Sightings and News Postings for 2005

Date submitted: Wednesday, November 16 at 10:50 AM
Name: Paul Levesque
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Hello, here are some of the results from the owl banding project.
Between 15 Sept and 4 Nov, we opened the nets on 28 evenings for a total of 111 hrs., the number of hours is down from the past two years for the most part because of poor weather.
Northern Saw-whet owls, 77 banded. The 2005 capture rate was 0.11 birds/net hr., the average rate for 2002-2004 is 0.38 birds/net hr. A bit slow. The number of HY birds was also down, 40% HY in 2005, the normal range in past years has been between 60 and 70%. The number of females increased from an average of 49% 02-04, to 79% in 2005. So what happen? I don't know, but it appears that the breeding season was not very productive. Barred owls, 1 HY male was banded on the 30 Sept, this bird was hit by a car on Helmecken Rd. on the 26 Oct and taken to WildArc, it died on the 29 Oct.
Deer, Gabe almost caught a buck 16 Sept., the deer got away but the net was destroyed.
Bats, 4 California Myotis were caught 15 Sept, 9 Oct, and we had our first bat double header on 17 Oct. (and there was a NSWO)

Although the numbers were much lower than the past three years, it was still a good season and I enjoyed it. It will be interesting to see what happens in 2006.

Paul Levesque

Date submitted: Monday, October 31 at 03:31 PM
Name: David Allinson
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Greetings RPBO friend,
On October 18th, we completed the 12th season for migration monitoring at Rocky Point. We were all very proud and pleased to have one of our own volunteers working as our Bander-in-Charge this fall at the Rocky Point Bird Observatory. Gabriel David first came out as a green volunteer to Rocky Point in 1998. However, since then he has completed extensive banding work at Thunder Cape, Bruce Peninsula, and Long Point Bird Observatories in Ontario, at Vaseux Lake Migration Monitoring Station in the Okanagan, as well as in Mexico and Costa Rica. Note that a recent September edition of the local newspaper the OEMetchosin Muse? had an article on Gabriel and RPBO. Please join us in congratulating him on a ?season well-done?!

Record numbers for many species are the story of the day. Our (unofficial) tally of 4595 birds banded is a new single season record for us. Ruby-crowned Kinglets have become the first bird at RBPO to reach 500 birds in a season and we ended up with a phenomenal 844 of these little gems! In addition, 14 species set single season banding highs: Downy Woodpecker, Willow Flycatcher, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Hermit Thrush, Yellow Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Black-throated Gray Warbler, MacGillivray?s Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Wilson?s Warbler, White-crowned Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, and Purple Finch. Once again a bit perplexing, Chipping Sparrows appear to have departed early for the second year in a row with only two birds banded. Also a bit sobering was the fact that Bewick?s Wrens, Hammond?s Flycatchers, Bushtits, and even Brown-headed Cowbird were behind their normal capture rates. Our earliest banding capture for Fox Sparrow on the opening day of the season was of interest. RPBO?s first banding record for California Quail with a family group of four on August 14 had Gabriel briefly considering some new culinary treats, but instead he nobly chose to just band and release them! Note we now have a provincial permit which allows us to band this species for the first time. Among banding rarities, a Dusky Flycatcher, two Northern Waterthrush, a Swamp Sparrow, and three White-throated Sparrows were captured. An After Third Year (ATY) Northern Flicker re-trapped on August 7 was originally banded on July 21, 2001 as an After Hatch Year (AHY), so it is now at least 4 years, 2 months old. Another recapture of note was an After Second Year (ASY) Golden-crowned Kinglet caught on August 14; it was originally banded as a hatch-year (HY) on September 21, 2002 making it now at least 3 years, 2 months old (this is pretty old for a kinglet - the oldest on file at the Bird Banding Lab is only 5 years, 4 months!). For the third year in a row, we again participated in Cam Finlay?s hummingbird project, but only 15 Rufous Hummingbirds were banded. This is consistent with startlingly low numbers of this species reported on the south island all year.

Of interest, over a 14-day stretch from September 9 to September 22, a total of 1619 birds were banded, and more than 100 birds were banded on 8 of those days (new station record in a single season). To put these numbers in perspective, this two-week period represents 35% of our total captures for season! Furthermore, on September 17 a new single day station record of 208 birds were banded (67 of them Ruby-crowned Kinglets)!
09/09 - 95
09/10 - 104
09/11 - 135
09/12 - 92
09/13 - 59
09/14 - 67
09/15 - 120
09/16 - 185
09/17 - 208
09/18 - 105
09/19 - 67
09/20 - 175
09/21 - 78
09/22 - 129

At first glance, the weather pattern appears similar to last year. However, slightly lower temperatures and more precipitation earlier in the year perhaps helped some of our local breeding species. It was also definitely foggier and windier than normal in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and this has certainly hampered offshore observations and even census tallies on some days. Temperatures in October were pleasantly milder than the norm with very few mornings starting out below 5ƒC.

