whimbrel and more in June

The migration monitoring at Cabot Head Research Station has now come to a close. Hard to believe but summer is almost upon us, and true, there has been at least a couple of warm days! It was a very good season, filled with many birds, good volunteers, and great time!

In closing the blog for the summer break, I wish to apologize for the few and irregular postings. I hope you out there enjoyed them anyway. And here's the last of the news!

A very rarely seen shorebird at Cabot Head, a Whimbrel was seen flying West and fast over Gerogian Bay on June 2. Migration usually winds down in June but this spring, we had good days and banded a record number of birds during the 12 days of coverage. Most of them were American Redstarts, a very common bird on the Bruce. There were also good numbers of late migrants like Yellow-bellied and Traill's Flycatchers, Red-eyed Vireos, Swainson's Thrushes, and Mourning and Canada Warblers.

Surprisingly enough, species diversity in June was still relatively high. Even though only 2 more species were added to the total (Whimbrel and Black-billed Cuckoo), 50 species of more were detected in 7 of the 12 days of monitoring. On June 4, on a clear, cool, and calm morning, 60 species were detected, including 13 species of warblers. In total, 91 species were detected during this period.

During the last week of banding though, the birds detected were mostly singing, establishing territories and building nests. Migration was slowing winding to a close and on June 12, the nets were furled for the last time this spring. In the same afternoon, they were taken down and stored away for the summer. But we'll be back!

Enjoy summer! So long for now!

more than 1,700 birds banded and counting

There are still lots of migrant birds moving through, even if we are already in June (though the cold temperatures can make us doubt about it!).

Last week, after 2 days of rain and fog and sometimes strong wind, it was still foggy on Friday morning, on May 29. Nonetheless, with no rain and wind, nets could be opened. And all these weather-grounded birds flew eagerly in the nets! In all, 126 birds were caught and banded and 5 recaptured, most of them in the first 4 hours, before the sky cleared and the sun shone again!

As I was by myself this day, it was a very busy and hectic day indeed, but exciting! We got the first Gray-cheeked Thrush of the spring! This day, there were significant numbers of late-migrant species, like Traill's Flycatcher (11 banded), Philadelphia Vireo (with an amazing 6 banded, when the highest number for an entire season was 4!). We also banded 12 Magnolia, 7 Canada, 6 Mourning and 5 Wilson's Warblers. Surprisingly enough, there were still White-crowned Sparrows around, with 4 banded!

The following day, May 30, was clear and cool. Most of the birds have taken advantage of the fair weather and moved on. Our "resident" immature Bald Eagle was still around though. High up, very high up, we also spotted 3 immature Bald Eagles riding a thermal alongside with 18 Broad-winged Hawks! Many Eagles have been seen this spring, with some individuals lingering around Wingfield Basin. An adult Bald Eagle was even seen in the afternoon of that day!

Today, dawn was greeted by the persistent song of a Whip-poor-will under an overcast sky and a light drizzle. We waited a bit before opening nets. And again, because of the overcast and impending rain, we got lots of birds in them: in less than an hour and a half of netting, we banded 34 birds: 5 Traill's Flycatchers, 4 Yellow-bellied Flycatchers, some Wilson's, Mourning, and Magnolia Warblers. And of course, the ubiquitous American Redstarts (a very common local breeder on the Bruce)!

Cabot Head seems to be a fine place for this species, with some birds faithfully returning springs after springs to it. Yesterday, for example, we recaptured one female with a well-worn band. It turned out she was banded as an After-Second-Year female on June 4, 2001! It means she was born at the latest in 1999 and is then at least 10 years old! According to the Banding Bird Lab website, the oldest American Redstart on record is 10 years and one month. "Our" bird has been recaptured every spring from 2003 and 2006, then skipped 2 years to be recaptured again this spring. She has survived 10 round trips to the West Indies (or Central America)! Amazing!

I am always in awe of the little (and big) miracles of migration!!!