretive forest dweller click on the link: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Goshawk

A curious young Northern Goshawk

The banding proceeded at a modest pace for the first few hours. We caught two “Gambel’s” White-crowned Sparrows, one of our later migrants, as well as our 2nd Spotted Towhee and 3rd Vesper Sparrow of the season. The latter was a highlight for Emma as she had wanted to see one during her stint here earlier in the season. At 10:50 we had a big wave of birds in the back nets with nets 11, 12 and 17 filling up with 25 birds. Among the mostly Warbling Vireos were three Pine Siskins. This would give Sachi and Emma, who banded them, a good opportunity to compare the different age groups in quick succession. Another push of birds in net 1 on the last net round before closing would push us up to a healthy 62 birds banded for the day.

Our first ever banding record of a Sora!

The undoubted highlight of the day, and perhaps the season(!), was when a medium-small bird flushed from beside my feet as I was leaving net 18 after checking it. As I watched, it fluttered into the lane of net 17 and I went after it as fast as I could. Rounding the corner, I could see the Sora caught in the top pocket! This was our first ever banding record of a rail at the TLBO so you can imagine our collective excitement in getting to observe it in the hand. The subtlety of the plumage was quite stunning and the disproportionately large feet widened our grins even further.

We were able to age and sex this bird as a hatch-year (brownish eye) male (black-flecking on face and more yellow on bill)

Observations over the course of the day were hampered by a fairly strong south wind that picked up just as I was setting off on census. My walk down to the lake was therefor a bit of a bust with just 21 species encountered and if it wasn’t for a few species right at the end such as Red-necked Grebe and Spotted Sandpiper, as I scanned the lake I would have had the ignominy of a sub-20 census. A Northern Harrier that cruised low over my head as I walked back past the lagoon lifted my spirits though.

After banding, Sachi and I wolfed down a quick lunch of leftovers and met up with volunteers Calypso and Evan with whom we’d made plans to hike up Butler Peak. The access is via West Branch valley, around the other side of the Niut Range and the final stretch of road up to the trail head quite atrocious. In the end we made it a couple kilometres up this road before deciding to park and walk the remaining ~4km. Fortunately, the trail to the peak itself is only about 2km long so while it made for a longer hike than we’d planned (especially given that we only left the vehicle at 3pm) it was manageable enough and walking the road itself was more than pleasant and provided us with many opportunities to stop and botanize. Birdlife was minimal though Golden-crowned Kinglets were common and we enjoyed great, eye-level looks at a couple Townsend’s Warblers.

Male Spruce Grouse, ironically, it chose to fly to a Lodgepole Pine tree

Once on the trail itself, we were in more subalpine habitat and we flushed a male Spruce Grouse into a nearby tree and he posed for photos and prolonged looks. The views soon opened up and before long we were making the final ascent up the steep final ~300m of trail to the ridge. Before clambering up we scanned the slopes across the valley and picked out a good-sized Grizzly Bear feeding away in the meadow. From the top we had amazing views down West Branch and northward toward Tatla Lake, as well as the stunning panorama of the peaks east and south of us. After some celebratory peaches, courtesy of Calypso, we had to start back down as it was already nearly 7pm. En route down we heard a couple Boreal Chickadees but we mainly just focused on making tracks, getting to the vehicle at 9pm and home after 10:00 for a a quick, and very late(?) dinner.

The eBird list for our banding session can be found HERE

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Species	Band	Recap
Warbling Vireo	21	1
Swainson’s Thrush	10	1
Yellow Warbler	7
Song Sparrow	5	3
Orange-crowned Warbler	4
Common Yellowthroat	3
Pine Siskin	3
Black-capped Chickadee	2
White-crowned Sparrow	2
Sora	1
American Robin	1
Spotted Towhee	1
Vesper Sparrow	1
Oregon Junco	1

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Daily		Season
Birds Banded	62	Total Banded	969
Species Banded	14	Standard Banded	964
Birds Recapped	5	Species Banded	47
Species Recapped	3	Total Recapped	125
Species on Census	21	Species Recapped	12
Species Recorded	60	Species Recorded	122

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Aug. 29: 1000 Birds Banded plus MOTUS

After a late night due to our epic afternoon excursion up Butler peak in the neighbouring valley of West Branch we were, unsurprisingly, weary as dawn proclaimed its nearness with the customary show on the tips of the Niuts. Today would mark Emma’s last morning with us for this stint and we are very grateful for all her help and look forward to her next visit.

Evan holding the bird of the day: hatch-year female Sharp-shinned Hawk.