Among the rarest birds so far: Rocky Point?s second-ever Clark?s Nutcracker on August 10 (almost ten years since our last record), a Buff-breasted Sandpiper on August 19 (new record for RPBO checklist), our second American Redstart (a hatch-year male) was banded on August 28, Ash-throated Flycatcher (September 6; second site record), Lewis?s Woodpecker (September 6; only second record in recent years, as they historically bred here), Vesper Sparrow (September 14; second site record), Clay-colored Sparrow (September 25; second site record), and a Tropical Kingbird on October 8 while no doubt ?overdue? for the checklist was still welcome (#297 for our list). Early in the season there was a Parasitic Jaeger on July 22, and there were sightings of Tufted Puffins from shore on July 22 and 25, while two more puffins were seen on August 2. While 1 to 3 Northern Waterthrush are usually seen or captured at Rocky every fall, two banding records in a season is always a treat. Other rarities included: Wood Duck (September 11; only 9th site record), Nashville Warbler (September 22; remarkably the 11th record for the site), Dusky Flycatcher (different birds on September 17 and 18; 11 records now for us), an immature Northern Goshawk was near the trailers at Cape Calver on October 29th, and in October at least two Barn Owls were heard in the evenings during owl banding (subsequently a predated specimen was found and these represent only our 6th and 7th records). Broad-winged Hawks put on an average showing this September, with approximately 10 individuals observed. The site year list now stands at a respectable 195 species.

Look for a summary for our owl banding program to come out later. However, numbers of Northern Saw-whet Owls are dramatically down this year compared to the previous three falls.

List of Birds Banded July 21-October 18 (un-proofed totals):
California Quail - 4 (new to our banded list)
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 5
Cooper?s Hawk - 1 (only our fifth ever banded)
Sora - 1 (our sixth ever banded, but first in 7 years in our nets)
Rufous Hummingbird - 15
Downy Woodpecker - 5 (*new single season high; previous high 3 from 2004)
Hairy Woodpecker - 1 (only our sixth ever banded)
Northern Flicker - 2
Willow Flycatcher - 80 (*new single season high; previous high 56 from tie in 2003 and 2004)
Hammond?s Flycatcher - 23
Dusky Flycatcher - 1 (our fourth banding record, but 10th for station checklist)
#3. Pacific-slope Flycatcher - 312
Hutton?s Vireo - 5
Warbling Vireo - 21
Steller?s Jay - 12
Violet-green Swallow - 1
Northern Rough-winged Swallow - 1
Chestnut-backed Chickadee - 140 (*new single season high; previous high 93 from 2002)
Bushtit - 31
Red-breasted Nuthatch - 4
Brown Creeper - 15
Bewick?s Wren - 22 (our lowest capture rate since 1997!)
House Wren - 30 (ties high set last year)
Winter Wren - 278
Marsh Wren - 13
Golden-crowned Kinglet - 153
#1. Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 844 (*new single season high; previous high 467 from 2004!)
Swainson?s Thrush - 88
Hermit Thrush - 143 (*new single season high; previous high 139 in 2004)
American Robin - 18
Cedar Waxwing - 9
Orange-crowned Warbler - 250
Yellow Warbler - 310 (*new single season high; previous high 265 from 2004)
Yellow-rumped Warbler - 82 (*new single season high; previous high 64 in 2003)
Black-throated Gray Warbler - 8 (*new single season high; previous high 6 from 2001)
Townsend?s Warbler - 4
American Redstart - 1 (second station record; only third record for Victoria checklist!)
Northern Waterthrush - 2 (our 10th and 11th banding records)
MacGillivray?s Warbler - 63 (*new single season high; previous high 48 from 2002)
Common Yellowthroat - 114 (*new single season high; previous high 105 from 1998)
# 2. Wilson?s Warbler - 315 (*new single season high; previous high 257 from 1999)
Western Tanager - 1 (only our fifth ever banded)
Spotted Towhee - 120
Chipping Sparrow - 2 (our lowest capture rate since 1996)
Savannah Sparrow - 93
Fox Sparrow - 190
Song Sparrow - 126
Lincoln?s Sparrow - 193
Swamp Sparrow - 1
White-throated Sparrow - 3
White-crowned Sparrow - 118 (*new single season high; previous high 116 in 2004)
Golden-crowned Sparrow - 112
Dark-eyed Junco - 94 (*new single season high; previous high 88 in 2000)
Red-winged Blackbird - 4
Brown-headed Cowbird - 5
Purple Finch - 17 (*new single season high; previous high a tie with 13 in 1998, 1999, and 2004)
American Goldfinch - 104
Totals - 57 species, 4595 individuals

