2014 Migration and Nocturnal Owl Monitoring

Migration Monitoring

It’s better late than never! Here is a recap of our 2014 Migration Monitoring at our two banding stations for this year over the 90 day period from July 21st to October 18^th.

Black-throated Gray Warbler

Pedder Bay Station

At the Pedder Bay station we banded 3056 new birds, had 1117 recaptures and a total of 60 species. The five top banded birds were: Fox Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Wilson's Warbler, Swainson's Thrush, and Golden-crowned Sparrow in that order. Some of our exciting rarities banded were: a Brewer's Sparrow, a Northern Pygmy Owl, and a Black-throated Blue Warbler

 Black-throated Blue Warbler

Northern Pygmy Owl

It is wonderful for Rocky Point to have the Pedder Bay station which is open to the public. We had many visitors this year for both daytime passerine banding and for Northern Saw-whet Owls at night. Both children and adults were fascinated to watch us in action and our banders, interns and volunteers are happy to explain the process to everyone who comes out. It is part of achieving our mandate as outlined below!

“Rocky Point Bird Observatory seeks to influence and inform conservation and ecological management practises of migratory birds in western North America through monitoring, scientific research and public education.”

Rocky Point Bird Observatory Station

The final totals for 2014 migration banding at Rocky Point were: 2694 new birds, 406 recaptures, 4 foreign recaptures and 65 species. The 5 top numbers of species were: Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Wilson's Warbler, Yellow Warbler, Golden-crowned Kinglet and White-crowned Sparrow. Some of the more unusual birds banded there this year were: Gray-cheeked Thrush (instantly recognizable to our Ontario Bander-in Charge, Brian Pomfret), Northern Pygmy Owl, Nashville Warbler, Northern Waterthrush, Olive-sided Flycatcher, Violet-green Swallow and Northern Rough-winged Swallow.

Nashville Warbler

Barred Owl caught in the early morning

 Marsh Wren

BBQ Fundraisers

We also had 2 very successful fundraising BBQs at Pedder Bay with delicious salmon burgers (salmon donated by the Pedder Bay Marina), followed by a presentation by Ann Nightingale who explained RPBO’s ongoing projects. Then everyone was invited to the banding station to watch Northern Saw-whet Owls being caught, measured and banded. Not surprisingly, both BBQs sold out quickly; these endearing small owls are a treat to see up close and personal!

Northern Saw-whet Owl Monitoring

Owl banding operated from September 15^th until October 31^st. This year, for the first time RPBO operated 2 full time banding stations for owls. Last year we operated out of Pedder Bay only on weekends. We were not expecting 2014 to be such a big year for owls. So, needless to say, we were very surprised by the number of owls caught and banded! It was evidently a very productive year for them. Some of the hatch year birds had very recently fledged, as evidenced by the tawny colouring on their faces and under the wings, indicating some owls had more than one brood.

Northern Saw-whet Owls banded in 2014:
Pedder Bay 482 Rocky Point 681
Total: 1163

We were thrilled to have one of the owls which was banded at Pedder Bay on September 16 recaptured in Idaho at the Intermountain Bird Observatory on October 4.We have now added a Google map on our website which shows the location of our NSWO recaps (both foreign birds we've recaptured and our birds that have been encountered elsewhere). The map can be found on both our Band recoveries page (http://rpbo.org/recoveries.php) and on our NSWO reports page (http://rpbo.org/reports.php?pgm=nswo).

Congratulations and Thanks!

Special congratulations to RPBO interns and volunteers, Acacia Spencer-Hills, Christian Kelly, Serena Johnston and Wallis Moore-Reid on obtaining their banding permits this season!

A big thanks to our passerine Banders-in-Chief: Brian Pomfret at Rocky Point and Rick Schortinghuis at Pedder Bay; and also to our owl BICs: Katie McCreesh and Christian Kelly. Our two interns this year – Serena Johnston and Acacia Spencer-Hills – were fantastic and did an excellent job. Thanks to Ann Nightingale for absolutely everything she does (which is a LOT), keeping everything on track and functioning smoothly. Ann Scarfe deserves special mention for overseeing the WhenToHelp schedule, ensuring that there enough people at both stations day and night – no easy task! And of course a huge thank you to all of our volunteers and supporters who help in so many ways and without whom RPBO could not function.