After several busy days of banding, activity in our nets slowed somewhat with 37 birds banded on the day. The “Long Game” that Swainson’s Thrush has been playing paid off as they topped the daily tally with 11 birds banded followed by the “Boom or Bust” Warbling Vireos with 7 banded. The 0920 net round would provide the excitement for the day when I rounded the corner at nets 9 and 10 to see a hatch-year Sharp-shinned Hawk stock-still awaiting me in the bottom pocket of 10. Even on a good day Net 10 tends not to catch many birds, due in part to the fact that it runs parallel to the Homathko and that it has been overgrown by the surrounding alders. The other momentous achievement of the day was that we banded our 1000th bird of the season thus setting a new TLBO record by surpassing 2015’s tally of 989 on August 29th. It was fitting that the fateful bird happened to be a Warbling Vireo which is currently our most banded species at 206 this season. This gleaning species has been rather abundant of late with large mixed flocks that have been feeding in the alder and willow scrub along the Homathko for the past weeks. As an aside, Vireo nests at perhaps one of the most fantastic that I have ever seen. They weave a suspended cup of cobwebs, lichen, animal hair and possibly bark that hangs from a forked twig. It is truly unique and if you are ever fortunate enough to find one you will know what I mean. To learn more about this interesting species click HERE.

Warbling Vireo striking a pose: Bird 1000 banded for 2021

On the sighting front, the local Sandhill Cranes made their presence known early on as we could hear their prehistoric bugling, rattle-like calls from the south field. The immature Cooper’s Hawk gave up on trying to find a nice perch in the old growth Douglas-fir to the east of the station as it was driven off by the resident American Kestrels. Yellow-rumped Warblers were on the move, in slightly less numbers than in days previous, with a total of 85 individuals detected as they made their way south down the valley. Whilst down at the lagoon I heard the flatter flight call of the “Myrtle” subspecies as it landed in a nearby alder and gave me a moment to see the distinctive “cheek-like” appearance coupled with the pale supercillium that differentiates “Myrtles” from their western counterparts the “Audubon’s” subspecies. On my way back from census I heard our first Golden-crowned Kinglets of the season as they gently called whilst foraging amidst a marauding pack of rambunctious Mountain Chickadees. 

Closeup of the Sharp-shinned Hawk.

To view today’s eBird checklist click on the link: https://ebird.org/checklist/S93956760

MOTUS Tower Installation:

After banding we met up with Fritz Mueller and Peter Shaughnessy of the Tatlayoko Field Station Society along with Mike Smialowski, our resident radio expert, to head up to one of Mike’s towers. Our aim was to install our new MOTUS Wildlife Tracking System recieving station. This station uses antennas to receive VHF frequencies that are emitted from small radio tags applied to migrating birds. The TLBO, in collaboration with Rocky Point Bird Observatory in Metchosin on southern Vancouver Island and Eric Demers of Vancouver Island University, have obtained MOTUS tags to affix to Northern Saw-whet Owls later this season in the hopes to better understand their migration. To learn more about the MOTUS tracking system, see where towers are located and projects that are using this technology click HERE.

Yours truly bring in one of two antennae.

We are so grateful for Mike’s help as he designed an ingenious system to affix the two antenna to his existing tower and was integral in the whole installation process. In the next week or so we will be setting up our owl nets and once we receive our 10 tags, each weighing about one gram, we will be affixing them to some lucky Saw-whet Owls.

Peter and I helping hoist the first antenna while Mike orchestrates from the top of the tower.

I will leave you with this final image of the completed tower. It is our hope that this will be the beginning of more collaborative research projects tracking avian wildlife in the valley and beyond.

The finished product

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Species	Band	Recap
Swainson’s Thrush	11	2
Warbling Vireo	7
Song Sparrow	3	3
Orange-crowned Warbler	3
Common Yellowthroat	3
Yellow Warbler	3
Oregon Junco	3
Northern Waterthrush	2
Sharp-shinned Hawk	1
Lincoln’s Sparrow	1
MacGillivray’s Warbler		1

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Daily		Season
Birds Banded	37	Total Banded	1006
Species Banded	10	Standard Banded	1001
Birds Recapped	6	Species Banded	47
Species Recapped	3	Total Recapped	131
Species on Census	41	Species Recapped	12
Species Recorded	60	Species Recorded	122

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Aug. 27: Vireo Fallout with Pine Siskin

With scattered showers overnight and the wind lightly blowing down out the north we were back to a cooler start at 2°C. The clouds would dissipate over the course of the morning unveiling fresh snow on the mountaintops to the south.

Avery took this opportunity to have a much deserved sleep in whilst Jannaca, Emma and I set about unfurling the nets. Our captures early on were all about quality over quantity as Emma had the pleasure of banding our second Sharp-shinned Hawk of the season right off the bat. With 2 banded we are currently tied with our two lowest season totals for this species (2008 and 2009) as we tend to band an average of around six per season with our record season coming in 2018 at 14 banded.

