Teslin Lake update - September 25

Without Boreal Chickadees we would've had almost nothing to band!

 

The period from September 21^st to 25^th was right back to the migration doldrums we were experiencing two weeks ago. We only banded a total of 66 birds (0.1 birds/net hr) for a current season total of 2295  birds (0.319 birds/net hr) of 46 species. The period top three was Boreal Chickadee 36, Ruby-crowned Kinglet 7, and Black-capped Chickadee 4. The current season top five is Alder Flycatcher 827, Yellow Warbler 225, Yellow-rumped Warbler 192, Ruby-crowned Kinglet 123, and Boreal Chickadee 122. No new species for the season or anything else of particular interest were captured.

pretty Lincoln's Sparrow - the Lanceolated Warbler of Nearctic boreal...plumage wise

UFO!??...some claimed it was a Murrelet...the former is almost easier to believe (TLBO = Canada'a area 51!?)

 

The period started very nicely with a pair of Great Horned Owls serenading at the dawn of the 21^st. The biggest surprise of the season so far was a non-breeding plumaged black and white Murrelet that whirled by on the 24^th. Unfortunately the views nor the “photos” allowed it to be identified to species. Other highlights were very few. Three Parasitic Jaegers were seen on the 21^st, 8 Snow Geese on the 22^nd and 28 more on the 25^th. The season 1^st Hairy Woodpecker was seen on the 23^rd and the season 1^st Long-billed Dowitcher on the 24^th. A fairly late Spotted Sandpiper stopped by briefly on the 23^rd. Another mystery of TLBO and Teslin Lake is the relative lack of Canada Goose migration. A few flocks were seen daily this period including 424, a high tally for us, on the 25^th. Also on the move in the last five days have been smallish numbers of Lesser Scaup, raptors, Boreal Chickadees, and Pine Siskins.

 

Finally, a thank you to Cathy Pohl for taking the time to volunteer at TLBO inspite of the cold weather and lack of birds.

Migrating male Northern Harrier heading towards the first sun rays of the day

Subadult Bald Eagle - our regular guardsman in the spruce top

Snow Geese

Early morning Red-necked Grebe

Our station mascot - the juvenile Black-billed Magpie

Mountain Chickadee performing some acrobatics

Cathy Pohl showing visitor René Carlson how to hold a Yellow-rumped Warbler

The complete list of birds banded at TLBO this season by Sept 25^th (the last five days in brackets):

Sharp-shinned Hawk – 11

Merlin – 1

Solitary Sandpiper – 3

Belted Kingfisher – 6

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker – 1

Western Wood-Pewee – 3

Yellow-bellied Flycatcher –9

Pacific-slope Flycatcher – 1

Alder Flycatcher – 827

Least Flycatcher – 3

Hammond’s Flycatcher – 6

Dusky Flycatcher – 2

Warbling Vireo – 15

Black-capped Chickadee – 49 (4)

Boreal Chickadee – 122 (36)

Red-breasted Nuthatch – 12 (1)

Golden-crowned Kinglet – 3

Ruby-crowned Kinglet – 123 (7)

Townsend’s Solitaire – 1

Gray-cheeked Thrush – 4

Swainson’s Thrush – 41

Hermit Thrush – 3

Varied Thrush – 2

Tennessee Warbler – 1

Orange-crowned Warbler – 87 (2)

Yellow Warbler – 225 (1)

Magnolia Warbler – 1

Yellow-rumped Warbler – 192 (2)

Townsend’s Warbler – 6

Blackpoll Warbler – 87

Cape May Warbler – 1

American Redstart – 21

Northern Waterthrush – 47

MacGillivray’s Warbler – 1

Common Yellowthroat – 45 (2)

Wilson’s Warbler – 117 (3)

American Tree Sparrow – 10 (2)

Chipping Sparrow – 17

Savannah Sparrow – 24 (1)

Fox Sparrow – 6 (1)

Lincoln’s Sparrow – 8 (1)

White-crowned Sparrow – 22

Dark-eyed Junco – 108 (3)

Rusty Blackbird – 8

Purple Finch – 2

White-winged Crossbill – 2

Common Redpoll – 6

Pine Siskin – 3

= 2295 birds - 46 species - 0.319 birds/net hr (66 birds - 14 species – 0.100 birds/net hr)

Teslin Lake update - September 20

A Golden-crowned Kinglet - mi vida!!

