Sept. 3: Standoff with a Sora

It was a blustery morning with the light North wind that started us off quickly shifting around to a South, always an ominous sign. Sure enough, by 8:00 when I set out on census Sachi already had to start closing our more exposed nets.

Lincoln’s Sparrows dominated the day comprising six of the 15 birds we banded and they were one of the few birds that seemed to be relatively abundant around the net loop. Our third Pacific-slope Flycatcher, and by far the brightest yellow of the trio, was banded mid-morning and provided us with our day’s banding highlight. Out of a generally drab group of birds (at least when discussing those that occur in BC), the Pacific-slope Flycatcher is an exception as the yellow-green tones can be really quite pleasing to the eye.

A bright young Pacific-slope Flycatcher

Census, while still enjoyable as always, was a bit of a struggle as detecting bird calls in the wind often felt like a bit of a fool’s errand. A few small groups of “Audubon’s” Yellow-rumped Warblers passed overhead and were followed by first a Western Tanager, then a Townsend’s Warbler that both landed for a quick stop atop the same Aspen snag. As I came out of the pine flats into the regenerating aspens that marks more or less the halfway point on the census route I heard the sharp calls of a White-throated Sparrow. This was my first of the season though Sachi had one earlier in August. As I crossed the South field I heard a lone type 4 Red Crossbill passing overhead. Red Crossbills are an example of evolution in action as there are over 20 different “types” (10 of which occur in North America), each with a different preferred conifer cone diet and slightly different calls. The Type 4 birds are associated with Douglas-fir, the predominant conifer in the valley bottom and lower slopes. Interestingly, this year we have noted mostly Type 3 (Western Hemlock) despite there not being much Hemlock around. For a very thorough read into this fascinating species (multiple species?) check out this article from 2017 “Crossbills of North America…“.

Swainson’s Thrush, our most banded bird this season

After I returned from census we setup four of the five owl nets in preparation for the upcoming owl banding season (we usually start around Sept 5-7). On one of our nets rounds, while Sachi was setting the nets up, I flushed a Sora from beside the trail near the Kingfisher net. The following net round it was there again but this time it didn’t fly but rather stood stock still only a few metres from me. After a 30 second standoff it decided to turn tail and tip-toe up the trail, flicking it’s tail in typical rail fashion.

• 

• 

Three of our Owl Nets

The eBird list for the day can be found HERE .

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Species	Band	Recap
Lincoln’s Sparrow	6
Song Sparrow	2	1
Swainson’s Thrush	1	1
Pacific-slope Flycatcher	1
Warbling Vireo	1
Orange-crowned Warbler	1
Common Yellowthroat	1
American Redstart	1
Oregon Junco	1

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Daily		Season
Birds Banded	15	Total Banded	754
Species Banded	9	Standard Banded	645
Birds Recapped	2	Species Banded	43
Species Recapped	2	Total Recapped	150
Species on Census	21	Species Recapped	17
Species Recorded	46	Species Recorded	115

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Sept. 2: Pied-billed for 115

It was another comfortable, clear and calm dawn as we opened our nets at 6:30am. It is amazing to think that since cresting the mid-point of the banding season the sun is now rising a full 45 minutes later than it did on our opening day (Aug. 3rd) and that when we unfurl our nets for the final time on September 28th dawn will be a further 35 minutes later (7:05am).

The Niuts, always spectacular

With ideal conditions captures were steady with roughly four birds per net round. Amongst these early birds were two Empids, namely our eighth Alder Flycatcher and our second Pacific-slope Flycatcher of 2020! We tend to catch anywhere from 1-7 individuals of the latter species per season as it is the most sparse of our regularly occurring Empidonax species with 43 captures over the 14 years of operation closely followed by Least Flycatcher at 49. A photo, along with some nesting details can be found on our post from Aug. 17: Quiz #1 – Fall Warbler Heads. A few other notables amidst the throng of sparrows, thrushes and Warbling Vireos were a hatch-year Northern Waterthrush, a handsome after hatch-year male MacGillivray’s Warbler and a subtly beautiful Savannah Sparrow along with our seventh “Oregon” Dark-eyed Junco of the season. As the designated “American Robin Bander” at the station I was very pleased to apply a shiny new band to our third one of 2020! The tally at day’s end was 30 new birds banded with 3 recaptures (all Swainson’s Thrush).

A stately Northern Waterthrush, #33 for 2020

The race for the top of the daily banding charts continued today with Swainson’s, Song and Common Yellowthroat tying for third with three banded apiece while Warbling Vireo took second with four banded behind Lincoln’s, “the king of the day” with five. Interestingly, those five species also make up the top five of our seasons banding totals to date with Swainson’s sitting comfortably in first at 92, followed Song and Warbling Vireo with 86 each,  while Lincoln’s sits at 75 and Common Yellowthroat rounds out fifth at 65 new birds banded this season.