Hatch-year male Sharp-shinned Hawk

Not long after Emma also banded our second Chipping Sparrow of the season. As with the Sharp-shinned, we tend to capture very few individuals of this species as the large flocks that accumulate during the earlier part of the season prefer to forage far away from our nets. It was a day of “Streaky Sparrows” as we also would add our customary Lincoln’s, Song and a stately beyond its years hatch-year Savannah Sparrow. 

A well put together hatch-year Savannah Sparrow

The day’s banding pace would proceed to be slow and steady with birds coming in by the handful per net round until closing when an errant cloud without warning began to drop its rain down upon us. As I sped ahead checking nets with the others closing them up behind me I was pleasantly surprised that the weather had pushed many of the Warbling Vireos along with some of their friends, who had up until now been foraging just out of reach, into our nets. The net round would tally 19 new birds and 1 recapture with a diamond amongst the veritable “rough” of Warbling Vireos in the shape of our first Pine Siskin of the season! This final net round was nearly half of our daily total of 51 birds banded and 10 recaptures. Two of those recaptures were inter-annuals with a Swainson’s Thrush who had been first banded in 2018 and a Black-capped Chickadee from 2020. Today’s effort boosted our season’s total up over the 900 birds banded mark at 907 which is second only to 2015 when there had been 963 birds banded at this juncture. Interestingly we had only banded 487 birds by this point in 2020.

Diamond in the rough, a scruffy second-year Pine Siskin

As in past days, activity was much more concentrated in particular areas as mixed flocks of Warbling Vireos and Warblers worked their way along the margins of both the Homathko and on either sides of the old road that serves as our trail from net 1 to to 10. Yellow-rumped Warblers were on the move again today with good numbers calling as they flew overhead on both sides of the valley. By the end of census however the flow of Yellow-rumps had diminished somewhat with a few now moving northwards as I made my way back to the station. Savannah Sparrows have been building in numbers in both the north and south fields right on schedule. There were more raptors around again with an adult Cooper’s Hawk perched down by the lake and a hatch-year of the same species later seen perched atop the “Kestrel” snag before being run off by a trio of American Kestrels who decided to flex their muscles. The most notable sighting of the day was when Avery heard the quintessential “pique” of an American Three-toed Woodpecker just before it arced up on to the woodpecker snag behind the banding lab. We sure will be sad when the wind eventually blows this favoured perch over. Our final tally was a formidable 71 species observed on the day!

To see the who and how many of each species we encountered today click on the link to our eBird checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S93811550

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Species	Band	Recap
Warbling Vireo	22
Swainson’s Thrush	8	3
Orange-crowned Warbler	2	1
MacGillivray’s Warbler	2	1
Cedar Waxwing	2
Savannah Sparrow	2
Lincoln’s Sparrow	2
Song Sparrow	1	3
American Redstart	1	1
Sharp-shinned Hawk	1
Willow Flycatcher	1
American Robin	1
Northern Waterthrush	1
Yellow Warbler	1
Wilson’s Warbler	1
Chipping Sparrow	1
Oregon Junco	1
Pine Siskin	1
Black-capped Chickadee		1

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Daily		Season
Birds Banded	51	Total Banded	907
Species Banded	18	Standard Banded	902
Birds Recapped	10	Species Banded	46
Species Recapped	6	Total Recapped	120
Species on Census	48	Species Recapped	12
Species Recorded	71	Species Recorded	121

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Aug. 26: Bulking up, Thrush Style

Our run of cold mornings came to a halt with overnight cloud cover and strong south winds. By morning the wind had died down and we were greeted with a balmy 10°C. Sachi and I picked up returning volunteer Jannaca, who is staying just up the road from us en route to the station. Emma had arrived before us and mentioned there had been 8 Ruffed Grouse by the banding lab upon her arrival, the first large group we’ve detected this season.

The warmer weather didn’t seem to correspond with an increase in early morning bird activity however. What we did catch included a trio of Swainson’s Thrush who had evidently been taking full advantage of the local berry crop and had fat scores of 6 or 7, the latter being the high end of our fat score chart. With a lean mass of ~27-30g these three all weighed between 39 and 40g! Essentially they had added on 1/3 again their lean weight in fat! Incredibly, one of these had done so in just 5 days as we originally banded it on Aug. 21 when it weighed just 30g. These fat deposits are the fuel for the bird’s migration and can power flights of up to a couple thousand kilometres in distance. Once they get to this stage they are primed for migration the next time we get a clear, calm night. The below photos illustrate the bulging fat deposits on the chest, flanks, and even around the back of the neck. To see the fat we gently blow on the feathers to part them.

