snow bunting!

On what would be the last day of banding (as today is too windy again to band), we caught a decent number of birds. Fully expected were the staples at this time of year, the kinglets, the juncos, the american tree sparrows.

However, a big surprise awaited us, in the net closest to the Georgian Bay shore: a Snow Bunting! It had been a few days already since they arrived, filling the air with their lively calls and flashing their white wings. But we wouldn't have hoped to catch one: what a lovely bird! With surprisingly long wings and a delicate pattern of black and white and tan!

It is hard to imagine a better way to close the season!

owl

On a clear, calm night last Thursday, hopes were high after so much bad weather (wind, rain, and more wind). Sadly, our expectations were not completelly fullfilled, as only one owl was caught and banded! However, just watching the stars in a dark, dark sky is a reward in itself. The Bruce Peninsula is one of the darkest place in Southern Ontario and strives to keep it this way. I wish we learn to turn the lights off and get rid of this ugly orange glow in which most of us live now...

other fall birds!

The American Tree Sparrows arrived a few days ago; but today we caught our first Fox Sparrow of the fall: such a lovely bird!

However, the wind and rain forced us to close nets after only 2 hours of banding this morning. We comforted ourselves by watching our family of 4 otters fishing in Wingfield Basin!

Shrike!

Today afternoon (October 24), we saw our first Northern Shrike of the fall! A little bit late this fall, compared to average, but still such a pleasure to watch! And always fun to band: we usually get a few in our nets!

Again with the rain and wind!

As Stéphane mentioned, this is fall on the Bruce Peninsula! It seems that the weather system that has brought us roaring dramatic waves, slate skies, walls of sparkling rain, has also held migrating birds north.

The last owls banded were caught just as the day-birds were beginning to stir on the 16th of October. Although we have opened nets several nights since under the threat of rain and wind and snow, no owls were present or curious enough to visit us. I postulated that this was either due to an early peak, or a weather system further north of us preventing them from moving, or perhaps some other factor I had not thought of. But reports from other stations suggest they are experiencing the same paucity of owls, and indeed for both passerines and saw-whets, weather is what is holding them back.

So we hold out hope, stock the fire, and imagine the walls of saw-whets that will arrive when the rains finally dissipate, allowing their passage!

Despite the roaring winds and rain, a raft of common and red-breasted mergansers entertains us on the basin with their synchronized diving, slicing into the water, and a bald eagle soars on thermals, and ring-billed gulls bank and play, all undaunted by wintry weather. Each foray reveals a new feathery or furry surprise, leaving us feeling delighted as always to be here.

October 22

Another day of rain that was spent traditionally: a nice sleep-in and a breakfast of crepes!

However, we had some good banding days in between those of rain, with a lot of Kinglets (mainly Golden-crowned). There were other interesting birds, like a late Orange-crowned Warbler or an Eastern Pheobe. The first American Tree Sparrows were banded on October 20.

But the best bird without any doubt is the Pileated Woodpecker captured on October 21. Two pairs of hands were needed to band this magnificent hatch year male!

Unlike spring, there's not many raptors in the fall at Cabot Head. However, Bald Eagle are quite regular: an adult was seen on October 21.

October 16

What a storm! During 4 days, we had strong wind, rain, snow, hail and more wind and rain and snow and hail! However, we felt very lucky to keep our power and not having to shovel any of the white stuff!

Not surprisingly, there was no banding between October 11 and 14! As a "good" weather resumed on the 15th, we had a productive day banding birds (mostly Golden-crowned Kinglets). Today was less busy, but still good!Interestingly, we captured both on those 2 days an Eastern Phoebe and a Nashville Warbler!

Last night, 2 Saw-whet Owls were captured, during a very starry night...

More rain is apparently on the way: that's the autumn, with the flamboyant leaves, the depthless blue of the sky on brisk days or the gray overcast and slanted rain curtains!

owl nights - update on October 11

Owl banding so far has been a great success: it seems that we are catching more owls than we have in similar conditions in past years, leading me to conclude that larger-scale weather conditions are more favorable for movement of the little feathery beasts, or that populations are high. Given that weather conditions locally have been as usual blustery and rainy, I lean toward the latter conclusion. Other banding stations have also reported high numbers and have suggested that saw-whet owl populations are high this year.

In any case, it is always a pleasure and a gift to behold these tiny owls! We have been fortunate to share one night so far of owl banding with visitors, a record night during which we trapped 5 saw-whets. We are looking forward to more people coming, and learning a little about these small predators.

Interestingly, on Monday night, weather conditions were perfect for owl movement: there was a gentle north wind, the water was calm and quiet allowing our broadcast call to be heard from afar, the moon was shrouded in cloud affording saw-whets cover of darkness and protection from great-horneds who would prey on them. I fully expected a great night: hundreds of saw-whets (or at least a few)! But each check turned up empty nets and I mused that perhaps a weather system was approaching. The next morning, as we opened nets for songbirds, the very same phenomenon occurred. The birds were silent for most of the day, and were certainly not flying in the pathways of our nets. The owls and the songbirds must have known the same thing: the slanting rains and winds of today were coming. They started at 12 am last night, after I banded the lone and fiesty saw-whet of the night, and I hurriedly closed nets and retreated to bed!

Christina, the owl bander

4-7 October 2006

4 Oct.

A calm, warm but foggy dawn was transformed suddenly by a gale-force north wind! After heavy thunderstorms during the night, the morning was damp and surprisingly warm (17 degrees). But that all changed suddenly when a strong North wind picked up as suddenly as unexpected.

In consequence, most nests were closed one after another. But even with less nets, an interesting array of birds were caught, including Orange-crowned, Nashville, Magnolia, Yellow-rumped and Palm Warblers.

5 Oct.

During an overcast day, with almost no wind, we were kept busy by flocks of Kinglets hitting our nets! There were also quite some sparrows around, with Juncos being more and more abundant... But the flocks of American robins were impressive, though only one was caught.

On the second night that we could open our owl nets, we caught one Saw-whet Owl! It's a good start!

6 Oct.

On a clear, brisk day, the migration was rather slow. However, big flocks of American Robins were moving through: usually, they fly too high to be caught in our nets. But this time, they seemed to go up and down, and it might explain why we caught 17 of them! It was our best catch of Robins ever for a single day. And it provided the bulk of the day's catches.

But the best was to come when darkness came upon us: with a light north wind, under a bright almost-full moon, 5 Saw-whet Owls were caught from 9:00pm to 2:00am! It was the best night ever for catching Owls (considering, for example, that last fall total was of only 7 Owls).

7 Oct.

A very busy day, under a clear sky: waves and waves of kinglets hit the nets and kept us occupied for the morning. But the most astonishing bird caught was a... Black-backed Woodpecker!! A young female, it is the first time this species was banded at Cabot Head! It is also the first report for this species on the area. Sadly, this is when the station digital camera decided to go wonky! A great new bird, that raises question of where she came from! The closest breeding population, as shown by the Ontario Breeding Bird Atlas, is on Manitoulin Island. Although the distance is not very long, and you can island-hop there's still a distance of at least 2 kilometers of open water to manage to cross. I have a hard time inagining a woodpecker embarking on this type of journey. But, then, where else could she come from? I welcome comments!

Welcome!

Welcome to the Bruce Peninsula Bird Observatory Blog!

We'll be posting our findings during migrations in Spring and Fall, so keep informed and visit this site often!