 

The period from September 16^th to 20^th had the feeling of approaching winter, not so much because how the weather was but rather because the variety of bird species was getting noticeably smaller and the majority of birds caught were typical end-of-the-season birds. Each day we banded fewer birds than the day before and so we ended up with 166 birds (0.284 birds/net hr) for the period and for a current season total of 2229 birds (0.341 birds/net hr) of 46 species. The period top five was Ruby-crowned Kinglet 41, Yellow-rumped Warbler 37, Boreal Chickadee 21, Dark-eyed Junco 14 and Orange-crowned Warbler 11. The current season top five is Alder Flycatcher 827, Yellow Warbler 224, Yellow-rumped Warbler 190, Ruby-crowned Kinglet 116, and Wilson’s Warbler 114. Three Golden-crowned Kinglets were banded on the 17^th for a 1^st record for the season. Other birds of interest included 2 Sharp-shinned Hawks, the season 2^nd Varied Thrush on the 19^th, and two late-feeling birds – an American Redstart on the 16^th and a Blackpoll Warbler on the 18^th.

Lots of Yellow-rumped Warblers (adult female here) have been on the move

The period was fairly slow with observations too. On the 16^th there was a little bit of waterfowl movement, something we don’t get much for whatever reason. The highlights included 180 Surf Scoters, 20 White-winged Scoters and 124 Common Mergansers. The same day was a bit of a gull day as on top of our regular suspects we also spotted an immature Glaucous Gull, a juvenile California Gull, and two Herring x Glaucous-winged Gull hybrids. Obviously California Gull is the rarest of these as the species is barely annual in the territory. The others we see on a regular basis but in small numbers late in the season. The next these were all still present and joined by a juvenile Herring x Glaucous Gull hybrid. Also on the 17^th, the season 1^st Northern Shrike, just over 300 Yellow-rumped Warblers and 200 Pine Siskins were seen passing by our observation site. The highlights for the 18^th included another almost 200 Pine Siskins, 66 Bohemian Waxwings, 3 Three-toed Woodpeckers, about 70 raptors, and the season 1^st two Mountain Chickadees. The only highlight for the 19^th was the season 1^st Long-tailed Duck and absolutely nothing happened on the 20^th – it was almost as if all the birds had disappeared from the surface of the planet!

California Gull, in flight and on the beach

Both Red-necked (top) and Horned Grebes have been cruising back and forth by the point

It has been a record year with Red-breasted Nuthatches at TLBO

American Kestrel

The complete list of birds banded at TLBO this season by Sept 20^th (the last five days in brackets):

Sharp-shinned Hawk – 11 (2)

Merlin – 1

Solitary Sandpiper – 3

Belted Kingfisher – 6

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker – 1

Western Wood-Pewee – 3

Yellow-bellied Flycatcher –9

Pacific-slope Flycatcher – 1

Alder Flycatcher – 827

Least Flycatcher – 3

Hammond’s Flycatcher – 6

Dusky Flycatcher – 2

Warbling Vireo – 15

Black-capped Chickadee – 45 (8)

Boreal Chickadee – 86 (21)

Red-breasted Nuthatch – 11

Golden-crowned Kinglet – 3 (3)

Ruby-crowned Kinglet – 116 (41)

Townsend’s Solitaire – 1

Gray-cheeked Thrush – 4

Swainson’s Thrush – 41

Hermit Thrush – 3

Varied Thrush – 2 (1)

Tennessee Warbler – 1

Orange-crowned Warbler – 85 (11)

Yellow Warbler – 224 (8)

Magnolia Warbler – 1

Yellow-rumped Warbler – 190 (37)

Townsend’s Warbler – 6

Blackpoll Warbler – 87 (1)

Cape May Warbler – 1

American Redstart – 21 (1)