The ever subtly beautiful Savannah Sparrow, #10 for 2020

Census started off with a bang as the mixed flock that has been working its way around the property over the past two days finally made it’s way to the section of regenerating aspen forest to the east of the outhouse. The husky scolding of both Mountain and Black-capped Chickadees joined the chorus while the sweet trilling notes of a singing Orange-crowned Warbler provided an acoustic counter balance. Further along, in the pines, I was treated to a Cassin’s Vireo having a conversation with itself accompanied by the harsh calling of a Red-eyed Vireo and a plethora of Warbling Vireos. I heard the liquid up-slurred calls of a Cassin’s Finch again, this time from atop an old growth lodgepole pine. Shortly there after the flight call of its close relative, a Purple Finch, caught my ear. The lagoon was sadly deserted except for six Mallards that promptly took off to land further off in the hidden sedge-line pond to the west. Three Spotted Sandpipers worked the shoreline while the nearly still lake quietly lapped at the smooth stones of the beach.

Spotted Sandpipers working the pebbled shore

While retracing my steps I wondered what our 115th species of the season would be. I wasn’t left to wonder long for as I scanned the previously empty lagoon I glimpsed first the white rump then the small form of a Pied-billed Grebe just as it dove beneath the still waters – species 115!

To view today’s eBird checklist click HERE.

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Species	Band	Recap
Lincoln’s Sparrow	5
Warbling Vireo	4
Swainson’s Thrush	3	3
Common Yellowthroat	3
Song Sparrow	3
Orange-crowned Warbler	2
Yellow Warbler	2
Pacific-slope Flycatcher	1
Alder Flycatcher	1
American Robin	1
Northern Waterthrush	1
MacGillivray’s Warbler	1
Wilson’s Warbler	1
Savannah Sparrow	1
Oregon Junco	1

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Daily		Season
Birds Banded	30	Total Banded	739
Species Banded	15	Standard Banded	632
Birds Recapped	3	Species Banded	43
Species Recapped	1	Total Recapped	148
Species on Census	39	Species Recapped	17
Species Recorded	54	Species Recorded	115

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Sep. 1: Mid-season Report

It was an uncharacteristically warm start to the morning, the result of a moderately stiff South wind that persisted as Sachi opened the nets. I had chosen to sleep in a bit after making the 6hr round trip to and from William’s Lake yesterday to drop off Morgan after her month with us. Despite the wind dying down to almost nothing from about 8:30 – 10:30 we still had little activity in our nets. Swainson’s Thrush accounted for six of the 16 total birds we banded and these included a couple adults that I was able to take samples from (see the August 20th blog post for more details on this research collaboration). Warbling Vireos continue to hit our nets as we banded another four, though they should be tapering off soon.

We banded our 6th Black-capped Chickadee of the season today

Sachi had a fair census with the usual candidates around and he had an increase in numbers of Yellow-rumped Warblers including our first detection of the Boreal-breeding “Myrtle” subspecies which arrive later than the western “Audubon’s” subspecies. He also heard a Fox Sparrow along the road, for the second day running.

The eBird list for today can be found HERE .

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Species	Band	Recap
Swainson’s Thrush	6	1
Warbling Vireo	4
Lincoln’s Sparrow	2
Song Sparrow	1	1
Black-capped Chickadee	1
Common Yellowthroat	1
Yellow Warbler	1

—

Birds Banded	16
Species Banded	7
Birds Recapped	2
Species Recapped	2
Species on Census	34
Species Recorded	45

—

As Sachi alluded to yesterday the Mid-season report that I usually write on August 31 had to be put off until today. August this year was quite slow in terms of birds banded though it got off to an only slightly-below-average first couple days. Most of the month saw us catching consistently below average numbers of birds and we were thankful that we had decided to setup a non-standard net, given the name “MXA”, that caught us 102 new birds on it’s own! This is a good example of how net placement can effect the number of birds caught and, while it is nice to have these extra birds, why it is important to maintain a standard set of net locations to keep the data consistent.

 

Over the course of the month we banded 588 birds from our standard nets which is the second lowest August total, after 2017. The cold summer likely played a big part in our low numbers as reproductive success for many species that breed locally was presumably adversely effected. This certainly seemed to be the case with many of our commonest breeders such as Swainson’s Thrush (81 banded – 21 of which were adults, a very high percentage), Warbling Vireo (65 banded), Common Yellowthroat (43 banded), American Redstart (35 banded), Northern Waterthrush (30 banded) and Yellow Warbler (25 banded). On the flip side, the aerial insectivores seemed to do well which was nice to see as this is one of the groups of birds that have seen the sharpest declines over the past few decades. Dusky Flycatcher in particular seemed to do well this year and we had two broods of young that were raised either side of the banding lab. We even found the nest of one of them, right across from net 1, the day before they fledged! At 14 banded (standard nets – plus another 6 from MXA) they are on course to match or pass the single season record of 20.

 

We recaptured a fairly high total of birds considering the low number banded. The 144 recaptures included several inter-annual recaptures the most interesting of which were a Swainson’s Thrush banded as a hatch-year in 2012 (making it 8 years old!) and a Red-eyed Vireo banded as an adult in 2017 (making it at least 4 years old).