Bulging fat deposits in the furcular hollow (indicated by red line on chest) and flanks

When they have this much fat it even extends onto the neck

The early hours of the morning saw quite a few Yellow-rumped Warblers flying over but their movement seemed to be more or confined to the first hour or so. A duo of Common Loons, circling a few times against the golden-edged clouds as I made my way back from opening nets was a superb way to kick off the day. While the wind had nearly abated by dawn, it started picking up just before census and this made for a rather underwhelming count for me as I made my way down the census route to the lake. While there was a noted dearth of birds I did get to enjoy a curious female Mule Deer as well as a healthy looking Black Bear along the road as I made my way back to the banding lab.

With an abundance of volunteers this week were were able to put everyone to work as Sachi encountered 22 birds in the nets on the 8:15 net round. This wave of birds greeted our two visitors, Wendy and Paul who got to enjoy a nice suite of birds including Common Yellowthroat, Yellow, Orange-crowned and Wilson’s Warblers as they were processed by Emma and Jannaca. This one net round accounted for nearly half our banding total as we finished the day with 41 birds banded and 5 recaps. One of our last birds of the day was a stunning adult male American Redstart that was just finishing its moult so was in all its regal finery.

An Olive-sided Flycatcher posed against the Niuts for me during census

Emma was our star observer today, spending most of the morning getting observations including a trio of Sharp-shinned Hawks, a Cooper’s Hawk, a couple Cassin’s Finches and a pair of mystery shorebirds on the lagoon that were to far to identify without a scope.

Today’s eBird list can be found HERE

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Species	Band	Recap
Warbling Vireo	10	1
Yellow Warbler	8
Orange-crowned Warbler	6
Wilson’s Warbler	5
Lincoln’s Sparrow	5
Swainson’s Thrush	4	3
Common Yellowthroat	1
American Redstart	1
Song Sparrow	1
Northern Waterthrush		1

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Daily		Season
Birds Banded	41	Total Banded	856
Species Banded	9	Standard Banded	851
Birds Recapped	5	Species Banded	45
Species Recapped	3	Total Recapped	110
Species on Census	26	Species Recapped	12
Species Recorded	62	Species Recorded	121

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Aug. 25: From Catbird to Creepers to Pipits!

It was another clear and cool night resulting in our second consecutive cold start at 1.5°C. Emma arrived in the valley last night for a stint of volunteering and was out come dawn helping us unfurl our nets. Activity was rather muted as the ever prudent avian life waited out the cold before stirring. One Swainson’s Thrush however obviously subscribes to the notion that “The early bird gets the worm” or berry in this case as I retrieved it out of trusty net 14 on my way back from opening nets. Once out the bag I noticed that it was a recapture with a “prefix” that differed greatly from that of the current string that we have in circulation. For those of you whom are unfamiliar with the banding world there are different band sizes that correspond to the varying size of bird’s legs. Most species get the same sized band (e.g. all Swainson’s get a 1B) with the smallest being 0A then 0, 1, 1B, 1A and so on all the way up to size 9C (the size for an American White Pelican). Each band has a unique nine-digit number that is broken up into a four-digit “prefix” and a five-digit “suffix”. A string contains 100 bands that all have the same prefix (e.g. 2981) whilst the suffix counts up from 00001 to 00100. Anyhow, this bird having an odd prefix 2661 turned out to be first banded on August 7th, 2017 as a hatch-year making it 4 years old! Its second capture wasn’t until August 11th, 2020 at which point there was evidence of a brood patch meaning that she was a female. September 2nd marked her third capture when she was sampled as part of the “Moult Migration Project” that is looking into how some species appear to perform a small migration before undergoing their annual moult instead of the more conventional method of moulting directly on their breeding grounds before beginning their migration south.

Hatch-year Gray Catbird, the fourth ever banded at the TLBO!

The excitement would continue for on the next round I found a Gray Catbird still very much in its downy juvenal plumage in net 1 which would indicate that this species may have successfully bred somewhere in the valley. Catbirds are rather sparse in the valley and as such we have only detected them in nine out of the 15 seasons that the TLBO has been in operation. Our captures are even more infrequent as this represents only the 4th banding record of this species. Later on we would catch our first Red-breasted Nuthatch of the season in net 16. These little birds are always a highlight as we don’t tend to catch very many each year for their foraging habits usually mean that they keep to the forest and well away from our net lanes. As can be seen in the photo below the feathers on the bird’s back are a brighter blue indicating that they are fresh and or recently replaced (moulted) whilst the duller feathers in the wing are retained juvenal feathers. This contrast is one of the ways that we can age this bird as a hatch-year coupled with the black cap (not very evident in the photo) make it a male as well. The third new species of the day was a young Traill’s (Willow/Alder) Flycatcher that after performing our suite of six measurements and plugging them into our formula resulted in our first Willow Flycatcher of the season. Willow and Alder Flycatchers closely resemble each other and are often separated by range. We however appear to be on the southern extent of the Alder’s range with the Willows just south of us making the valley a possible part of the contact zone between these two species. They are notoriously difficult to tell apart especially when silent so we use morphological measurements to determine which species the individual in the hand belongs to. Sometimes even the measurements indicate an intermediate thus leaving the bird with the moniker Traill’s Flycatcher. Today was a bit of a change in pace from days previous as our captures were down with only 23 birds banded on the day. It was however enough to push us up over the 800 birds banded for the season mark!