Northern Waterthrush – 47

MacGillivray’s Warbler – 1

Common Yellowthroat – 43 (2)

Wilson’s Warbler – 114 (4)

American Tree Sparrow – 8 (2)

Chipping Sparrow – 17

Savannah Sparrow – 23 (4)

Fox Sparrow – 5 (1)

Lincoln’s Sparrow – 7

White-crowned Sparrow – 22 (2)

Dark-eyed Junco – 105 (14)

Rusty Blackbird – 8 (3)

Purple Finch – 2

White-winged Crossbill – 2

Common Redpoll – 6

Pine Siskin – 3

= 2229 birds - 46 species - 0.341 birds/net hr (166 birds - 19 species – 0.284 birds/net hr)

Teslin Lake update - September 15

The funniest looking Ruby-crowned Kinglet ever!

The weather was very variable during the period from September 11^th to 15^th. We had the first snow fall for the valley bottom on the 11^th and the 12^th was lost to heavy rain. There was some more rain on the 13^th and the last two days were windy so that we had to keep some of the nets closed. The big difference was in the bird movement. Passerines were out and about and many also found our nets. The busiest morning was the 14^th when after heavy rain overnight and into the morning we opened two hours late and still managed to band 90 birds. Overall we banded 260 birds (0.554 birds/net hr) for a season total of 2063 birds (0.344 birds/net hr) of 45 species. The period top six was Ruby-crowned Kinglet 57, Orange-crowned and Yellow Warbler both 38, and Boreal Chickadee, Yellow-rumped and Wilson’s Warbler 27 each. The current season top five is Alder Flycatcher 827, Yellow Warbler 216, Yellow-rumped Warbler 153, Wilson’s Warbler 110 and Dark-eyed Junco 91. No new species for the season were caught. Of interest were somewhat late Northern Waterthrush on the 11^th and Alder Flycatcher on the 15^th plus three more Gray-cheeked Thrushes.

Orange-crowned Warblers were on the move last week

Boreal Chickadee tail-feather comparison - juvenile (L) and adult (R)

 

Both 11^th and 12^th were quiet bird days but on the 11^th the season 1^st three Trumpeter Swans were seen. There was a lot more action on the 13^th when over 70 Pacific and 15 Red-throated Loons were observed. However, the day was mostly about passerine migration as over 2500 of them flew by. Most of them were Yellow-rumped Warblers but in the mix there were also well over 500 thrushes (half and half Robins and Varieds), 74 American Pipits and 36 Rusty Blackbirds. The 14^th was a very busy day in the sky but unfortunately it was very busy at the nets at the same time and so with just two people staffing the station there was no time for migration counts until the afternoon. When ever one did have time to look up during the morning hours there was always a flock of geese or cranes or a harrier or some passerines hurrying south in strong northwest wind. In the end we were able to tally about 140 raptors including the season 1^st juvenile Swainson’s Hawk and 12 Golden Eagles (early for such high count), almost 200 Sandhill Cranes, and 62 Rusty Blackbirds. Also seen was the season 1^st Sabine’s Gull, a juvenile. At one point we witnessed a Peregrine nail a small gull that looked to have a lot of black on its wing but before we were able to confirm the identity of the prey the Peregrine had tucked it into its talons and carried it away. We never saw the Sabine’s after that... The 15^th was rather quiet a day with obs.

Adult Common Loon passing the point

Pacific Loons

One last photo of specklebellies

juvenile male Northern Harrier

Identifying high-flying raptors has many challenges - physical and other. Juvenile Swainson's Hawk in Jukka's scope.

Not all Herring Gulls love each other!