Song Sparrows were our most recaptured bird (50 recaps) and 2nd most banded (71 standard) 

While we don’t band them, Swallow numbers were high around the station during the first 10 days or so of the season. The majority were Violet-green Swallows with a single day record for TLBO of 80 detected on August 3 and a single season record of 273 total detected. Another aerial insectivore, the Black Swift, was also detected with regularity during the first few weeks of the season. At 65 detections this is the second highest August total for this species at risk. Pine Siskin’s are always highly variable and their abundance seems to be tied to the Alder catkin crop. As this year seems to be quite good for this favoured food source there have been relatively high numbers around all season thus far and indeed they have been the most detected species to date with 1081 detections. For the second year running we are detecting high numbers of Clark’s Nutcrackers and we even had a single day record of 56 (mostly one big flock!) on August 11. Overall, the 10 641 detections for August is the 4th highest total at the TLBO.

As is always the case, we have been fortunate to have several interesting birds grace us with their presence. The most exciting of these was unquestionably the Gray-cheeked Thrush that we banded on August 29 – a new species for the TLBO! Another thrush caused a stir on August 23; a Veery, that was caught and banded representing just the 3rd banding record and fourth record overall for this species here. Honourable mentions need to go to a Juvenile Mew Gull (3rd record for TLBO) that was seen on three occasion, the first being August 15; a young House Wren (2nd record for TLBO) that was first spotted August 26th; A Black-backed Woodpecker (just the second one recorded since 2010) that made a brief appearance on the “woodpecker snag” behind the banding lab on August 25th; a Blackpoll Warbler that seen on census August 27th (8th record for TLBO) as well as a couple early Nashville Warblers (including the 12th banding record on August 9th).

Gray-cheeked Thrush!

American Kestrel

Veery

A female American Kestrel caught on the Bal-chatri trap was one of the outstanding moments of the season thus far and perhaps the biggest surprise was a Hooded Merganser that was caught in our “Kingfisher” Net along the Homathko River. Unfortunately we do not have the appropriate bands for ducks so it had to be released unbanded.

Every year is different when it comes to migration monitoring and the low numbers of birds in our nets contribute just as much to our overall goals of monitoring long-term population trends as busier times do. The upside of less time spent banding birds has been more time getting observations and trying to get good photos to post here on the blog. We are looking forward to what the second half of the season will bring us!

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Species	Banded	Recaps
Swainson’s Thrush	81	19
Song Sparrow	71	50
Warbing Vireo	65	4
Lincoln’s Sparrow	51	13
Common Yellowthroat	43	8
American Redstart	35	7
Wilson’s Warbler	31	0
Northern Waterthrush	30	5
MacGillivray’s Warbler	29	3
Yellow Warbler	25	5
Orange-crowned Warbler	23	1
Dusky Flycatcher	14	7
Cedar Waxwing	8	4
Pine Siskin	8	0
Savannah Sparrow	7	0
“Audubon’s” Yellow-rumped Warbler	7	0
“Traill’s” Flycatcher	6	3
Alder Flycatcher	6	1
Hammond’s Flycatcher	6	0
“Oregon” Dark-eyed Junco	5	0
Black-capped Chickadee	4	9
Willow Flycatcher	4	2
Sharp-shinned Hawk	4	0
Townsend’s Warbler	3	0
Red-eyed Vireo	2	2
American Robin	2	0
Downy Woodpecker	2	0
“Gambel’s” White-crowned Sparrow	2	0
Purple Finch	2	0
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	1	0
Chipping Sparrow	1	0
Nashville Warbler	1	0
Least Flycatcher	1	0
Lazuli Bunting	1	0
Brown-headed Cowbird	1	0
Western Tanager	1	0
Pacific-slope Flycatcher	1	0
Golden-crowned Kinglet	1	0
Veery	1	0
Hermit Thrush	1	0
Gray-cheeked Thrush	1	0

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Aug. 31: A Sad Goodbye

Traditionally today’s post is where we sum up the season thus far with a few fun graphs to help visualize our banding progress over the course of the month. Unfortunately I am going to have to let you all continue to eagerly anticipate said post for another day. The reason for this is that today while marking both the final day of August and the midpoint of our banding season also sadly was Morgan’s final day in the Tatlayoko Valley for as I write both her and Avery are likely enjoying the amenities of the big city!

The rain that continued through the night had abated by morning leaving the valley wet and sheathed in low lying fog. Fortunately this had an insulating effect as it was a balmy 6°C without so much as a breath of wind while we opened our soggy nets. The birds must have known that it was Morgan’s last day of banding for they continued to find our nets throughout the course of the morning resulting in 20 new birds banded by 9:25 at which point Avery and Morgan packed up their car, said their goodbyes to yours truly and set off to the “big” city of William’s Lake. Some of the highlights of the morning’s exploits included our 19th and 20th Dusky Flycatchers,  the ninth Audubon’s Warbler and sixth Sharp-shinned Hawk of the season!

Sharp-shinned Hawk silhouetted in the fog

The birds appeared to have left with Morgan and Avery as I averaged just over a bird a round. Fortunately this didn’t last as on closing I caught seven new birds and one recapture to end the day with 32 new birds banded and 5 recaptures. In this final group was a very stunning after hatch-year male American Redstart (our second of the day).

American Redstart #40 for 2020

The banding race continued with Swainson’s Thrush pushing again with five new birds banded to Song Sparrow’s two which was enough for the thrush at 83 to edge out its rival sparrow at 82.