Faith is the bird that feels the light and sings when the dawn is still dark.
--Rabindranath Tagore

Date submitted: Tuesday, October 04 at 09:49 AM
Name: David Allinson, Past-President Rpbo
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It is with a sad and heavy heart that I forward news of the passing of Dr. Michael Porter on October 1st. In particular, I will miss his good humour, sensible council, and sage advice. However, as a founding director of the RPBO Society and in creating the RPBO Fund with the Victoria Foundation, Michael's legacy and influence will forever live on with the birds of Rocky Point.
His obiturary may be viewed here:
http://www.legacy.com/can-victoria/LegacySubPage2.asp?Page=LifeStory&PersonID=15296524

Date submitted: Tuesday, October 04 at 09:49 AM
Name: David Allinson, Past-President Rpbo
<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>
Greetings RPBO friend,
We are all pleased to have one of our own volunteers now working as our Bander-in-Charge this fall at the Rocky Point Bird Observatory. Gabriel David first came out as a green volunteer to Rocky Point in 1998. However, since then he has completed extensive banding work at Thunder Cape, Bruce Peninsula, and Long Point Bird Observatories in Ontario, at Vaseux Lake Migration Monitoring Station in the Okanagan, as well as in Mexico and Costa Rica. Note that a recent September edition of the local newspaper the OEMetchosin Muse? has an article on Gabriel and RPBO.

As our 12th banding season winds down, record numbers for many species are the story of the day. Our tally to the end of September is 3886 birds banded, and we are on pace to easily pass last year?s record total (weather permitting!). The biggest day so far was the 208 birds banded on September 17th which set a new single day high for us! Ruby-crowned Kinglets have become the first bird at RBPO to reach 500 birds in a season (but should probably hit 700 by October 18!). 10 species have so far set single season banding highs: Downy Woodpecker, Willow Flycatcher, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Yellow Warbler, Black-throated Gray Warbler, MacGillivray?s Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Wilson?s Warbler, and Purple Finch. Once again a bit perplexing, Chipping Sparrows appear to have departed early for the second year in a row with only two birds banded so far. Of interest, Bewick?s Wrens, Hammond?s Flycatchers, Bushtits, Dark-eyed Juncos and even Brown-headed Cowbird numbers are tracking behind their normal capture rates. Also interesting was our earliest banding capture for Fox Sparrow on the opening day of the season. RPBO?s first banding record for California Quail with a family group of four on August 14 had Gabriel briefly considering some new culinary treats, but instead he nobly chose to just band and release them! Note we now have a provincial permit which allows us to band this species for the first time. Among banding rarities, so far a Dusky Flycatcher, two Northern Waterthrush, and two White-throated Sparrows have been captured. An After Third Year (ATY) Northern Flicker re-trapped on August 7 was originally banded on July 21, 2001 as an After Hatch Year (AHY), so it is now at least 4 years, 2 months old. Another recapture of note was an After Second Year (ASY) Golden-crowned Kinglet caught on August 14; it was originally banded as a hatch-year (HY) on September 21, 2002 making it now at least 3 years, 2 months old (this is pretty old for a kinglet - the oldest on file at the Bird Banding Lab is only 5 years, 4 months!). For the third year in a row, we are again participating in Cam Finlay?s hummingbird project and so far only 15 Rufous Hummingbirds have been banded. This is consistent with startlingly low numbers of this species being reported on the south island all year.

We are now approximately 500 birds ahead of the same period from last year. While the weather pattern appears similar to last year, slightly lower temperatures and more precipitation earlier in the year perhaps helped some of our local breeding species. However, it has been foggier and windier than normal in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and this has certainly hampered offshore observations and even census tallies on some days. We have been blessed only loosing one day to rain so far, but October is upon us!

Rare or unusual birds include a Parasitic Jaeger on July 22, and there were sightings of Tufted Puffins from shore on the 22 and the 25, while two more puffins were seen on August 2. Among the rarest birds so far: Rocky Point?s second-ever Clark?s Nutcracker on August 10 (almost ten years since our last record), a Buff-breasted Sandpiper on August 19 (new record for RPBO checklist), and our second American Redstart (a hatch-year male) was banded on August 28. While 1 to 3 Northern Waterthrush are usually seen or captured at Rocky every fall, two banding records in a season is always a treat. Other rarities so far include: Wood Duck (September 11; only 9th site record), Nashville Warbler (September 22; remarkably our 11th record), Dusky Flycatcher (different birds on September 17 and 18; 11 records now for us), Clay-colored Sparrow (September 25; second site record), Northern Mockingbird (September 21; second site record), Ash-throated Flycatcher (September 6; second site record), Lewis?s Woodpecker (September 6; only second record in recent years, as they historically bred here), and Vesper Sparrow (September 14; second site record). Broad-winged Hawks put on an average showing this September, with approximately 10 individuals observed. The site year list now stands at a respectable 184 species.

