|
|
McGILL BIRD OBSERVATORY |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Welcome
to the McGill Bird Observatory weekly report.
Click here for a complete listing of our archives.
Banders-in-charge: Barbara Frei, Marcel Gahbauer, Marie-Anne Hudson Notes: As expected, week 4 was fairly quiet, with the normal end of August lull resulting from the breeding species starting to slip away and many of the migrants we know will come, just not quite here yet. Despite the lower numbers, we were treated to an interesting mix of species, with several warbler species kicking around, and banding was slow but steady most days. Compared to last year, as well as last week, we are still ahead with both number of individuals and species banded. All in all, a nice week for our volunteers (and banders!) to brush up on things, enjoy a nice unhurried look at some uncommon species and get inspired for the rush ahead!
Even a slow week can have significant highlights. This week, the biggest news was the addition of a 195th species to our all-time MBO checklist, a Common Nighthawk spotted first thing Wednesday morning. We also saw a Peregrine Falcon for the first time this year, and added Spotted Sandpiper, Orange-crowned Warbler, and Blackpoll Warbler to our list for this fall. In terms of banding, we got our first Eastern Phoebe and Blackburnian Warbler of the year, and our first Philadelphia Vireo and Blackpoll Warbler of the fall.
Common Grackles claim the top spot for birds observed on site this week, with groups from several individuals to 50 or more seen, but they all stayed high and tended to move past MBO rather than lingering. The noisy and familiar Blue Jays, Black-capped Chickadees, and American Robins were also common sightings this week. Although small groups are seen daily, there seem to be fewer Cedar Waxwings than last year, and the House Wren family and friends must have moved on, since their chatter is no longer heard around every corner. Though not nearly common enough yet to make it into the table, we have been starting to see some raptors pass by, especially during our closing hour, the highlight on Tuesday being some prolonged interactions among Sharp-shinned, Broad-winged, and Red-tailed Hawks in the sky above while we compiled our daily totals. For the top ten banded, well, bring on the warblers. With 8 out of the top 10 species, the warblers though small in number are fair of face. As last year at this time, Magnolia Warblers and American Redstarts are at the top of the list. Strangely enough Black-throated Blue Warblers are at the bottom, same place as last year too! Missing this year compared to last are the Red-eyed Vireos, which are around but not nearly in the same number as last year. Instead the chattering Common Yellowthroats found their way into our nets in surprising numbers, giving them the number 3 spot. We were very lucky to get several Mourning Warblers as well, with 2/3 of last falls total number banded in this week alone.
|