Our chatty “Out” House Wren who later came by the lab

The House Wren that Avery spotted over by the outhouse on the 26th was back and kind enough to hop out into plain view as I searched for it at the beginning of census. It even added in its trademark jumbled rattling/chattering calls for good measure while posing for a few photos in the rays of the rising sun. While in the pines I ran into a good sized warbler mixed flock mainly comprised of Audubon’s with several vocal Common Yellowthroats, Wilson’s, Orange-crowned and two Townsend’s mixed in for good measure. Our new species of the day was Fox Sparrow (number 114 for 2020) as I heard the smacking calls of a pair while entering the south field. These high elevation breeders were likely forced down into the valley bottom by the snow that would have fallen in the high country. Four cavorting Violet-green Swallows spiced up the bleak sky overhead as I waded through the wet grasses of the south field. For the third day running the Solitary Sandpiper was working the edges of the otherwise silent lagoon while an immature Bald Eagle watched from its perch atop a gnarled Douglas-fir.

So ends the 14th August here at the TLBO, stay tuned for the “Mid-season” report tomorrow!

To view today’s list of sightings via our eBird checklist click HERE.

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Species	Band	Recap
Lincoln’s Sparrow	5	1
Swainson’s Thrush	5
Warbling Vireo	4	1
Yellow Warbler	4
Common Yellowthroat	3	1
Song Sparrow	2	2
Dusky Flycatcher	2
Orange-crowned Warbler	2
American Redstart	2
Sharp-shinned Hawk	1
Yellow-rumped Warbler	1
Wilson’s Warbler	1

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Daily		Season
Birds Banded	32	Total Banded	693
Species Banded	12	Standard Banded	588
Birds Recapped	5	Species Banded	43
Species Recapped	4	Total Recapped	143
Species on Census	34	Species Recapped	17
Species Recorded	54	Species Recorded	114

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Aug. 30: Here come the Pipits!

It was another one of those outrageous mornings with the Niuts putting on a show to the west and rosy clouds ushering in the dawn to the east in an otherwise cloudless sky. The show did, however, come at a cost for the air was a rather brisk 0°C with patches of frost clinging to vegetation underfoot as a light breeze tussled the aspen leaves from the north. It felt like the first day of fall as the thin cloud cover filtered out all of the sun’s warmth slowing the gradual rise of the mercury to 11°C by the end of monitoring.

The birds were no more enthused by the cold as the majority elected to stay hidden in their protective roosts to wait out the chill. A courageous hatch-year Purple Finch would be one of our first and most exciting birds of the morning, marking our second banding record of the season for this species. Swainson’s Thrush put in a strong bid for the top banding spot of the season by doubling Song Sparrow’s daily total with six new birds banded and one inter-annual recapture (from 2019) but still falling just two shy with 78 to Song Sparrow’s 80.

An elegant adult female American Redstart

Common Yellowthroats had another good day with six banded and one recapture. The data from long term banding projects has shown that there is a staggered approach to migration within species with hatch-year males being the first to embark followed by hatch-year females, then adult males and finally adult females. The adult’s departure is delayed due to the fact that they go through a much more extensive molt – which includes their flight feathers – than the youngsters. Thus, it is no surprise that five of the six Common Yellowthroats that we banded today were hatch-year males as members of this species are just beginning to migrate. The pace on the banding front was deceptive for when we finished the day we were both pleased and surprised to see that we had banded 30 new birds with 6 recaptures!

Sharp-shinned Hawk atop the “woodpecker” snag

A Sharp-shinned Hawk (pictured above) got census rolling as it surveyed the scrub behind Net 1 from atop the woodpecker snag. In the meadowed corridor before the pines I was delighted by a high-pitched chipping as a petite Calliope Hummingbird zipped past. As I entered the south field I was pleased to hear the liquid up-slurred calls of Avery’s Cassin’s Finch from yesterday. This young/female type was perched atop an aspen and was obliging enough to allow me to take a few photos.

Cassin’s Finch

Promptly, a second Cassin’s arrived adding its liquid calls to the first’s while further east a pair flew in my direction making up what I can only presume is a family group of four. Unlike in the Tatlayoko Valley, Cassin’s are the more commonly occurring finch in my home region of the Kootenays. The Kootenays tend to get the odd Purple Finch every year most of which are young/female types. There are a few features beside vocalizations that allow one to accurately separate these two, similar species. The photo above illustrates one of the more common and albeit conclusive differences, namely, the shape of the bill which is longer and more conical with a nearly straight culmen (upper ridge of the bill). To explore more and see how stunning the males of this species can be click HERE. Down at the lake I was pleased to see that the Solitary Sandpiper was still present in the lagoon and, sadly, living up to its name as no other shorebirds were in attendance.

One of the thirty-odd Audubon’s Yellow-rumped Warblers that were foraging around the property

With nine Western Meadowlarks present in the north field Avery decided that it was high time we open up our recently erected “pipit fence”- a trio of short nets (just two panels compared to the standard four panels of the rest of our nets) that we set up end-to-end out in the field in front of the banding lab. As he stepped away from the fence, having placed the final trammel line into position, two American Pipits glided overhead calling out their triumphant arrival, “pi-pit”, “pi-pit”. Alas, we would only glimpse one more later on as it was flushed out of the grasses in the southwestern corner of the field. With any luck this will just be the vanguard of the sometimes large flock that often land in the fields around the station throughout September!

