NOTE: RPBO is in the process of building a "blog type" sightings board and integrating the sightings pages.
Please go to this link for current updates of what has been seen and/or banded at the station.
(You will find links on that page to return to RPBO's web site.)
Past News and Sightings are available below and via the following
links:
CURRENT POSTINGS
Date submitted: Tuesday, July 29 at 12:18 AM
Name: Ann Nightingale
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Has it really been 7 months since my last post??? Crazy!
2008 has been a busy year for the RPBO Board. We held a very successful Avian Monitoring Workshop at Royal Roads University in March. Gabe David, a North American Banding Council certified instructor and our current Bander-in-Charge led the course, assisted by several RPBO board members and volunteers.
We were successful in getting a Science Horizons Youth Initiative grant again this year and have hired Kelsey Low to be our intern during migration monitoring. She started last week and will be working with us for six months, first doing field work and then writing reports.
MAPS was undertaken at both Royal Roads University and Rocky Point this year. We've faced some challenges at the Rocky Point site as access is more restricted than in the past and a couple of banding days had to be moved due to military training on site, but we've managed to fit in all the days under the provisions of the protocol. MAPS 2008 will end next weekend, weather permitting. Our most exciting captures included a Rose-Breasted Grosbeak adult male (the second for RPBO) and our first Rufous Hummingbird recapture--a bird banded during spring banding in 2006.
Migration monitoring started on schedule on July 21. RPBO volunteers did an amazing job of clearing the net lanes of two years of growth since our last operations. DND and ESAC also went above and beyond clearing paths through downed trees--and there were many!
We are no longer able to house our banders on DND lands at Rocky Point, so we had to find new "homes" for our trailers. Moralea Milne stepped up and offered space on her property for our large trailer for the BIC, and Pedder Bay Marina has donated a significant portion of a space rental for the smaller trailer for our intern. As a result, both staff have loads of electricity and a flowing supply of water--something we haven't been able to offer in the past.
There has also been some sad news. On July 1st, David Kelly, RPBO's second president passed away due to an aggressive cancer. His contributions to Rocky Point Bird Observatory won't be forgotten. And just yesterday, Fenwick Lansdowne, our honorary president died unexpectedly. For a small organization, we have suffered too many of these losses. Bev Glover and Michael Porter also left us far too soon. We'll work that much harder to ensure that their efforts for Rocky Point Bird Observatory live on!
Date submitted: Monday, December 31 at 01:00 AM
Name: Ann Nightingale
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2008 is just around the corner, and we are looking forward to resuming bird monitoring activities at Rocky Point after a year's hiatus in 2007.
A great meeting was held in December with Andrea Schiller and Tracy Cornforth from Formation Environment, Sgt. Fraser Thompson of Range Control, and Wendy Easton of the Canadian Wildlife Service. Things are shaping up for another season of migration monitoring and MAPS this year.
Our ESAC permit is drafted, and will be submitted very soon. Plans are in the works for another banding workshop, and we'll soon be looking for volunteers for the upcoming season. There are some new rules to live by, so we'll be holding a special information session for everyone who will be on the site.
Thanks go to Paul Levesque and all the others who have taken leadership roles on the RPBO Board in the past. Without your initiative and persistence, we wouldn't be where we are today. The current RPBO Board consists of David Allinson, Rick Schortinghuis, Marilyn Lambert, Denise Gubersky, Tom Gillespie, Rod Mitchell, Ed Pellizzon, Tracy Anderson, and me. We're going to do our best to keep up the work in the future!
Watch this space for updates.
Ann Nightingale
Interim President
Date submitted: Saturday, July 29 at 10:45 AM
Name: David Allinson
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A couple of DND news stories of interest to us at Rocky Point.
...last July was the 50th anniversary of CFAD Rocky Point:
http://www.lookoutnewspaper.com/archive/20051017/3.shtml
Here is an article on the Osprey nest just southeast of Rocky Point gatehouse:
http://www.vcds.dnd.ca/dsafeg/pubs/digest/10-04/art08_e.asp
Date submitted: Friday, April 21 at 09:42 PM
Name: David Allinson
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Foreign recovery news -- better late than never, but we just received word of a Winter Wren banded (#2330-72913) at Rocky Point on Sept 19/04 that was found dead 16 days later on Oct 5/04 in Hobart, Washington. Note Hobart is about 33 km southeast of Seattle, or 65 km north of Mount Rainier.