Hatch year male Red-breasted Nuthatch; note the contrast between the back and wing.

Bird activity was muted through the early morning and with the added help of Emma this meant that two of us were able to be out birding at any given time. Census started off slow with a handful of birds mainly “Audubon’s” Yellow-rumped Warblers calling as they flew overhead. A Dusky Flycatcher elicited a truncated song from its familiar spot north of the pines. Yellow-rumps a.k.a. “Butter-butts” were on the move as they made up the bulk of the birds that I encountered in the south field and further on towards to the lagoon. Once there I encountered a little mixed flock of Orange-crowned, Yellow and Wilson’s Warblers with Song Sparrow, Mountain and Black-capped Chickadee mixed in. Yellow-rumps seemed to be congregating in and around the lagoon as I would double my count for a conservative estimate of 65. In the coming weeks we will be keeping our ears peeled for lower and flatter flight calls which will announce the the arrival of our first “Myrtle” Yellow-rumped Warblers which are the subsepcies that breeds in Boreal. To learn more about this species and the two subspecies contained within click HERE.

Hatch-year female Red-breasted Nuthatch; note the blue crown.

With the lagoon deserted I continued on to the lake. Hearing a high frequency ascending “Tsee-Tsee” call from nearby which prompted me to look up the trunk of an old Cottonwood tree where I saw two Brown Creepers working the crevices in the gnarled bark. This is our first sighting of the season of this often cryptic species. Their calls are such a high frequency that they are often missed while the bird itself is so otherwise quiet and gentle making it doubly easy to pass by without noticing. Out on the lake the Loon was joined by an immature Pied-billed Grebe, the customary Red-necked Grebes, a Ring-necked Duck and an immature Barrow’s Goldeneye. Four silent Killdeer stood still as sentinels near the mouth of the Homathko whilst the Spotted Sandpiper frantically bobbed to and fro.

A fairly rare human moment at the TLBO!

Up at the station our eagerly anticipated American Pipits finally arrived spurring us to cut up an old net into a two-panel section to replace the one that we lost last year in our “Pipit Fence”. Later on we would be joined by our other two volunteers who are visiting the valley for the next week. Just before our last net round before closing we were also joined by Sandy and Sandra from the TFSS along with their two friends who are visiting the valley as well.

When all was said and done the slow banding made for an uptick in observations with a final species tally of 67!

To see our eBird checklist click HERE.

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Species	Band	Recap
Swainson’s Thrush	5	1
Warbling Vireo	4
Wilson’s Warbler	3
Song Sparrow	2	5
Common Yellowthroat	2
Lincoln’s Sparrow	1	1
Willow Flycatcher	1
Red-breasted Nuthatch	1
Gray Catbird	1
Northern Waterthrush	1
MacGillivray’s Warbler	1
Oregon Junco	1

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Daily		Season
Birds Banded	23	Total Banded	815
Species Banded	12	Standard Banded	810
Birds Recapped	7	Species Banded	45
Species Recapped	3	Total Recapped	105
Species on Census	47	Species Recapped	12
Species Recorded	67	Species Recorded	121

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Aug. 24: So Much for Early Bird Gets the Worm

It was our first morning this season that we had a hint of frost on the ground and the thermometer on our arrival at the station read 0.5°C. The cool crisp air made for a particularly enhanced and prolonged colour show along the rugged slopes of the Niuts. unfortunately, by the time we were back at the banding lab after opening nets it had largely passed so we had to make do with some pics of the Niuts in “just” their normal attire.

The cool temperature seemed to make for some sluggish birds as it took an hour or so, until the sun started to hit the valley floor, before we noted much activity. So much for early birds and worms. The mixed species flocks seemed to be concentrated along the Homathko River and around/just east of (away from our nets) the banding lab today and this former provided Net 16 with it’s first really impactful day with 14 birds caught in it. This net is often not very busy early in the season but tends to pick up in late August and September as the species composition of the flocks shifts and they apparently prefer the environs of the river that the net is immediately adjacent and perpendicular to.