Rose hips are yummy and full of vitamin C

The complete list of birds banded at TLBO this season by Sept 15^th (the last five days in brackets):

Sharp-shinned Hawk – 9

Merlin – 1

Solitary Sandpiper – 3

Belted Kingfisher – 6

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker – 1

Western Wood-Pewee – 3

Yellow-bellied Flycatcher –9

Pacific-slope Flycatcher – 1

Alder Flycatcher – 827 (1)

Least Flycatcher – 3

Hammond’s Flycatcher – 6 (1)

Dusky Flycatcher – 2

Warbling Vireo – 15

Black-capped Chickadee – 37 (3)

Boreal Chickadee – 65 (27)

Red-breasted Nuthatch – 11

Ruby-crowned Kinglet – 75 (57)

Townsend’s Solitaire – 1

Gray-cheeked Thrush – 4 (3)

Swainson’s Thrush – 41 (1)

Hermit Thrush – 3 (2)

Varied Thrush – 1

Tennessee Warbler – 1

Orange-crowned Warbler – 74 (38)

Yellow Warbler – 216 (38)

Magnolia Warbler – 1

Yellow-rumped Warbler – 153 (27)

Townsend’s Warbler – 6

Blackpoll Warbler – 86 (2)

Cape May Warbler – 1

American Redstart – 20

Northern Waterthrush – 47 (1)

MacGillivray’s Warbler – 1

Common Yellowthroat – 41 (3)

Wilson’s Warbler – 110 (27)

American Tree Sparrow – 6 (5)

Chipping Sparrow – 17

Savannah Sparrow – 19 (2)

Fox Sparrow – 4

Lincoln’s Sparrow – 7

White-crowned Sparrow – 20 (7)

Dark-eyed Junco – 91 (13)

Rusty Blackbird – 5

Purple Finch – 2

White-winged Crossbill – 2

Common Redpoll – 6 (2)

Pine Siskin – 3

= 2063 birds - 45 species - 0.344 birds/net hr (260 birds - 20 species – 0.554 birds/net hr)

 

Teslin Lake update - September 10

Moulting juvenile Townsend's Solitaire is a funny looking bird!

The period from September 6^th to 10^th was very quiet at the nets but luckily towards the end of the period there was some action in the sky. The weather was mostly cold and windy and on some days we were barely able to operate any of the nets. There was some fresh snow up on the mountains on the morning of the 8^th. We only banded 52 birds (0.153 birds/net hr) for a season total of 1803 birds (0.328 birds/net hr) of 45 species. Ten Dark-eyed Juncos and 8 Yellow-rumped Warblers accounted for a third of the catch. The current season top five is Alder Flycatcher 826, Yellow Warbler 178, Yellow-rumped Warbler 126, Blackpoll Warbler 84, and Wilson’s Warbler 83. Three new species for the season were banded on the 8^th: Hermit Thrush, American Tree Sparrow and Townsend’s Solitaire which was only the third of its kind to be banded at TLBO! Another somewhat exciting bird banded was a Common Redpoll on the 7^th, the first one since thefew local-looking juveniles early in the season.

 

The season 1st Hermit Thrush

In light southeast wind on the 7^th the first small flocks of migrating Canada Geese were seen together with the first modest flight of large thrushes - the 330 seen were quite evenly divided between American Robin and Varied Thrush. Small number of raptors and 73 American Pipits were also seen flying by that day. Parasitic Jaegers were seen daily during the period, and many times a day, but it was very difficult to get any idea of how many birds were involved as they were all full light-morph adults, some with and others without a breast-band. Four were seen together on the 8^th. For us interior folks it was a treat to get to watch them so often and from perfect scoping distance. On a few occasions we even got to see them chase and rob gulls! Another treat were the few Thayer’s Gulls that opted to spend some time on the foreshore providing us with great close-up views instead of the usual semi-distant flocks-in-migration-flight views. The 9^th was a fairly busy migration day with bigger birds as 2800 geese and 75 raptors were tallied. About 2000 of the geese were identified as White-fronted Geese. While it was exciting to see 3 Peregrine Falcons the show of the day was provided by the season 1^st Golden Eagle. As we were checking a flock of five geese for their identity, they suddenly started to bank heavily to one side and then went into a total disarray as the eagle was stooping towards them from the heights. Soon one of the geese was in vertical downward spiral the eagle in hot pursuit and just as the goose seemed doomed it was able to pull off a couple of nifty zig-zags and loose the eagle! On the 10^th, the hard wind blowing from northwest brought so far the best raptor flight of the season. The most numerous ones of the just over 300 seen were Sharp-shinned Hawk (109), Northern Harrier (85) and Red-tailed Hawk (64). Also seen were 2 Swainson’s Hawks and 5 Peregrines. 13 Merlins was a new observatory day record. Also seen were the season first 5 Tundra Swans. On the 10^th we also said good bye to Shyloh van Delft, our latest long term volunteer, who promised to be back in October. We are eagerly waiting for her return...