The recovery was 154 km southeast of RPBO as the troglodyte flies...sad ending for the bird, but it did still give us some valuable recovery data.
Date submitted: Monday, March 27 at 10:14 PM
Name: Paul Levesque
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Thursday, April 6, 2006
“Trans-Pacific Migrations of the Albatross & Others” with Marine Biologist Peter Pyle
Back by popular demand! Discover the amazing movement patterns of the albatross and various other creatures. Find out how they overcome the hardships and risks of long-distance travel through and over the often inhospitable and food-deprived ocean. The great flights of the albatross, which come to California to get food for their chicks over 4000 miles away, will be a primary focus. The fasting of whales, tuna, great white sharks, and other marine animals, as well as the surprising over-water journeys of various shorebirds, land birds, insects, and bats will also be covered. Guest speaker, marine biologist Peter Pyle worked as a Farallon Island Biologist for Point Reyes Bird Observatory for 24 years, studying bird, bat, and butterfly migration and white sharks. He is also the author of the continent’s primary bird banding reference, “Identification Guide to North American Birds”. Peter currently works for the Institute for Bird Populations and is a Research Associate for the California Academy of Sciences. The Rocky Point Bird Observatory Society (RPBO) and the VNHS are proud to present this special lecture event. University of Victoria, David Strong Building Room C103, 7:30 p.m. Admission by donation to RPBO Society strongly encouraged!
Date submitted: Tuesday, March 07 at 11:38 PM
Name: Paul Levesque
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Can't get enough time out at Rocky Point, well this maybe of interest.......
JOB OPPORTUNITY
Assistant Bander-in-Charge, Rocky Point Bird Observatory, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, April – October 2006
Rocky Point Bird Observatory is located on Department of National Defence lands, 25 km southwest of Victoria, B.C., on the Juan de Fuca Strait. The habitat consists of old growth Douglas and Grand fir stands, tidal flats, endangered Garry Oak forests, open meadow and riparian habitats. Located at the southern most tip of Vancouver Island, Rocky Point concentrates migrating passerines and raptors; 283 bird species have been recorded on site, over 90 of which are known or suspected to breed. Rocky Point has been a member of the Canadian Migration Monitoring Network since 1994, and each fall (July 21-October 18) we band >4000 migrant passerines. This year we will be extending our migration monitoring to include a spring session (April- June) and concurrently will be continuing with our two MAPS stations. The successful applicant will assist with the spring and fall migration monitoring and the MAPS program, which will include extracting, banding, ageing and sexing songbirds and conducting daily bird censuses. Additionally, the position will involve program coordination, maintaining and repairing field equipment, teaching and supervising volunteers, data management and report writing.
Applicants must hold a current North American banding permit or sub-permit, and preferably have prior experience as a bander-in-charge. Applicants should have strong identification skills of western North American passerines and raptors, including plumage variation, moult, and age/sex variation. Scientific report writing skills preferred, and prior experience preparing funding proposals is a plus. Willingness to train volunteers of varying skill levels to extract/band is important. Just as important, applicants should have fun working, learning and teaching in a beautiful natural setting with a motivated group of birding enthusiasts!
This position is funded with assistance through Environment Canada’s Science Horizons Youth Internship Program, therefore applicants MUST have graduated from a post-secondary institution with a B.S. (minimum) in biology or related field, must be 30 years of age or under (at job commencement), and be eligible to work in Canada. The assistant BIC will be paid ~$1950/month Canadian (including benefits) for the six month term (April 18 – October 18). Accommodation is provided in a trailer on site. Applicants with a car are preferred, as Rocky Point is relatively remote (25 minute drive to nearest amenities). Please submit a C.V. and a brief cover letter to Jessica Murray: rosyfinch@shaw.ca Please place “Assistant Bander-in-Charge applicant” in e-mail subject line. Applicant review will commence immediately and continue until a suitable applicant is selected.
Date submitted: Wednesday, February 01 at 03:59 PM
Name: Rod Mitchell
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Testing 2006 Sightings and News Submission page. It should be open for business now. Have a great season everybody!
Copyright 2008, Rocky Point Bird Observatory.