The Belted Kingfishers love this perch over the outflow of the Homathko River

It was just as well that the day got off to a slow start as on our second net round we noticed that an animal had apparently chewed through the loop and the end of the bottom trammel of net 15. Presumably a deer or something got caught up in it somehow. Fixing it with cold fingers meant I was a little late for census and the birds were in full swing by the time I was passing through the regenerating Aspens around the outhouse. There seemed to be a half dozen or more Swainson’s Thrush perching up, alongside the Robins and Waxwings in the treetops. Both Red-naped Sapsucker and Hairy Woodpecker were tapping away on dead snags. Flitting about below were the usual horde of Warbling Vireos, a few warblers and single Savannah and White-crowned Sparrows. It was hard to pull myself away from the activity but with the aim of completing the census in the allotted hour I pushed on and was pleased to find that more little mixed species flocks were to be found.

Our 1st Western Wood-Pewee of the season. Compared to the other small flycatcher they have very long wings

Along the edge of the lagoon field a mixed Warbler flock held “Audubon’s” Yellow-rumped, Orange-crowned and Yellow Warblers while a Great Blue Heron languidly flew over. Along the road a lone Least Flycatcher was feeding and giving its soft “pit” calls. The Ring-necked Duck that has been frequenting the lagoon had some friends today as there were now five. A suspicious looking little lump along the far side of the lagoon turned out to be a Wilson’s Snipe, basking in the sun’s warming rays. The lake was calm and a trio of Red-necked Grebes were just offshore while a little further along the north end of the lake was a juvenile Pied-billed Grebe.

A fine adult male American Redstart

Back at the banding lab Sachi noted our first Steller’s Jay of the season. Meanwhile, the birds were finally finding their way into the nets and my arrival back coincided with Sachi bringing in eight birds on the 9:15 net check. While the catch in the first half of the morning was mostly the duo of Swainson’s Thrush and Song Sparrows the Warbling Vireos, warblers and friends finally started to show up with the above mentioned Net 16 pulling more than its weight. The remainder of the morning was steadily busy and we were surprised to find our final tally was 54 birds banded along with 7 recaps – one of our best days this season! The Warbling Vireos and Swainson’s Thrushes accounted for around half of the total but we had a few less abundant birds such as our 6th Townsend’s Warbler, 4th Hammond’s Flycatcher of the season and our first Western Wood-pewee! The latter was caught in one of our hawk nets surprisingly.

A rather underwhelming photo of the banded Cassin’s Vireo

Near the end of the morning I walked up to the oxbow lake at the NW corner of our census area. The oxbow held two Green-winged Teal and both American Kestrel and Merlin were hunting nearby. Along the river just to the south I was able to take some average-at-best photos of a Cassin’s Vireo and was pleased to see from these that it was banded! Also notable was a Coyote that popped out into the field near the end of our net loop before scampering off to the east.

Coyote in the heat haze, with the “Harrier Net” in the background

Today was the last day that Sachi and I will be “flying solo” as tomorrow we will be joined by three volunteers, including Emma, our Assistant Bander for the first part of the season before Sachi arrived. I know she is hoping to catch a Northern Harrier so fingers crossed we can get her one in her time here!

Today’s eBird list can be found at: https://ebird.org/checklist/S93688745

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Species	Band	Recap
Warbling Vireo	13
Swainson’s Thrush	12
Song Sparrow	5	4
Orange-crowned Warbler	4
Yellow Warbler	4
Northern Waterthrush	2	1
American Redstart	2	1
Lincoln’s Sparrow	2	1
MacGillivray’s Warbler	2
Common Yellowthroat	2
Wilson’s Warbler	2
Western Wood-pewee	1
Hammond’s Flycatcher	1
Townsend’s Warbler	1
Savannah Sparrow	1

—

Daily		Season
Birds Banded	54	Total Banded	792
Species Banded	15	Standard Banded	787
Birds Recapped	7	Species Banded	42
Species Recapped	4	Total Recapped	98
Species on Census	44	Species Recapped	12
Species Recorded	68	Species Recorded	118

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Aug. 23: Blackpoll amidst the Hordes

With the Niuts obscured in cloud today, here are the lovely Potatoes for a change.