Flock of Canada Geese passing gull island

 

Flock of four juvenile Harriers during lake crossing

juvenile Thayer's Gull

Small (female) Herring Gull (L) with large (male) Thayer's Gull (R). Notice identical molt stage

 

The first fresh snow up on the mountains!

Smiloh!

The complete list of birds banded at TLBO this season by Sept 10^th (the last five days in brackets):

Sharp-shinned Hawk – 9

Merlin – 1

Solitary Sandpiper – 3

Belted Kingfisher – 6

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker – 1

Western Wood-Pewee – 3

Yellow-bellied Flycatcher –9

Pacific-slope Flycatcher – 1

Alder Flycatcher – 826 (2)

Least Flycatcher – 3

Hammond’s Flycatcher – 5 (1)

Dusky Flycatcher – 2

Warbling Vireo – 15

Black-capped Chickadee – 34 (6)

Boreal Chickadee – 38 (5)

Red-breasted Nuthatch – 11 (1)

Ruby-crowned Kinglet – 18 (4)

Townsend’s Solitaire – 1 (1)

Gray-cheeked Thrush – 1

Swainson’s Thrush – 40

Hermit Thrush – 1 (1)

Varied Thrush – 1

Tennessee Warbler – 1

Orange-crowned Warbler – 36

Yellow Warbler – 178 (1)

Magnolia Warbler – 1

Yellow-rumped Warbler – 126 (8)

Townsend’s Warbler – 6

Blackpoll Warbler – 84

Cape May Warbler – 1

American Redstart – 20

Northern Waterthrush – 46

MacGillivray’s Warbler – 1

Common Yellowthroat – 38 (4)

Wilson’s Warbler – 83 (4)

American Tree Sparrow – 1 (1)

Chipping Sparrow – 17

Savannah Sparrow – 17 (1)

Fox Sparrow – 4

Lincoln’s Sparrow – 7

White-crowned Sparrow – 13 (1)

Dark-eyed Junco – 78 (10)

Rusty Blackbird – 5

Purple Finch – 2

White-winged Crossbill – 2

Common Redpoll – 4 (1)

Pine Siskin – 3

= 1803 birds - 45 species - 0.328 birds/net hr (52 birds - 17 species – 0.153 birds/net hr)

Teslin Lake update - September 5

young male Cape May Warbler - the 2nd record for TLBO

If the last period of August was an exciting one the first period of September was anything but. The weather was mostly cold and windy, the winds primarily from south and west, and nothing much happened bird wise. It seems that the strong northwesterlies of the previous period carried most of the last of the early migrants out of the Territory. There was a little more visible passerine migration but that was it. The banding totals and birds/net hr went down significantly as we only banded 120 birds (0.183 birds/net hr) for a season total of 1751 birds (0.341 birds/net hr) of 42 species. The period top six was Yellow-rumped Warbler 40, Boreal Chickadee 14, Dark-eyed Junco 9, Alder Flycatcher, Ruby-crowned Kinglet and Orange-crowned Warbler each 7. The current season top five is Alder Flycatcher 824, Yellow Warbler 177, Yellow-rumped Warbler 118, Blackpoll Warbler 84, and Wilson’s Warbler 79. One very exciting bird was caught and banded and that was the TLBO’s second ever Cape May Warbler, a young male, on the 2^nd.

 

a year-old male Sharp-shinned Hawk

 As I already mentioned in the intro, the observations this period didn’t amount to very much. American Robin, Varied Thrush, American Pipit and Yellow-rumped Warbler became a common sight on the morning sky and the same was the case with Red-throated Loon on the lake. The first Lapland Longspurs were seen on the 2^nd. Small numbers of Parasitic Jaegers, Three-toed Woodpeckers,  Townsend’s Solitaires and Rusty Blackbirds were seen daily while both Boreal Chickadee and Red-breasted Nuthatch continued their movement. The highlights of visual migration counts were 43 Thayer’s Gulls on the 3^rd and 13 American Kestrels on the 5^th.