List of Birds Banded July 21-September 30 (un-proofed totals):

California Quail - 4 (new to our banded list)
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 3
Cooper?s Hawk - 1 (only our fifth ever banded)
Sora - 1 (our sixth ever banded, but first in 7 years in our nets)
Rufous Hummingbird - 15
Downy Woodpecker - 5 (*new single season high; previous high 3 from 2004)
Hairy Woodpecker - 1 (only our sixth ever banded)
Northern Flicker - 2
Willow Flycatcher - 80 (*new single season high; previous high 56 from tie in 2003 and 2004)
Hammond?s Flycatcher - 23
Dusky Flycatcher - 1 (our fourth banding record, but 10th for station checklist)
#3. Pacific-slope Flycatcher - 310
Hutton?s Vireo - 2
Warbling Vireo - 21
Steller?s Jay - 9
Violet-green Swallow - 1
Northern Rough-winged Swallow - 1
Chestnut-backed Chickadee - 125 (*new single season high; previous high 93 from 2002)
Bushtit - 30
Red-breasted Nuthatch - 4
Brown Creeper - 14
Bewick?s Wren - 22 (our lowest capture rate since 1997!)
House Wren - 30 (ties high set last year)
Winter Wren - 195
Marsh Wren - 13
Golden-crowned Kinglet - 89
#1. Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 544 (*new single season high; previous high 467 from 2004)
Swainson?s Thrush - 82
Hermit Thrush - 93
American Robin - 16
Cedar Waxwing - 9
Orange-crowned Warbler - 243
Yellow Warbler - 308 (*new single season high; previous high 265 from 2004)
Yellow-rumped Warbler - 40
Black-throated Gray Warbler - 8 (*new single season high; previous high 6 from 2001)
Townsend?s Warbler - 4
American Redstart - 1 (second station record; only third record for Victoria checklist!)
Northern Waterthrush - 2 (our 10th and 11th banding records)
MacGillivray?s Warbler - 63 (*new single season high; previous high 48 from 2002)
Common Yellowthroat - 111 (*new single season high; previous high 105 from 1998)
# 2. Wilson?s Warbler - 314 (*new single season high; previous high 257 from 1999)
Western Tanager - 1 (only our fifth ever banded)
Spotted Towhee - 85
Chipping Sparrow - 2 (our lowest capture rate since 1996)
Savannah Sparrow - 91
Fox Sparrow - 158
Song Sparrow - 114
Lincoln?s Sparrow - 184
White-throated Sparrow - 2
White-crowned Sparrow - 115
Golden-crowned Sparrow - 90
Dark-eyed Junco - 52
Red-winged Blackbird - 4
Brown-headed Cowbird - 5
Purple Finch - 15 (*new single season high; previous high a tie with 13 in 1998, 1999, and 2004)
American Goldfinch - 104

Totals - 56 species, 3886 individuals

Date submitted: Thursday, September 01 at 08:26 AM
Name: David Allinson
<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>
Dear RPBO friend,
We are all pleased to have one of our own volunteers now working as our Bander-in-Charge this fall at the Rocky Point Bird Observatory. Gabriel David first came out as a green volunteer to Rocky Point in 1998. However, since then he has completed extensive banding work at Thunder Cape, Bruce Peninsula, and Long Point Bird Observatories in Ontario, at Vaseux Lake Migration Monitoring Station in the Okanagan, as well as in Mexico and Costa Rica. Note that the latest edition of the local newspaper the OEMetchosin Muse? has an article on Gabriel and RPBO.