To view today’s sightings via our eBird checklist click HERE.

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Species	Band	Recap
Swainson’s Thrush	6	1
Common Yellowthroat	6	1
Lincoln’s Sparrow	5
Song Sparrow	3	2
Wilson’s Warbler	3
Northern Waterthrush	1	1
Dusky Flycatcher	1
Warbling Vireo	1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	1
American Redstart	1
Oregon Junco	1
Purple Finch	1
Black-capped Chickadee		1

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Daily		Season
Birds Banded	30	Total Banded	661
Species Banded	12	Standard Banded	562
Birds Recapped	6	Species Banded	43
Species Recapped	5	Total Recapped	138
Species on Census	39	Species Recapped	17
Species Recorded	56	Species Recorded	113

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Aug. 29: Gray-cheeked Thrush!

After yesterday’s wind we were anticipating a fair bit of bird activity when we arrived at the station with a light North wind and a brisk 1°C reading on the thermometer. We were not to be disappointed as we caught birds right from the word go. As we were opening up the last nets, the two Hawk Nets along the Homathko, a duo of young male Sharp-shinned Hawks briefly chased each other before both heading towards the back nets. Crossing paths with Morgan, as she headed over to check those nets, I mentioned they had cruised that way and lo and behold, when she arrived back at the banding lab she had them both with her, caught in Net 16! I had a surprise of my own though as I found a Gray-cheeked Thrush in Net 1, a first record for the TLBO! In a tragic turn of events, we had decided yesterday that one of us would sleep in this morning so Sachi ended up missing this special bird. Hopefully we can catch/see it again in the coming days for his sake.

TLBO’s first Gray-cheeked Thrush! Note the lack of an eye-ring and cool tones to the upperparts

Gray-cheeked Thrushes are wonderful birds and are a species rarely seen by most North American birders. Denizens of high elevations in BC they are very sparsely spread through the North of the province, breeding in stunted subalpine conifer forest or, in the far North, high valleys with Willow bogs adjacent to Lodgepole Pine flats or in densely treed regenerating cut-blocks. The nearest known breeding site for this species is in Tweedsmuir Provincial Park about 140km to our NW but they could certainly breed at a to-date-unknown site in the mountains closer to us. All the thrushes have great songs but I am particularly partial to the song of the Gray-cheeked with their distinct downward-spiraling and buzzy quality. An incredible long-distance migrant, Gray-cheeked Thrush have been documented making non-stop flights in spring from Colombia to the Midwestern USA, a  flight of over 3000km in a matter of a few days! An interesting article on this study can be read on the Audubon website. More general information on Gray-cheeked Thrush can be found on the allaboutbirds website HERE .

The early pace of birds in our nets kept Morgan and I busy and by the time Sachi arrived, and I headed off on census, we had already caught almost 25 birds. Census itself was fairly steady, though there were not large numbers of birds around. I was pleased to finally see one of the Cassin’s Finches that Sachi has spotted a couple times so far. A lone female/young bird, was perched up atop a dead Willow along the western edge of the South field. On the back side of the lagoon I spotted our first, and somewhat overdue, Solitary Sandpiper of the season, foraging quietly. It seems as if the wind yesterday blew all the Warbling Vireos out of the valley as I detected just four on census and we didn’t catch a single one despite banding nine yesterday.

A typical view of a Lincoln’s Sparrow, lurking in the shadows

After our initial push of birds in the first 1.5hrs of the morning things quieted down with Lincoln’s Sparrows being the dominant force of the day. We would end up banding a season high of 13 of these slippery little sparrows (anyone who has held a Lincoln’s Sparrow knows what I mean by “slippery” – they are very good at wriggling out of ones grasp!). Common Yellowthroats and Swainson’s Thrush would also find their way into our nets in decent numbers with six of each banded. The morning finished off with a smart looking little Savannah Sparrow that Sachi pulled out of Net 11 as we closed up the nets for another day.

Occasionally a Lincoln’s Sparrow will be a little more forthcoming

The eBird list for the day can be found HERE .

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Species	Band	Recap
Lincoln’s Sparrow	13	3
Common Yellowthroat	6	1
Swainson’s Thrush	6
Song Sparrow	4	1
Wilson’s Warbler	3
Sharp-shinned Hawk	2
Yellow-rumped Warbler	2
Gray-cheeked Thrush	1
Northern Waterthrush	1
MacGillivray’s Warbler	1
American Redstart	1
Yellow Warbler	1
Savannah Sparrow	1
Oregon Junco	1
Black-capped Chickadee		1

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Daily		Season
Birds Banded	43	Total Banded	631
Species Banded	14	Standard Banded	541
Birds Recapped	6	Species Banded	43
Species Recapped	4	Total Recapped	132
Species on Census	33	Species Recapped	17
Species Recorded	48	Species Recorded	112

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Aug. 28: North of 500

Yesterday after a quick lunch and blog post we decided to take advantage of the abnormally light breeze to do some exploring down at the south end of the lake. For both Morgan and I this was our first trip despite having spent many months in this valley. The slight perspective shift unveiled the mountains to both east and west in a whole new light. The Potatoes when viewed from the south transformed from treed, rounded “hills” to more striated brick coloured cliffs that reminded me of many vistas that I have enjoyed in the magical Southwest of the United States. The Niuts shifted from sheer impassible bastions of rock to angled ramparts of slate grey with the occasional highlights of ocher.

