This morning was our eighth sub-zero start of the season which prompted me to wonder if this is more than usual? After digging through 16 season’s worth of weather data, and some associated regret at my mid-afternoon impulse, I had what I needed. Interestingly, the first three seasons (2006, 2007, and 2008) were the coldest with 18, nine, and nine mornings that started in the negatives respectively. Since then (2009-2022) we have averaged 2.4 days a season where the temperature at opening was below zero with a high of six days in 2012 and two seasons (2011 and 2019) where not a single day dipped below the zero mark. There are a few variables to consider, one of which is late starts due to weather which could skew these data while the other is the construction of the banding lab structure. The lack of a proper structure and instead a table under a tarp or awning (which is how the TLBO began) could account for so many frigid starting temps in the first three seasons. Anyhow, I admit that I digress for if you omit the first three season’s temperature data, 2023 is indeed the top season for freezing start times!
With that ignoble title under our belt the beginning of banding was once again delayed due to the frigid temperature and after only an hour and a half with most of our nets open the ferocious southerly that has been hounding us for the better part of the past 10 days arrived, forcing us to close all but our most sheltered nets. Those would fall one by one as the sun moved in the sky marking the passing time. Though brief we did have our best day in the past four as we captured and banded five new birds along with three recaptures. Almost all of these birds came on a single net round with a lonely Common Yellowthroat the only exception. Amidst our catch was some variety with two Ruby-crowned Kinglets who have now tied American Robin for the 10th spot on this season’s banding chart with 25 apiece. The others included, our 58th Song Sparrow (2nd place), 31st Lincoln’s Sparrow (7th place), and third Hermit Thrush (29th place) of 2023.
The other two recaptures were both adult Black-capped Chickadees one of which we first banded this season whilst the other was from last season with its only other recapture 10 days after its initial banding on September 2nd, 2022.
The decrease in net hours made way for more emphasis on the observational front as we would identify 50 species throughout the morning which was comprised of 758 individual birds! Census was a brisk affair so for once I was grateful for the bright sun as it shone down on me bringing some warmth back into my limbs whilst simultaneously leaving me momentarily blind. A Fox Sparrow greeted me with its distinctive “smacky” chip call as I walked eastwards into the rising sun. Detections of this big chunky high elevation breeder have been scarce this season with six, matching 2022’s total which is a good 11 less than our 16-season average of 17. I flushed a skulking White-throated Sparrow along with a covey of Ruffed Grouse as I left the thick alder tunnel and entered the open expanse of the south field. Out of habit I turned to check the tree tops back the way I had come and noted a light shape atop one of the two old growth pines where I had seen the Pygmy Nuthatch earlier this season. A closer inspection showed that it was a nice crisp adult Northern Shrike, our 142nd species of 2023 and our 11th of this species overall! After taking a few distant pictures I continued onwards.
After census was finished, I took a quick scan of the lagoon and found two ducks that weren’t there when I had passed by only 10 minutes earlier. The first was a Green-winged Teal while the second was our second detection of a Common Goldeneye this season. There are two species of Goldeneye, Barrow’s and Common, and females as well as young of the year are very hard to differentiate in the fall. In general bill morphology and forehead structure are the two aspects that you have to assess. Barrow’s Goldeneye have a steeper forehead with a larger nail (hard small bump at the end of a duck’s bill) and a more concave culmen which gives the impression of it being shorter overall. After spending some time watching this bird from various angles as it fed, I was satisfied that the nail was quite reduced with the bill appearing long with a straight culmen while the forehead was anything but steep. For a fun treatise on the subject click HERE. This is an exciting sighting as Common Goldeneye is far less common in our study area than Barrow’s with 57 detections overall which occurred only in six seasons (2007, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2022). Barrow’s on the other hand are more frequent with a detection in every season save 2010 with a total of 140 detections.
Near the end of the day I was visited by a quartet of Ruffed Grouse who unaware of my presence danced around in front of the banding lab looking for late elevenses. Once they became aware of my presence, they proceeded to show me how delightfully descriptive their name really is.
As I write the strong southerly has begun to calm with only the leaves of the aspens fluttering between dissipating moderate strength gusts which bodes well for our chances to get out owling after a two-night hiatus.
To see our eBird list for today, please visit: https://ebird.org/checklist/S150683586
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Species | Band | Recap |
Ruby-crowned Kinglet | 2 | |
Hermit Thrush | 1 | |
Song Sparrow | 1 | |
Lincoln’s Sparrow | 1 | |
Black-capped Chickadee | 2 | |
Common Yellowthroat | 1 |
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Daily | Season | ||
Birds Banded | 5 | Total Banded | 837 |
Species Banded | 4 | Standard Banded | 823 |
Birds Recapped | 3 | Species Banded | 53 |
Species Recapped | 2 | Total Recapped | 163 |
Species on Census | 36 | Species Recapped | 17 |
Species Recorded | 50 | Species Recorded | 142 |
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