Parasitic Jaeger with a fish

Early morning migrant...

Shoreline fishing fleets - Common Mergansers on top and Loons on the bottom

Herring (L) and Thayer's (R) Gull

Thayer's Gull in flight

The complete list of birds banded at TLBO this season by Sept 5^th (last five days in brackets):

Sharp-shinned Hawk – 9 (1)

Merlin – 1

Solitary Sandpiper – 3

Belted Kingfisher – 6

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker – 1

Western Wood-Pewee – 3 (1)

Yellow-bellied Flycatcher –9

Pacific-slope Flycatcher – 1

Alder Flycatcher – 824 (7)

Least Flycatcher – 3

Hammond’s Flycatcher – 4 (1)

Dusky Flycatcher – 2

Warbling Vireo – 15

Black-capped Chickadee – 28

Boreal Chickadee – 33 (14)

Red-breasted Nuthatch – 10 (2)

Ruby-crowned Kinglet – 14 (7)

Gray-cheeked Thrush – 1

Swainson’s Thrush – 40 (6)

Varied Thrush – 1

Tennessee Warbler – 1

Orange-crowned Warbler – 36 (7)

Yellow Warbler – 177 (3)

Magnolia Warbler – 1

Yellow-rumped Warbler – 118 (40)

Townsend’s Warbler – 6 (2)

Blackpoll Warbler – 84 (3)

Cape May Warbler – 1 (1)

American Redstart – 20 (2)

Northern Waterthrush – 46

MacGillivray’s Warbler – 1

Common Yellowthroat – 34 (4)

Wilson’s Warbler – 79 (5)

Chipping Sparrow – 17

Savannah Sparrow – 16 (1)

Fox Sparrow – 4

Lincoln’s Sparrow – 7 (1)

White-crowned Sparrow – 12 (1)

Dark-eyed Junco – 68 (9)

Rusty Blackbird – 5 (2)

Purple Finch – 2

White-winged Crossbill – 2

Common Redpoll – 3

Pine Siskin – 3

= 1751 birds - 42 species - 0.341 birds/net hr (120 birds - 22 species – 0.183 birds/net hr)

Teslin Lake update - August 31

Alder Flycatcher #812!

 

First we want to apologize for the lateness of this blog entry. We’ve been having some trouble with our internet connection.

The period of August 26^th to 31^st was a very exciting one. Lot of things happened but we also had a lot of bad weather, mostly high winds and some rain, that forced us to scale down our banding effort. However, that same bad weather made birds move and we got to see some nice flights of different species. A couple of rare birds, a Pacific-slope Flycatcher from the nets and a Black Turnstone observed along the beach (see the previous post for photos), added to the excitement. A total of 192 birds (0.312 birds/net hr) were banded and that brought the season total to 1631 birds (0.363 birds/net hr) banded of 41 species. The most anticipated event and one of the biggest highlights of the period happened on the 30^th when the season 812^th Alder Flycatcher was banded breaking the old record! Another significant even took place that very same morning – it was the first frost morning of the season!! The period top five was Alder Flycatcher 54, Yellow Warbler 34, Yellow-rumped Warbler 15, Black-capped Chickadee 12 and Common Yellowthroat 9 while the current season top five is Alder Flycatcher 817, Yellow Warbler 174, Blackpoll Warbler 81, Yellow-rumped Warbler 78 and Wilson’s Warbler 74. Besides the ah-so-exciting Pacific-slope Flycatcher, three new species for the season were caught: MacGillivray’s Warbler on the 26^th, and Gray-cheeked Thrush and Rusty Blackbird  both on the 30^th. MacGillivray’s is an uncommon nesting bird in Teslin area in large aspen stands with thick understory. Normally we band an average of two per season but last year we didn’t catch any. Gray-cheek captures average just a handful a year so both were quite exciting birds for us.

