TLBO - July 30 and 31

It has been a relatively slow past few days at TLBO; 31 and 21 birds banded on the 30th and 31st respectively. There haven't been and notable captures which have been dominated by common species such as Yellow Warbler, Myrtle Warbler and Slate-colored Junco. We have continued to catch small numbers of Tennessee Warblers and White-winged Crossbills on a daily basis.

In terms of visual migrants, we have begun to see the first migrating flocks of Surf Scoters and Northern Pintails. The first Red-throated Loons and Red-necked Grebes have also shown up on the lake. On the 30th, a total of 6 Red-necked Phalaropes were tallied on the lake. The season's first Bonaparte's Gull (a juvenile) was seen on the 31st as were the first migrant Mew Gulls. Visual passerine migration has been a little slow thus far; however, there has been some swallow migration (particularly Bank Swallows) and small numbers of Pine Siskins and White-winged Crossbills.

For more photos, view our flickr page at http://yukonbirdobservatories.blogspot.com