The first half of our 12th banding season has proven to be steady at the nets. Our current tally of 1619 birds is a new record for this initial 42-day period. The biggest day so far was the 66 new birds banded on August 8th. Continuing in the lead, the rapid capture rate of Wilson?s Warblers has already set a new record and they appear well on their way to over 300 individuals. Four other species have also already set single season banding highs: MacGillivray?s Warbler, Willow Flycatcher, Downy Woodpecker, as has our official logo bird, the Black-throated Gray Warbler. Recently, capture rates for Yellow and Orange-crowned Warblers have really picked up and both are on pace to set new highs also. Once again a bit perplexing, Chipping Sparrows appear to have departed early for the second year in a row with only two birds banded so far. Bewick?s Wren numbers are also tracking well behind their normal capture rate. Also interesting was our earliest banding capture for Fox Sparrow on the opening day of the season. RPBO?s first banding record for California Quail with a family group of four on August 14 had Gabriel briefly considering some new culinary treats, but instead he nobly chose to just band and release them! An After Third Year (ATY) Northern Flicker re-trapped on August 7 was originally banded on July 21, 2001 as an After Hatch Year (AHY), so it is now at least 4 years, 2 months old. Another recapture of note was an After Second Year (ASY) Golden-crowned Kinglet caught on August 14; it was originally banded as a hatch-year (HY) on September 21, 2002 making it now at least 3 years, 2 months old (this is pretty old for a kinglet - the oldest on file at the Bird Banding Lab is only 5 years, 4 months!). For the third year in a row, we are again participating in Cam Finlay?s hummingbird project and so far only 15 Rufous Hummingbirds have been banded. This is consistent with startlingly low numbers of this species being reported on the south island all year.

In light of this good start, it will be interesting to see how the rest of the season pans out for our final totals. For example, the record banding totals we ended up setting in 2004 were in spite of a slow banding start last year in July and August. Furthermore, we are now some 428 birds ahead of the same period from last year (or about 10 more birds/day!). The weather pattern appears similar to last year, but slightly lower temperatures and more precipitation earlier in the year perhaps helped some of our local breeding species. It has also been foggier and windier than normal in the Strait of Juan de Fuca over the last month, and this has certainly hampered offshore observations and even census tallies on some days.

Rare or unusual birds include a Parasitic Jaeger on July 22, and there were sightings of Tufted Puffins from shore on the 22 and the 25, while two more puffins were seen on August 2. Among the rarest birds so far: Rocky Point?s second-ever Clark?s Nutcracker on August 10 (almost ten years since our last record), a Buff-breasted Sandpiper on August 19 (new record for RPBO checklist), and our second American Redstart (a hatch-year male) was banded on August 28. While 1 to 2 Northern Waterthrush are usually seen or captured at Rocky every fall, nevertheless one near Glover Pond on August 30 was a good find. Shorebirds have put on a good show with sightings of 3 or 4 Solitary Sandpipers (eighth and ninth site records), Wandering Tattlers, a Whimbrel, Semipalmated, Baird?s and Pectoral Sandpipers, and Red-necked Phalarope among the highlights. The site year list stands at a respectable 155 species, but this seems behind the pace for diversity set in recent seasons.

List of Birds Banded July 21-August 31 (un-proofed totals):
California Quail - 4 (new to our banded list)
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 1
Sora - 1 (our sixth ever banded, but first in 7 years in our nets)
Rufous Hummingbird - 15
Downy Woodpecker - 4 (*new single season high; previous high 3 from 2004)
Hairy Woodpecker - 1 (only our sixth ever banded)
Northern Flicker - 1
Willow Flycatcher - 65 (*new single season high; previous high 56 from tie in 2003 and 2004)
Hammond?s Flycatcher - 9
# 2. Pacific-slope Flycatcher - 172
Hutton?s Vireo - 2
Warbling Vireo - 17
Steller?s Jay - 1
Violet-green Swallow - 1
Northern Rough-winged Swallow - 1
Chestnut-backed Chickadee - 78
Bushtit - 22
Red-breasted Nuthatch - 2
Brown Creeper - 11
Bewick?s Wren - 22
House Wren - 29
Winter Wren - 43
Marsh Wren - 13
Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 3
Golden-crowned Kinglet - 3
Swainson?s Thrush - 21
Hermit Thrush - 1
American Robin - 14
Cedar Waxwing - 9
Orange-crowned Warbler - 136
#3. Yellow Warbler - 148
Yellow-rumped Warbler - 1
Black-throated Gray Warbler - 7 (*new single season high; previous high 6 from 2001)
Townsend?s Warbler - 4
American Redstart - 1 (second station record; only third record for Victoria checklist!)
MacGillivray?s Warbler - 58 (*new single season high; previous high 48 from 2002)
Common Yellowthroat - 64
#1. Wilson?s Warbler - 274 (*new single season high; previous high 257 from 1999)
Western Tanager - 1 (only our fifth ever banded)
Spotted Towhee - 12
Chipping Sparrow - 2
Savannah Sparrow - 14
Fox Sparrow - 12
Song Sparrow - 50
Lincoln?s Sparrow - 90
White-crowned Sparrow - 67
Golden-crowned Sparrow - 2
Dark-eyed Junco - 15
Red-winged Blackbird - 4
Brown-headed Cowbird - 5
Purple Finch - 7
American Goldfinch - 79
Totals - 52 species, 1619 individuals