 

MacGillivray's Warbler

Gray-cheeked Thrush

young female Rusty Blackbird - a season 1st

 

The morning of the 26^th started cloudy with strong northwesterly wind and flocks of Greater White-fronted Geese were heading south as we arrived to the site. The movement lasted strong for about three hours in which time we tallied about 4000 of them. The following day the wind was still strong but had shifted to south/south-east with the result that not much happened with migration. The absolute highlight of the day was the Yukon’s third ever Black Turnstone touching down briefly at the creek mouth. A juvenile Sanderling spent most of the day in the same area while seven Townsend’s Solitaires was a record day count for TLBO. On the 28^th the northwest wind was back on blowing at times 40km/h. This time the early morning hours were quiet but soon after 10 am the White-fronts started moving and by 3 pm we had counted 6200 geese and as a surprise 89 Sandhill Cranes. Also on the move were a few raptors, including 14 Northern Harriers, 16 Sharp-shinned Hawks, a Swainson’s Hawk and a Peregrine Falcon. On the 29^th the northwest wind was even stronger and even our most protected nets were impossible to operate so once again we turned our eyes to the sky and this time it was the season’s first decent flight of raptors that kept us entertained. Some of the highlights included 102 Red-tailed Hawks, 17 Northern Harriers, 3 Swainson’s Hawks, a Peregrine and an early Gyrfalcon. Another 120 Sandhill Cranes passed by too. The highlights of the 30^th were two fly-by season firsts, a Northern Hawk Owl and an American Three-toed Woodpecker. Not much happened on the 31^st.

 

More specklebellies!

Sandhill Cranes against the base of "eagle mountain"

Dark-morph Harlan's Red-tailed Hawk

juvenile Sanderling

Abril counting migration in NW storm

At this point we’d like to thank our volunteers Toby Bernstein, Ray Harrison, Jen Sibbald, Andy Pfeffer, Nick and Ron Guenette, and Gwen Baluss, that have come, helped out and gone.

The first frost!

yet another different kind of a sunrise...

...and a moonset

End of August look of the shoreline

The complete list of birds banded at TLBO this season by Aug 31^st (last six days in brackets):

Sharp-shinned Hawk – 8 (1)

Merlin – 1

Solitary Sandpiper – 3

Belted Kingfisher – 6 (2)

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker – 1

Western Wood-Pewee – 2 (1)

Yellow-bellied Flycatcher –9

Pacific-slope Flycatcher – 1 (1)

Alder Flycatcher – 817 (54)

Least Flycatcher – 3

Hammond’s Flycatcher – 3 (1)

Dusky Flycatcher – 2

Warbling Vireo – 15 (1)

Black-capped Chickadee – 28 (12)

Boreal Chickadee – 19 (8)

Red-breasted Nuthatch – 8 (2)

Ruby-crowned Kinglet – 7 (2)

Gray-cheeked Thrush – 1 (1)

Swainson’s Thrush – 34 (8)

Varied Thrush – 1

Tennessee Warbler – 1

Orange-crowned Warbler – 29 (8)

Yellow Warbler – 174 (34)

Magnolia Warbler – 1

Yellow-rumped Warbler – 78 (15)

Townsend’s Warbler – 4

Blackpoll Warbler – 81 (5)

American Redstart – 18 (2)

Northern Waterthrush – 46 (1)

MacGillivray’s Warbler – 1 (1)

Common Yellowthroat – 30 (9)

Wilson’s Warbler – 74 (7)

Chipping Sparrow – 17 (1)

Savannah Sparrow – 15 (3)

Fox Sparrow – 4 (1)

Lincoln’s Sparrow – 6 (2)

White-crowned Sparrow – 11 (3)

Dark-eyed Junco – 59 (3)

Rusty Blackbird – 3 (3)

Purple Finch – 2

White-winged Crossbill – 2

Common Redpoll – 3

Pine Siskin – 3

= 1631 birds - 41 species - 0.363 birds/net hr (192 birds - 28 species – 0.312 birds/net hr)