after the peak!

we are entering now the later part of the spring migration: excitement is gearing down a notch, less birds and new species are to be expected, the peak (especially the peak of warblers) is behind us...

But it doesn't mean that this is over! Oh no! After the last big day of 103 banded birds, we are still getting decent days of banding, notably 52 birds in our nets on May 23, with 22 of them being American Redstarts! Cabot Head is a fine breeding place for them, as well as a good migration staging ground, so we get lots of this striking warbler. That day, we also got a Bobolink in the small shrubs at the tip: surprisingly enough, it was my first Bobolink at Cabot Head (even though more expert ears have picked up its faint flight calls many times). The first Blackpoll Warbler for the season was also detected on that day, as well as the Eastern Wood-Pewee.

On May 22, a very unexpected bird was seen and heard: almost dismissed at first as a Winter Wren, its very harsh and different call made us look more closely; to our delight, it was a MARSH WREN, a species almost never detected at Cabot Head for lack of the right habitat!! A Red-bellied Woodpecker was seen on May 24, another uncommon bird here.

Those last few days have been very quiet, banding-wise. However, the moult migration of Canada Goose has started: on the evening of May 25, the first flock of about 80-90 was loudly flying over the station, heading north to a quiet place. The next day, it's almost 500 Geese that moved through, flocks after flocks (from about 25 to 125 geese).

It is also on May 25 that we got the visit of an immature Bald Eagle. It seemed to like our Wingfield Basin as it took residence for hours at a time in a White Pine on the shore. The next day, an adult joined in, displaying its magnificent white head and tail. And later in the morning, a third Bald Eagle came in as well! This one is likely a 4-year-sold, as attested by the black terminal band on its white tail (the head being pure white). As if 3 Bald Eagles at the end of May wasn't a treat on itself, we spotted an Osprey flying towards one of the big marshy lakes of Cabot Head!

Today, the weather is foggy and rainy: no banding, then. But it didn't stop us from observing and getting 57 species! Most notably, as they were detected for the first time this spring, we had: 3 Horned Larks on the bay shore; one Philadelphia Vireo in a small bush with 2 Red-eyed Vireos; one buzzing Clay-coloured Sparrow at the tip; and finally, a Chimney Swift swooping bugs very low! The latter is very rarely seen at Cabot Head, and when seen, usually disappear in a wingbeat! But this one might have been disoriented by the low ceiling as it stayed around for quite some time...

Among late migrants, a Blackpoll Warbler was seen, and later heard. Two Yellow-bellied Flycatchers were foraging in the trees. Usually an early migrant, we were surprised to discover a Palm Warbler!

The fog was too heavy to see if our eagle friends were still around. We'll keep our eyes open for them!

Keep you posted!

with a big, warm push from the South wind!

Today (Wednesday May 20) started calm and rather cool (only 6 degrees C at dawn), but our nets filled up quickly with all kinds of birds, as the temperature climbed up and a south wind started to pick up! For a solid 2 hours, it was almost non-stop banding. Then, the wind really increased to storm-like conditions, reducing the flow of birds and forcing us to close our nets one by one...

But the tally was awesome: 103 birds banded of 23 species! The most common of the day were the American Redstart, the Common Yellowthroat, the Least Flycatcher and the Magnolia Warbler! We had 16 species of warblers detected in total, with the first Mourning Warbler of the spring. Other new species for this spring were: Veery, Swainson's Thrush, Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, Red-eyed Vireo, Indigo Bunting and Cedar Waxwing! So, 7 new species and lots of birds: it was a good day to migrate, riding a warm wave of weather!

Those last few days have been a mix of banding and non-banding days: windstorm and rain precluded banding 4 days out of the last week!! That might explain the big movement of today and the one on Friday (May 15), when we banded 85 birds of 23 species. That day, the most often banded was the Black&White Warbler, with 15 individuals, followed by the American Redstart. In all, 17 species of warblers were detected, including the first Tennessee and Bay-breasted of the season!