A brief refresher in the mechanics of casting

Since I had brought my fishing rod and tackle box all the way up from the Kootenays we figured that we ought to at least cast a few lines into the exquisite turquoise waters of Tatlayoko Lake. After my first customary sacrifice ( a fishing lure) to the spirits of the shallows we moved further south along the shore until we reached the edge of an outflow of a fast flowing, silt laden stream. Several fruitless casts later I passed the rod off to my compatriots who were as unsuccessful as I with nary a bite between the three of us.

Morgan fishing – framed by the snow capped peaks to the south

The south wind slowly burgeoned overnight and by morning was blowing a steady Beautfort 3 as we arrived at the station. A happy consequence was that the mercury registered a balmy 10°C with the rocky crags of the Niuts glowing cranberry to the west while drifting peach coloured clouds heralded the imminent rise of the sun to the east.

Unfortunately, the warm temperature lost out to the force of the wind as bird activity was muted all around. The familiar, consistent rhythm from weeks past of a couple birds per round prevailed culminating with 19 new birds banded and 1 recapture. A Warbling Vireo caught at 10:25 marked our 500th bird banded of the season from standard nets. Fittingly this species would also top the days banding tally with nine. This surge, coupled with a lack of Song Sparrows (one banded and one recapture), saw Warbling Vireo rocket from third on our 2020 banding board to tie Song Sparrow with 73! Lincoln’s Sparrow ended the day one bird shy of fourth with four new birds banded, while Swainson’s Thrush (three banded) now sits seven behind the two leaders with 66.

Warbling Vireo – 500th bird banded from standard nets in 2020!

Census started off slow,  with only a couple of Savannah Sparrows in the north field, a lone Olive-sided Flycatcher braving the winds atop a long dead aspen further along followed by the harsh calling of two Mountain Chickadees as they made their way through a patch of thick and tangled willows north of the pines. I glimpsed eight high flying gulls as they sailed southwards into the wind against the backdrop of a cloudless blue sky that, unfortunately, remained unidentified. A lone Mallard spooked from the scrub along the edge of the lagoon as I approached while three nonplussed Ring-necked Ducks took turns diving for grub. A juvenile Mew Gull navigated the waves out on the lake whilst two Spotted Sandpipers worked the shoreline, all under the watchful eye of our feisty resident Merlin. A soaring Turkey Vulture marked our sixth sighting of 2020 which is the highest number of detections in a single season of this species at the TLBO (previous high was four in 2015). This species has gradually been expanding it’s range northwards in B.C. and is a fairly new arrival to the valley as TLBO’s first detection came in early August of 2014. We added a new species to the season list with a flock of 22 Horned Larks marking our 110th species detected in 2020 as they flew over the lab from the north field while their delicate tinkling calls drifted down to fill our eager ears. Incidentally this is only our fourth detection of this species in August and our earliest sighting (by a day) in 14 seasons of operation. To learn more about this exquisite species as well as to hear their lovely songs and calls click HERE.

To view today’s sighting via our eBird list click HERE.

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Species	Band	Recap
Warbling Vireo	9
Lincoln’s Sparrow	4
Swainson’s Thrush	3
Song Sparrow	1	1
Orange-crowned Warbler	1
Yellow Warbler	1

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Daily		Season
Birds Banded	19	Total Banded	588
Species Banded	6	Standard Banded	506
Birds Recapped	1	Species Banded	42
Species Recapped	1	Total Recapped	126
Species on Census	28	Species Recapped	17
Species Recorded	43	Species Recorded	110

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Aug. 27: Ghost Song and Blackpoll

Keeping up the theme of cold fingers to get us underway our continuing clear skies and nice weather held out for another day. Three days in a row without wind is a rare event here at Tatlayoko so we will milk it for all it’s worth! The birds were again quite prevalent with Lincoln’s and Song Sparrows and Common Yellowthroats lurking in the bushes while the roving flocks of Warbling Vireos and accompanying warblers became active around the time the sun crested the mountains.

One of the ubiquitous Red Squirrels that frequent the TLBO

This coincided with when I set off on census and I had a good first 10 minutes as I sifted through the bird life around the banding lab. American Redstart, Yellow and Wilson’s Warblers joined the abundant Vireos while the the raucous calls of Pileated Woodpecker and Northern Flicker came from the Pines either side of the valley floor. About halfway through census I came across another Warbling Vireo dominated mixed species flock, working the shrubbery along the NW corner of the South field. A warbler with white wing-bars caught my attention and as it popped into full view I was delighted to see it was a Blackpoll Warbler. These astonishing long-distance migrants (Boreal North American to the Amazon Basin!) breed at higher elevations not too far north of us but are infrequent down here in the valley and this marks just the 7th record for TLBO. Hopefully it sticks around and we can catch it in the coming days.