With rain lightly lingering we elected to treat ourselves to a proper leisurely breakfast in order to give the birds an extra half hour to wake and shake off the rain. This strategy appeared to have borne fruit until the “Tatlayoko Rain” began to sprinkle down on us as we began to open nets. With that task put on hold for the moment I took the opportunity to do a spot of birding as we waited out the spatter. The post storm bird activity was elevated in the alder and willows along the Homathko in the environs of nets 17 and 18. I watched as a mixed flock worked its way through one alder then the next then subsequently began fluttering through the gap in quick succession. Warbling Vireos dominated the flock – which would turn out to be somewhat prophetic – whilst Yellow, Wilson’s, “Audubon’s” Yellow-rumped Warblers and American Redstarts were in smaller numbers. Amidst the young “Audubon’s” that were still in their streaky juvenal plumage I spied a olive yellow warbler with crisp white wing bars, a lighter eyeline and orangish legs, a Blackpoll! Unfortunately despite my best efforts I was unable to get a good look at its right leg to see if it was the one that we banded back on the 14th of this month.

Home away from home: “The Banding Lab”.

With the rain finally petering out we set about opening the rest of our nets in earnest. Despite the foraging activity, captures were low with only six new birds banded before 8:45am. It was at this point that Avery set out on another net round whilst I made my way back from census. Net 14 was up to its usual tricks as it nabbed 14 birds out of one of the mixed flocks that was passing through. He would go on extract a further six birds to bring the net round’s total to 20. The pace would continue from here with more than 10 birds a round for the subsequent few rounds. The game changers today were Warbling Vireos as we would go on to band 21 today, with an estimated total of 85 individuals detected, bringing their season total to 129 banded. Swainson’s Thrush had been previously vying for the top spot but with only six banded today they will have to be content with second at 115 banded. The esteemed Wilson’s Warbler continued to come through in relative numbers at four banded, one of which was our first adult of the season. We banded two new species for 2021 the first of which was a Ruby-crowned Kinglet. These beautiful little birds are deemed short distance migrants as they winter from the southern USA to Guatemala. But with this hatch-year female only weighing in at 6.0 grams one could argue that is a rather substantial distance to travel! This may be our first individual banded of this species but it most assuredly won’t be our last as they tend to arrive in the valley in numbers from mid September onwards. There are days where the aspens can almost appear to be dripping with Ruby-crowned Kinglets while all that you can hear is their scolding cackles. To find out more about these regal little birds click HERE.

Hatch-year Purple Finch basking in the sun.

The second new species that we banded today was a pair of juvenile Purple Finches. We capture this species annually, albeit never in very high numbers. Silent birds of this species can be somewhat challenging to differentiate from its near relative the Cassin’s Finch, especially when in juvenal plumage. The bill is a dead giveaway as that of the Cassin’s finch is longer with a straight triangular appearance whilst that of a Purple Finch is smaller and slightly decurved. Facial patterning and the crispness thereof is also helpful. However, when you have a bird in the hand there are other measurements at your disposal namely, tail, wing and bill length. As with Flycatchers, vocalizations are a sure fire way to separate the two species if you are ever in doubt.

The day would eventually wind down with our final tally reaching 47 birds banded and 11 recaptures which put us well over the 700 birds banded milestone for the season as well as a total of 42 species banded.

Can you spot the Niuts? We couldn’t…

The Blackpoll Warbler was arguably the most exciting sighting of the day as there weren’t any new additions to this season’s tally. We spooked the three Sandhill Cranes that have been frequenting the area out of the north field with our arrival. Their near prehistoric shapes are always a sight to behold as they languidly take flight. We had American Wigeon for the second day running as I encountered a duo circling over the lagoon on census whilst later on Avery picked out a trio from the midst of a flying flock of Mallards. A flyover calling Solitary Sandpiper was the extent of our shorebirds for the day. Pine Siskins have mainly been seen and or heard flying over singularly or in small flocks around the property but today I spotted a single flock of roughly 100 individuals as I traversed the south field. It was a bit of a shock and I quickly recounted just to confirm that was indeed what I was seeing. After multiple days of missing it I spied the lone Ring-necked Duck out on the lagoon. Later we spied two high flying Herring Gulls as they circled over the north field, an immature shown below and an adult.

Immature Herring Gull: note the appearance of “windows” in the wing which is due to to the inner primaries being lighter than the rest.

When all was said and done we had identified 62 species comprised of nearly 600 individuals.

To see the the list of the species that we encountered today click the link to our eBird checklist: https://ebird.org/checklist/S93651201

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Species	Band	Recap
Warbling Vireo	21	1
Swainson’s Thrush	6	2
Wilson’s Warbler	4
Orange-crowned Warbler	3
Song Sparrow	2	4
Yellow Warbler	2	1
Purple Finch	2
Red-eyed Vireo	1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	1
MacGillivray’s Warbler	1
American Redstart	1
Yellow-rumped Warbler	1
Lincoln’s Sparrow	1
Traill’s Flycatcher	1
Black-capped Chickadee		2
Common Yellowthroat		1

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Daily		Season
Birds Banded	47	Total Banded	738
Species Banded	14	Standard Banded	734
Birds Recapped	11	Species Banded	41
Species Recapped	6	Total Recapped	91
Species on Census	47	Species Recapped	12
Species Recorded	63	Species Recorded	117

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Aug. 22: WIWAs and Woodpeckers

We were delayed opening nets for half hour this morning by a light shower/hail that commenced just as we were arriving at the station. Once we were able to get nets open it became evident that there was a reasonable amount of birdlife around and the customary regulars took to foraging about the bushes and chipping from therein.