Cheers,
David Allinson
Past-President/Vice-president, Rocky Point Bird Observatory
296 species and counting!
Report bird bands or neck collars to:
1-800-327-BAND; or visit Bird Banding Lab's website
http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/bbl/homepage/mailrecv.htm

Faith is the bird that feels the light and sings when the dawn is still dark.
--Rabindranath Tagore

Date submitted: Sunday, August 14 at 09:40 PM
Name: David Allinson
<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>-<>
Greetings all,
We are all pleased to have one of our own volunteers now working as our Bander-in-Charge this fall at the Rocky Point Bird Observatory. Gabriel David first came out as a green volunteer to Rocky Point in 1998. However, since then he has completed extensive banding work at Thunder Cape, Bruce Peninsula, and Long Point Bird Observatories in Ontario, at Vaseux Lake Migration Monitoring Station in the Okanagan, as well as in Mexico and Costa Rica.

The opening days of our 12th banding season continue to be steady at the nets and our current tally of 978 birds is well above average. The biggest day so far is 66 new birds banded on August 8. Continuing in the lead, the rapid capture rate of Wilson’s Warblers continues (but may be slowing down recently), and House Wrens and MacGillivray’s Warblers also appear poised to break new season highs soon. However, a new high has been set already with four Downy Woodpeckers in our nets. Once again a bit perplexing, Chipping Sparrows appear to have departed early for the second year in a row with only one bird banded so far. Bewick’s Wren numbers also appear a bit behind their normal pace for this period, but it is still early in season. Our earliest banding capture for Fox Sparrow on the opening day was also of interest. Recently, capture rates for Yellow and Orange-crowned Warblers have really picked up as well. RPBO’s first banding record for California Quail with a family group of four on August 14 had Gabriel briefly considering some new culinary treats, but instead he nobly chose to just band and release them! An After Third Year (ATY) Northern Flicker re-trapped on August 7 was originally banded on July 21, 2001 as an After Hatch Year (AHY), so it is now at least 4 years, 2 months old. Another recapture of note was an After Second Year (ASY) Golden-crowned Kinglet caught in our canopy net August 14; it was originally banded as a hatch-year (HY) on September 21, 2002 making it now at least 3 years, 2 months old (this is pretty old for a kinglet – the oldest on file at the Bird Banding Lab is only 5 years, 4 months!). For the third year in a row, we are again participating in Cam Finlay’s hummingbird project and so far only 14 Rufous Hummingbirds have been banded. This is consistent with surprisingly low numbers of this species being reported on the south island all year.

In light of this good start, it will be interesting to see how the rest of the season pans out for our final totals. For example, the record banding totals we ended up setting in 2004 were in spite of a slow banding start last year in July and August. Furthermore, we are now some 328 birds ahead of the same 25-day period from last year (or about 13 more birds/day!). The weather pattern appears similar to last year, but slightly lower temperatures and more precipitation earlier in the year perhaps helped some of our local breeding species. It has also been foggier than normal in the Strait of Juan de Fuca over the last couple of weeks, and this has certainly hampered offshore observations and even census tallies on some days.

Rare or unusual birds include a Parasitic Jaeger on July 22, and there were sightings of Tufted Puffins from shore on the 22 and the 25, while two more puffins were seen on August 2. By far the rarest bird of the season was Rocky Point’s second-ever Clark’s Nutcracker on August 10 (almost ten years since our last record). Shorebirds have also put on a good show with sightings of up to 2 Solitary Sandpipers (eighth site record), Wandering Tattlers, a Whimbrel, Semipalmated, Baird’s and Pectoral Sandpipers, and Red-necked Phalarope among the highlights. The site year list already stands at a respectable 152 species.

List of Birds Banded July 21-August 14:
California Quail - 4
Downy Woodpecker – 4 (new banding high)
Hairy Woodpecker – 1 (only our sixth ever banded)
Willow Flycatcher – 17
Hammond’s Flycatcher - 5
# 2. Pacific-slope Flycatcher – 128
Hutton’s Vireo - 1
Warbling Vireo – 9
Violet-green Swallow - 1
Northern Rough-winged Swallow – 1
Chestnut-backed Chickadee – 53
Bushtit –15
Red-breasted Nuthatch – 2
Brown Creeper – 8
Bewick’s Wren – 19
House Wren – 28
Winter Wren – 21
Marsh Wren – 9
Golden-crowned Kinglet - 1
Swainson’s Thrush – 6
American Robin – 13
Cedar Waxwing - 7
#3. Orange-crowned Warbler – 81
Yellow Warbler – 52
Yellow-rumped Warbler – 1
Black-throated Gray Warbler – 3
Townsend’s Warbler – 4
MacGillivray’s Warbler – 42
Common Yellowthroat – 29
#1. Wilson’s Warbler – 224
Spotted Towhee – 11
Chipping Sparrow – 1
Savannah Sparrow – 2
Fox Sparrow - 2
Song Sparrow – 39
Lincoln’s Sparrow – 6
White-crowned Sparrow – 53
Dark-eyed Junco – 3
Red-winged Blackbird – 3
Brown-headed Cowbird – 4
Purple Finch – 4
American Goldfinch – 61
Totals – 42 species, 978 individuals