While I was off on census Sachi and Morgan had the pleasure of banding our first Hermit Thrush of the season. It was caught in Net 13, where we catch a disproportionate amount of our thrushes as they are attracted to the abundant Red-osier Dogwood berries behind the net. The bulk of our catch were Common Yellowthroats and Lincoln’s Sparrows, unsurprisingly, given the time of the season. The former usually have two peaks, one in late August and another in the first week of September before tapering off. Lincoln’s Sparrows, meanwhile, will continue to be among our top catch until late in the season. Our 17th banded Dusky Flycatcher of the season put us within four of the single season record for TLBO.

A Juvenile Hermit Thrush, showing off its spots and distinctive reddish tail

Another highlight from the day was found by Sachi in the bushes between the banding lab and Net 13 (which it would come within a foot or two of hitting on the subsequent net round). “There’s an all white bird out here” he exclaimed to us as we finished banding a couple birds Morgan had brought in with her. After grabbing his camera he was able to snap a couple shots to confirm that it was a leucistic Song Sparrow; a very neat looking bird! It is infrequent to see birds with this level of leucism, usually it is just a few feathers. The lack of a pink/red eye indicated that it is not an albino.

A leucistic Song Sparrow spotted and photographed by Sachi!

As the activity slowed down I wandered up to the oxbow which was, predictably, devoid of any waterfowl as it has been pretty much throughout the season. However, a small movement alerted me to a Calliope Hummingbird perched on a dead willow branch. At just 3 – 3.5 inches from tip of beak to tail and weighing only 2.3-3.4g (https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Calliope_Hummingbird/id), these are the smallest birds in Canada but despite this they breed as far north as the Yukon and can survive sub-zero temperatures overnight. During this time Sachi added another species to our season list with a Steller’s Jay, a species that is surprisingly scarce here many years.

The eBird list from today can be viewed HERE .

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Species	Band	Recap
Lincoln’s Sparrow	8	1
Common Yellowthroat	7	1
Song Sparrow	4	4
Swainson’s Thrush	3	1
Warbling Vireo	2
Dusky Flycatcher	1
Hermit Thrush	1
Northern Waterthrush	1
American Redstart	1
Wilson’s Warbler	1

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Daily		Season
Birds Banded	29	Total Banded	569
Species Banded	10	Standard Banded	487
Birds Recapped	7	Species Banded	42
Species Recapped	4	Total Recapped	125
Species on Census	34	Species Recapped	17
Species Recorded	58	Species Recorded	109

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Aug. 26: Whole Lotta SOSP

The clear skies over night made for a brisk 1°C start with patches of frost clinging to the exposed clover leaves and short dead grass stalks along our well trodden trail through the north field.

Weary, cold yet excited we retraced our steps checking the freshly opened nets to see who our first visitors of the day would be. Unsurprisingly both a hatch-year Swainson’s Thrush and Song Sparrow – our two current contenders for the top spot on our banding board – were the first birds of the day to receive shiny new bands. Unbeknownst to us at the time this young thrush was simultaneously the first bird of the day and the 500th bird banded of the season. The next two rounds were encouraging with four new birds banded apiece. Breaking from the trend the two subsequent rounds which fell during census were quite quiet with only a recapped Swainson’s between them.

Morgan banding a Warbling Vireo

As an aside, our daily census occurs a hour and a half after sunrise which is timed to coincide with peak bird activity. Fortunately our banding numbers would increase culminating in a 14 bird round at 9:45! Amongst these was our only Empid of the day and a rather tricky one which we concluded was a Hammond’s Flycatcher with the aid of several measurements. Satisfied, we moved on to the plethora of birds hanging in their respective bags awaiting bands.

In the spotlight – Song Sparrow

As mentioned in previous posts Song Sparrow and Swainson’s Thrush have been engaged in an exceedingly close race for the honour of securing the top spot on our banding board. Today marked a shift as Song Sparrows surged ahead accounting for 10 of the 41 birds banded and five of the 10 recaptures for a total of 68 banded thus far this year. Swainson’s on the other hand contributed only two new birds banded with two recaptures and now sits in third with 60 banded. Common Yellowthroats had their moment in the limelight with a mini push of eight new birds banded. In other news we also banded our second Gambel’s White-crowned Sparrow and third and fourth Dark-eyed Juncos of 2020 (all four Juncos thus far have been out of Net 11) matching yesterdays season high of 41 birds banded with 10 recaptures.

Fearless Merlin surveying it’s domain

Meanwhile census turned up many of the usual suspects. The waterfowl diversity in the lagoon was decent with a flock of 10 Mallards joined by a Green-winged Teal, five Ring-necked Ducks and a Bufflehead. Our feisty resident Merlin didn’t like where the adult Bald Eagle had decided to perch and let the exponentially larger bird know by chasing it off to grudgingly share a perch with an American Crow on the other side of the lagoon. While I made my way back to the station to the cackling of several Ruby-crowned Kinglets and the harsh scolding of Warbling Vireos I hoped that Avery had better luck in uncovering a new species for 2020’s list. Sure enough, during my absence, while Avery was watching a flock of sparrows east of the outhouse a small plump little pale brown bird with a medium-length tail held up at a 45° angle to its body hopped into view. A House Wren, and just the TLBO’s second ever record. The first came back in 2013 when Morgan and Avery ran the station together and caught one in a non-standard net only about 25m from this very spot!

