We encountered yet another sunny and windy week out at Rocky Point. Nets 1 and 2, the nets closest to the ocean, were occasionally opened. When they were opened, it was just for a few hours in the early morning. No base closures this week. Our three most commonly banded species this week was Wilson’s warbler, Pacific-slope flycatcher, and yellow warbler.
On Sunday, August 7 we banded the first savannah sparrow of the season. We banded 51 birds and we had 6 recaptured birds today.
On Monday we banded a black-headed grosbeak for the first time this season. Today we reached the 50th recaptured bird mark. Total birds banded today were 35 plus 9 recaptures.
On Tuesday, Katie brought in treats. No new species were banded today. Ian heard and saw a Nashville warbler in a willow tree by the front pond. On this day we banded 34 birds plus 4 recaptures.
On Wednesday, August 10 we banded our 500th bird! Another milestone was that I extracted my first tongued bird, a hatch year red-winged blackbird from net 2. It is much easier to extract a bird when they do not try to eat the net. We also saw a pod of Orca whales today. We banded 42 birds and 3 recaptures.
On Thursday we banded two new species: spotted towhee and a Traill’s flycatcher. Ann S. and Mike brought in treats. Ian heard a Western wood pewee and a sphinx moth caterpillar was hanging out on the picnic table in the afternoon. We banded 51 birds and 6 recaptures.
Two new species of the season made it into our nets on Friday. A saw-whet owl and an Audubon’s warbler. Ann N. thinks the owl is on its way north. Ann tried to take a photo of the owl on my shoulder but it flew away before she could capture the moment. I guess I will have to wait until the fall before I have another opportunity to have a saw-whet owl on my shoulder. We banded 34 birds and 2 recaptures.
Saturday did not have any new species for the season. We banded 35 birds and 4 recaptures.
Species weekly total (Sunday, August 7 – Saturday, August 13)
(this week/total)
Rufus hummingbird (1/5), downy woodpecker (1/3), willow flycatcher (7/10), pacific-slope flycatcher (61/99), Hutton’s vireo (0/1), warbling vireo (1/2), chestnut-backed chickadee (3/15), bushtit (2/5), red-breasted nuthatch (1/2), brown creeper (0/9), Bewick’s wren (5/24), house wren (7/9), pacific wren (2/10), Swainson’s thrush (5/21), American robin (0/6), cedar waxwing (0/1), orange-crowned warbler (13/49), yellow warbler (32/39), Audubon’s 6 (1/1), Townsend’s warbler (2/3), Macgillivray's warbler (16/30), common yellowthroat (4/8), Wilson’s warbler (82/172), western tanager (0/1), black-headed grosbeak (1/1), spotted towhee (1/1), chipping sparrow (3/10), savannah sparrow (1/1), song sparrow (11/27), Puget Sound white-crowned sparrow (9/35), red-winged blackbird (3/7), brown-headed cowbird (0/5), purple finch (2/8), American goldfinch (6/19), Traill’s flycatcher (1/1), saw-whet owl (1/1).
Banding total:
Total birds banded this week: 282, recaptures: 34, species banded: 31.
Total birds banded this season: 640, recaptures: 77, species banded: 39.
-- Emily
No comments:
Post a Comment