Bandingwise, it was a slow and steady morning with a continuing high presence of Swainson’s Thrushes putting them joint top of our banding table for the day with six banded, all hatch-years. Wilson’s Warblers are increasing and six of them would also find their way into our nets. They are a species that is best sampled for by banding operations like this as they can be harder to detect, liking to foraging in a furtive manner in the interior of bushes and having a quite soft, sneezy call that is not as easy to pick up as some of their congeners. Another nice catch early on was a second-year female Cedar Waxwing, always a delight to see in the hand.

This hatch-year male was one of six Wilson’s Warbler (WIWA) banded today,

As I started off on census I was pleased to note a good variety of species in the immediate environs of the banding lab. I was even more excited when an American Three-toed Woodpecker flew over, heading west, across the Homathko River. This species is more regular at higher elevations but we seem to detect them in small numbers most years at the TLBO and this was our first of 2021. For a photo I took of this species on a hike last year check out the blog post from Aug. 23/2020. A Mountain Bluebird made its presence overhead known by giving its soft, liquid call as well. I continued to encounter a few birds here and there as I made my way south towards the lake. A trio of American Redstarts, including two adult males, were foraging in the pines; a Townsend’s Warbler foraged in the alders shortly afterward; an Olive-sided Flycatcher was hunting along the margins of the lagoon field; and the customary Common Loon and Bald Eagle were to be found at the north end of the lake.

A comparison of hatch-year (young) and after-hatch-year (adult) Dusky Flycatcher

On my way back to the station I encountered a couple more flycatchers in the form of another Olive-sided and both of the similar Hammond’s and Dusky Flycatchers. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a photo of the Hammond’s but Sachi did get nice photos later on of both an adult, with its worn plumage, and a hatch-year, in its fresh plumage, of the Dusky Flycatcher which allowed for the nice comparison photos above. Unlike most of our songbirds, many of the flycatchers, including Dusky, don’t do their moult until they reach their winter grounds and the adult’s feathers are very worn looking by this time of year. Another treat was in store for me as I neared the banding lab. I stopped to enjoy a flock of mostly “Audubon’s” Yellow-rumped Warblers and got quick looks at a young Tennessee Warbler! We caught an adult female of this infrequent spruce budworm specialist on Day 1 this year so it as nice to see a young one, perhaps an indication of successful breeding locally!

Two visitors from Victoria showed up at this time and we showed them what we do and they enjoyed a couple net rounds with us. We were fortunate to have a little up-tick in the birds in our nets and show them several different species up close as we banded them. While they were present we also spotted a distant flock of ~20 waterfowl, roughly half and half Mallards and our first American Wigeon of the season along with two unidentified Teal species.

A hatch-year Cassin’s Vireo, always a treat as we never catch many

The morning finished off with a final little pulse of birds in our nets, as often seems to be the case. Among the six birds we caught on the round before we closed nets were our first Cassin’s Vireo of the season as well as our first Red-naped Sapsucker. The latter was in one of our hawk nets and, as is usually the case with smaller/medium sized birds (and especially woodpeckers), it was royally tangled! One nice thing about the larger mesh size of the hawk nets is that while smaller birds get more tangled, one can often just pull the bird through the holes in the mesh, unlike in our normal songbird nets. A simple solution to what can at first appear to be a complicated problem.

Hatch-year male Red-naped Sapsucker

Today’s eBird list can be found at: https://ebird.org/checklist/S93605051

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Species	Band	Recap
Swainson’s Thrush	6
Wilson’s Warbler	6
Song Sparrow	5	2
Warbling Vireo	2
Common Yellowthroat	2
Lincoln’s Sparrow	2
American Redstart	1	1
Red-naped Sapsucker	1
Pacific-slope Flycatcher	1
Cassin’s Vireo	1
Cedar Waxwing	1
Northern Waterthrush	1
Orange-crowned Warbler	1
MacGillivray’s Warbler	1
Rufous Hummingbird	(1)

—

Daily		Season
Birds Banded	31	Total Banded	691
Species Banded	14	Standard Banded	687
Birds Recapped	3	Species Banded	39
Species Recapped	2	Total Recapped	80
Species on Census	41	Species Recapped	12
Species Recorded	62	Species Recorded	117

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