Cheers,
David Allinson
Past-President/Vice-president, Rocky Point Bird Observatory
295 species and counting!
Report bird bands or neck collars to:
1-800-327-BAND; or visit Bird Banding Lab's website
http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/bbl/homepage/mailrecv.htm

Faith is the bird that feels the light and sings when the dawn is still dark.
--Rabindranath Tagore

Date submitted: Tuesday, August 02 at 01:24 PM
Name: David Allinson
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Howdy all,
We are all pleased to have one of our own volunteers now working as our Bander-in-Charge this fall at the Rocky Point Bird Observatory. Gabriel David first came out as a green volunteer to Rocky Point in 1998. However, since then he has completed extensive banding work at Thunder Cape, Bruce Peninsula, and Long Point Bird Observatories in Ontario, at Vaseux Lake Migration Monitoring Station in the Okanagan, as well as in Mexico and Costa Rica.

The opening 11 days of our 12th banding season proved to be steady at the nets with our highest-ever July capture total of 421 (beating the high set in 2001 with 394). The biggest day so far is 64 new birds banded on July 25 (our record for the period was 81 set on July 24, 2001). Leading the way with their own record pace are 109 Wilson’s Warblers – this is more than double their July average of 48 from other years (and eclipses the previous high for this period with 78 in 2001). Other species with record starts in July are American Robin with 3 times their normal capture rate, American Goldfinches are 2.7 times their average, White-crowned Sparrows are 2.5 times the norm for this month, and MacGillivray’s Warblers have also set a good pace. Once again a bit perplexing, Chipping Sparrows appear to have departed early for the second year in a row with only one bird banded so far. Our earliest banding capture for Fox Sparrow on the opening day was also of interest. For the third year in a row, we are again participating in Cam Finlay’s hummingbird project and so far 10 Rufous Hummingbirds have been banded.

In light of this good start, it will be interesting to see how the rest of the season pans out for our final totals. For example, the record banding totals we ended up setting in 2004 were in spite of a slow banding start last year in July, which were the lowest since 2000. The weather pattern appears similar to last year, but slightly lower temperatures and more precipitation earlier in the year perhaps helped some of our local breeding species.

Rare or unusual birds include a Parasitic Jaeger on July 22, and there were sightings of Tufted Puffins from shore on the 22 and the 25. The site year list already stands at a decent 145 species.

List of Birds Banded July 21-July 31:

Downy Woodpecker – 2
Willow Flycatcher – 1
# 2. Pacific-slope Flycatcher – 39
Warbling Vireo – 3
Chestnut-backed Chickadee – 24
Bushtit – 2
Red-breasted Nuthatch – 2
Brown Creeper – 5
Bewick’s Wren – 13
House Wren – 12
Winter Wren – 9
Marsh Wren – 4
Swainson’s Thrush – 4
American Robin – 12
Cedar Waxwing - 4
Orange-crowned Warbler – 25
Yellow Warbler – 3
Yellow-rumped Warbler – 1
Black-throated Gray Warbler – 2
Townsend’s Warbler – 1
MacGillivray’s Warbler – 17
Common Yellowthroat – 14
#1. Wilson’s Warbler – 109
Spotted Towhee – 7
Chipping Sparrow – 1
Fox Sparrow - 1
Song Sparrow – 29
#3. White-crowned Sparrow – 36
Dark-eyed Junco – 1
Red-winged Blackbird – 3
Brown-headed Cowbird – 2
Purple Finch – 4
American Goldfinch – 29
Totals – 33 species, 421 individuals

Cheers,

Faith is the bird that feels the light and sings when the dawn is still dark.
--Rabindranath Tagore

Date submitted: Monday, July 25 at 12:32 PM
Name: David Allinson
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Some recent rarities/birds of interest at RPBO:
July 9 - a Tufted Puffin was seen offshore by boat near Race Rocks;
July 18 - an adult Little Gull was spied near Edye Point in the late afternoon (sixth site record);
July 21 - our earliest banding record ever for Fox Sparrow was banded on the first day of season, and a calling Marbled Murrelet flew over the forest early in the morning suggesting breeding in the general area (long-suspected as there have been a handful of other similar sightings here -- perhaps they are breeding in the Church Hill area of Rocky Point or in the Sooke watershed further to the northwest of our count area);
July 22 - a Parasitic Jaeger was on rocks west of Bentinck Island while another Tufted Puffin was seen in this vicinity as well.