On Monday (May 18), a less busy day, we had more time to observe. On the flat mirror of Georgian Bay, a sight on itself to behold as it is rare to see the tormented Bay smooth as a baby's bottom, a flock of gulls was pecking at bugs on the surface. Among the usual Ring-billed Gulls were about 20 Bonaparte's Gulls! What a lovely sight! I find this gull to be exquisitely beautiful, delicate and refined! It was a real treat as we rarely see this species at Cabot Head, especially in the spring. But more excitement was too come: as the count period was nearing its end, I went again on the shore for a last baywatch. And my astonished eyes couldn't believe what they were seeing: close from shore and not far from my post, a RED-THROATED LOON in full breeding plumage was gently floating on the bay! This species is occasionally reported at Cabot Head, but in 6 years and a half of working here, it was my first observation of this slender loon. Everybody present at the station got a good look, as it obligingly stayed a while, diving from time to time. After maybe 10-15 minutes, it finally took off and flew away, its head typically held down! It was a great sighting and now it is a nice connection with Arctic memories!

What a spring!!

warblers, warblers, and more!

Things have quieted down since that first week… which brings it back to a more normal level for this time of year. This is good and bad – we did want to break every record ever made (and we were close on most of them!), but now we have more time to spend with each new bird. And since almost all the birds we get here are new to me (I started as very new to birding here, although I’ve had experience banding in England), it is very exciting.

The colourful warblers are now coming through in waves –Golden-winged (only one male caught in our nets!), Nashville, Orange-crowned, Northern Parula, Yellow, Chestnut-sided, Magnolia, Cape May, Black-throated Blue, Yellow-rumped (Myrtle), Black-throated Green, Blackburnian, Pine, Palm, Black-and-white, American Redstart, Ovenbird, Northern Waterthrush, Common Yellowthroat, Wilson’s and Canada. All are spectacular!

Hazel, from New Zealand, has now joined us, and has been here for about a week and a half, and is thoroughly enjoying herself as well. The weather has been spectacular, today in fact was only our second day of not being able to open nets at all due to rain. We had to comfort ourselves with crepes and maple syrup. Each day is a special day!

The goslings were born on the edge of the shipwreck, and carefully (with much prodding from their parents), took the leap of faith into the lake below. They swam ashore and now are filling themselves with grass around the cabin. One was weak and died, but the other four are still going strong. There’s actually another Canada Goose family that has joined the observatory property, with six goslings which look smaller than “our” family of four.

We’ve also had some exciting mammal sightings – coyote, fox, skunk, mouse, beaver, otter, and deer. And on the way to the cabin with Hazel we saw a bear and a cub grazing in a field on the side of Dyers Bay Rd. The full Canadian experience indeed!

And we’re still keeping our eyes out for the elusive Mississippi Kite…

Kat (the salamander expert)


And coming from Aotearoa (New Zealand), a land that is home to one introduced sparrow, it’s been a bewildering and exciting experience to be catching so many amazing and beautiful little birds. Will I ever remember their names, learn how to tell them apart and remember their own little songs? Each bird is on a mind boggling long distance journey; a journey that has been programmed into their tiny, determined little bodies.

The forest of stark white birches bursting into fresh green foliage is so far from the dense lush vegetation of the forest I work in. The smell of the pines, the open understory, the tiny brilliant spring flowers carpeting the forest floor (like little gems scattered about) are a world apart from the trees of Aotearoa laden with ferns, covered in mosses and home to perching plants escaping the problems of the forest floor.

And here I am seeing animals that we all associate with Canada…a beaver having breakfast on the shore, otter swimming by, a raccoon sitting on our porch at night. Truly a biologists dream holiday!

Hazel (from NZ DOC – Department of Conservation – fondly nicknamed here as DOCK – Department of Conservation and Killing, as lots of conservation programs in NZ involve eradicated introduced mammals as rats and stoats which otherwise would eradicate the native fauna…)


Not much else to say, besides that spring is always an exciting time, with the hope and joy of new birds every day: Most of the warbler species we get at Cabot Head have arrived in a span of about 10 days! The only missing for now are Tennessee, Blackpoll, Bay-breasted and Mourning. And maybe some unexpected ones, who knows?

Other birds to arrive in May are Flycatchers, with the first Least Flycatcher being detected on May 5 and the Great Crested Flycatcher on May 13. On May 6, we got our first Ruby-throated Hummingbird, which seemed greatly interested in its reflection in my sunglasses, by flying only a few inches from my face! Or it just wanted to make sure it wasn’t left undetected…

Stephane