Cedar Waxwing blowing in the Tatlayoko wind

For those who are interested in the answers to the Fall Warbler Heads Quiz:

A) Nashville Warbler, B) Orange-crowned Warbler “Lutescens subspecies”, C) Common Yellowthroat, D) Wilson’s Warbler, E) Orange-crowned Warbler “Orestera subspecies” and F) MacGillivray’s Warbler

To view our daily eBird checklist click HERE.

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Species	Band	Recap
Song Sparrow	10	5
Common Yellowthroat	8
Lincoln’s Sparrow	5	1
Warbling Vireo	4	1
Swainson’s Thrush	2	2
MacGillivray’s Warbler	2
Oregon Junco	2
American Redstart	1	1
Hammond’s Flycatcher	1
Black-capped Chickadee	1
Northern Waterthrush	1
Orange-crowned Warbler	1
Wilson’s Warbler	1
White-crowned Sparrow	1
Pine Siskin	1

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Daily		Season
Birds Banded	41	Total Banded	540
Species Banded	15	Standard Banded	460
Birds Recapped	10	Species Banded	41
Species Recapped	5	Total Recapped	118
Species on Census	39	Species Recapped	17
Species Recorded	57	Species Recorded	107

 

 

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Aug. 25: Kestrel and Clay

We were back to a brisk start as the thermometer read barely 2°C when we pulled up to the station this morning. It was a beautiful day once it warmed up with clear, deep blue skies and blessedly little wind. Sometimes conditions such as these can mean few birds but that was not the case today as we ended up having our busiest day of banding so far this year with 41 birds banded and 7 recaptures.

The classic Niuts reflected in the lagoon shot never gets old!

It is always interesting to see which birds will be most prevalent in our nets on a given day and there is a surprising amount of fluctuation. Today it was Swainson’s Thrush and Song Sparrow with 7 banded of each. We have been enjoying the ongoing “race” between these two atop our “banding leader board” and it has been remarkable just how consistently close it has been, for a couple weeks now, with neither pulling more than one or two ahead before the other catches up.

As is often the case, it took a few rounds for activity to pick up but while I was away on census the pace picked up for Sachi and Morgan and we were up to 20 banded by the time I got back to the station. Shortly after this Sachi brought in our first Western Wood-pewee of the season, caught in “MXA” – our non-standard net.

An obliging Killdeer

Census itself was an enjoyable affair with reasonable diversity, if not a whole lot of activity. A season high of nine Ring-necked Ducks were on the lagoon and I had a fun little photo shoot with a killdeer along the lake shore. On the way back from the lake, along the road I came across two nice birds for the TLBO. The first was a calling Gray Catbird that flew across the road just north of the lagoon. Further on a small flock of Lincoln’s Sparrow were disturbed by my walking past and among them was a spiffy looking Clay-colored Sparrow! These are one of my favourite sparrows and I always enjoy their subtle shades of browns and gray along with their intricate facial pattern.

Clay-colored Sparrow

As Sachi and Morgan had things under control banding-wise I headed off to to the Pines/NE corner of the field in front of the banding lab to try to catch American Kestrels with the Bal-chatri trap. After tracking down a couple Kestrels a female conveniently flew into a snag and after placing the trap within view of it I retreating to the nearest large Douglas-fir. It took just a minute or so for the bird to make a pass at the trap. They often make a pass, see that something is suspicious and then perch nearby. Inevitably, the mouse in the trap was too tempting and after about 5 minutes of intense scrutiny it dropped down and landed on the trap, ensnaring its leg as intended. Buoyed by my quick success I headed out to see if I could catch any more as there were at least three others around. Alas, they were not interested.

This was an uncharacteristically well-behaved female American Kestrel

While I was playing with the Kestrels I heard an odd woodpecker call. Thinking it might be the American Three-toed we spotted a couple days ago I radioed back to the others as it sounded like it was near the banding lab. Sachi stepped outside and saw, atop the “woodpecker snag”, not the anticipated Three-toed but the similar Black-backed Woodpecker! While they were recorded in four of the first five seasons the TLBO operated, the only detection since 2010 was in 2017.

It was an eventful day and a pleasant change from the first few weeks of the season. We passed the 400 birds banded, from our standard nets that is, milestone early on this AM and we are just one shy of 500 total birds banded, including non-standard nets.

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Species	Band	Recap
Song Sparrow	7	5
Swainson’s Thrush	7
Common Yellowthroat	6
Warbling Vireo	5
Orange-crowned Warbler	4	1
Lincoln’s Sparrow	4
Northern Waterthrush	2	1
American Kestrel	1
Western Wood-pewee	1
Black-capped Chickadee	1
MacGillivray’s Warbler	1
Yellow-rumped Warbler	1
Wilson’s Warbler	1

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Daily		Season
Birds Banded	41	Total Banded	499
Species Banded	13	Standard Banded	427
Birds Recapped	7	Species Banded	41
Species Recapped	3	Total Recapped	108
Species on Census	37	Species Recapped	17
Species Recorded	55	Species Recorded	106

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