Date submitted: Wednesday, July 13 at 11:14 AM
Name: David Allinson
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We are all excited and ready for the start of our 12th banding season at Rocky Point on July 21!

Cheers and happy banding and obs'ing!

Date submitted: Saturday, June 18 at 04:02 PM
Name: David Allinson
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Long overdue, but still most welcome was the appearance of Rocky Point's first Eastern Kingbird today. It was photographed for 'proof' thanks to Chris Saunders' camera-phone while it was held up to my spotting scope. The bird was only present in the alders beside Glover Pond for about 3 minutes, right where I have been predicting and hoping one would appear for more than 10 years! It was perched and even sallied for insects a couple of times. It was last seen flying towards Edye Point. This bird represents #295 for our ever-growing checklist.
Other birds of interest today included a Barred Owl, a Hammond's Flycatcher (good summer record for location), and a Tree Swallow (good summer record for location) among many other of our regularly breeding species that were all very active. Later, we tried for puffins off Cape Calver with no luck. It also appears that the Barn Swallows are either done with (or have abandoned?) their nest at our big trailer that Rick Schortinghuis reported recently.

Date submitted: Friday, February 04 at 08:17 PM
Name: David Allinson
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"Foreign" Recovery News:
I have just received word of our latest recovery (unfortunately not good news for bird)…
A HY Hermit Thrush banded October 13, 2003 at RPBO was found dead at Naselle, Washington on January 4, 2005 (so it was only 1 year, 7 months officially as June is arbitrarily the “birthday” for all banded birds). Note Naselle is in southern Washington on the Columbia River, just east of Long Beach and the Grays Harbor-Willapa Bay area (and just north of Oregon border). Interestingly, Naselle is almost exactly due south of RPBO and about 220 km as the thrush flies. Furthermore, this is our first HETH recovery (out of the 745 we’ve banded over the years!).
Look for a spreadsheet summary for all of RPBO's banding recoveries to be posted on our website later this year.

Date submitted: Friday, January 14 at 01:16 PM
Name: David Allinson
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BIRD BANDING TRAINING WORKSHOP:
The Rocky Point Bird Observatory in Victoria, BC, Canada, is offering an intermediate level bird-banding workshop at Royal Roads University in Victoria, BC, on the 25, 26 and 27 of March 2005. The 2.5-day workshop will focus on bird identification, sexing and ageing under the direction of PETER PYLE, author of the banders’ “bible”, Identification Guide to North American Birds, Part I. The program has been developed for people with some bird handling and/or banding experience, but a few seats have been reserved for novices with little or no experience. This is an excellent opportunity for undergraduates, graduate students, wildlife biologists and naturalists to gain a firm foundation in bird banding, ageing and sexing. Skills practiced in this workshop will be beneficial for productivity, survivorship and migration monitoring field work.

The cost is $350 Cdn, per participant with a $50 reduction for students.
There is a limited number of dorm room accommodations available at Royal Roads University for approximately $35 Cdn./night and will be made available to those first to enroll. Enrollment is limited to 18.

Note, last year’s workshop filled quickly, we recommend early registration.

To enroll, please send your registration form and full workshop fees in the form of a cheque or money order made out to: Rocky Point Bird Observatory Society, to:

Rocky Point Bird Observatory Banding Workshop

c/o Donna Ross

3 – 163 Wellington Ave.

Victoria, BC V8V 4H8

You may submit your registration form by email if you like, but you will not be confirmed in the workshop until your payment is received. Registrants will receive a receipt, pre-course reading material, course information and accommodation information.

For more information or to confirm that there are still spaces available,
contact: Donna Ross (hoshihana@shaw.ca).

Date submitted: Sunday, January 02 at 05:46 PM
Name: David Allinson
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Stop the press!
The long anticipated RPBO bargraph bird checklist is now available, showcasing the seasonal status for 293 species recorded at the site. The inaugural first edition (November 2004) can be yours two ways: a) for $3 plus postage ($4 total); b) by either getting or renewing your RPBO membership for only $25 (see link on the main page to 'Join RPBO').

Please contact David Allinson at passerine@shaw.ca for more details or to request a copy.

Happy New Year!