Friday, September 16, 2011

Teslin Lake update - September 10th


Owling night at TLBO - Abril, Yupiter* and Aurora Borealis!

What about the weather! It has been a very rainy fall with just a hand full of nice days and as a result the lake water level is very high. Normally the lake is dropping at this time of the year and there are sandbars on the foreshore of the observatory. Now the lake has gone up in the last three weeks so that there is almost no shore left! See the photo below.



From Sept 6th through Sept 10th (excluding the rain day Sept 6st) Teslin Lake averaged 39.3 birds/day and 0.296 birds/net-hour for a total of 160 birds banded. Amazingly the Varied Thrush banded on the 9th was the first one caught this season. The season 2nd Brewer's Sparrow was banded on the 8th. The same day yet another Downy Woodpecker was caught and a Warbling Vireo banded on the 9th was far behind others of it's kind. On the evening of the 10th we tried owling for the first time this season and managed to catch and band three Boreal Owls. The top five species banded during the period were Boreal Chickadee (62), Dark-eyed Junco (34), Alder Flycatcher (9), Black-capped Chickadee (9), and Yellow Warbler (8). The current season top five species banded are Alder Flycatcher (630), Yellow Warbler (292), Dark-eyed Junco (201), Boreal Chickadee (147), and Yellow-rumped "Myrtle" Warbler (103).

On the 7th the season 1st Spruce Grouse was seen by the campground and the same day there were at least 3 adult light-morph Parasitic Jaegers on the lake. The season 1st Bufflehead flew by the point on the 8th. Two Sanderlings flew by on the 9th and the season 1st Northern Hawk Owl did the same on the 10th.


the season 1st Spruce Grouse - a male


This one's for Ted!


HY male Varied Thrush


Common Loons rafting by the point


God I'm gorgeous!


Light-morph adult Parasitic Jaeger

Photos ©Jukka Jantunen except Spruce Grouse and Boreal Owl Abril Heredia



The complete list of bird banded at Teslin Lake Bird Observatory this season as of September 10th (the last 5 days in brackets).

Sharp-shinned Hawk - 3
Merlin - 2
Spotted Sandpiper - 2
Solitary Sandpiper - 3
Boreal Owl - 3 (3)
Belted Kingfisher - 6
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - 3
Downy Woodpecker - 7 (1)
Northern Flicker - 1
Olive-sided Flycatcher - 1
Western Wood-Pewee - 10
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher - 7
Alder Flycatcher - 630 (9)
Least Flycatcher - 10
Hammond's Flycatcher - 28
Dusky Flycatcher - 6
Northern Shrike - 1
Warbling Vireo - 17 (1)
Black-capped Chickadee - 58 (9)
Boreal Chickadee - 147 (62)
Red-breasted Nuthatch - 5
Golden-crowned Kinglet - 1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 23 (2)
Townsend's Solitaire - 1
Swainson's Thrush - 84 (2)
Hermit Thrush - 4 (1)
American Robin - 11
Varied Thrush - 1 (1)
Bohemian Waxwing - 1
Tennessee Warbler - 4
Orange-crowned Warbler - 46 (5)
Yellow Warbler - 292 (8)
Yellow-rumped "Myrtle" Warbler - 103 (4)
Yellow-rumped "Audubon's" Warbler -1
Townsend's Warbler - 4
Blackpoll Warbler - 57
American Redstart - 37 (1)
Northern Waterthrush - 42
Common Yellowthroat - 54 (3)
Wilson's Warbler - 69 (3)
American Tree Sparrow - 10 (4)
Chipping Sparrow - 27
Brewer's Sparrow - 2
Savannah Sparrow - 16 (1)
Fox Sparrow - 10
Lincoln's Sparrow - 16 (3)
White-crowned Sparrow - 31 (1)
Slate-colored Junco - 201 (34)
Rusty Blackbird - 9 (1)
Brown-headed Cowbird - 1
Purple Finch - 1
White-winged Crossbill - 1
Common Redpoll - 4
Pine Siskin - 10
= 2124 (160) birds of 53 species
0.355 (0.296) birds/net-hour
Please note that the Boreal Owls are included in the banding total but not in the birds/net hr

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