Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Teslin Lake update - September 25th


Hey, that midget bit my butt!!

From Sept 21th through Sept 25th Teslin Lake averaged 37.7 birds/day and 0.712 birds/net-hour for a total of 113 birds banded (only three banding days as both Sept 21st and 22nd were lost for rain and wind). No new species for the season were banded. The biggest banding highlight, besides actually being able to band after all the inclement weather, was a late female Blackpoll Warbler on the 25th. The top five species banded during the period were Dark-eyed Junco (32), Wilson's Warbler (22), Ruby-crowned Kinglet (15), Yellow-rumped Warbler (10) and American Tree Sparrow (8). The current season top five species banded are Alder Flycatcher (636), Yellow Warbler (305), Dark-eyed Junco (283), Boreal Chickadee (221), and Yellow-rumped "Myrtle" Warbler (120).

One day I received a text "What happened to the raptors?" and I answered "they'll come when the winds change!", and they did. Friday the 23rd was the first day for a long long time with some northerly winds and, in spite of low ceiling and rain, 320 raptors were counted including one day observatory record for three species: Northern Harrier (159), American Kestrel (67) and Osprey (23)! Also the season first six Rough-legged Hawks were seen alongside a near record of 7 Peregrine Falcons and 50 Sharp-shinned Hawks. The next day was a little slower with 147 raptors and on the 25th 104 out of a total of 201 raptors were again Northern Harriers.

Other birds were getting out of the north on those days too, especially on the 23rd, when 400 Geese, 460 Lesser Scaup, 30 Pectoral Sandpipers, 50 Mountain Bluebirds, and 2500 American Robins, with a few tens of Varied Thrush mixed in, were tallied. Over 1100 Robins were also seen on the 25th. The first good migrant flocks of Pacific Loon for a day total of 93 were seen on the 21st.

The highlight of rare sightings was a juvenile Little Gull flying south in company of a juvenile Sabine's Gull on the 24th. The same day saw two juvenile Glaucous Gulls join the local Herring Gull gang at the "gull feeder". Both a Spotted Sandpiper on the 21st and a Violet-green Swallow on the 23rd were very late records. The season 1st Tundra Swans were seen on the 22nd.

Thanks to Cameron, Nick, Rory and Ted for your help with migration watching and banding!


Two juvenile Glaucous Gulls


Osprey


Peregrine looking up, way up!


Believe it or not, it is a juvenile Little Gull!

Photos ©Jukka Jantunen


The complete list of bird banded at Teslin Lake Bird Observatory this season as of September 25th (the last 5 days in brackets).

Sharp-shinned Hawk - 5
Merlin - 2
Spotted Sandpiper - 2
Solitary Sandpiper - 3
Boreal Owl - 4
Belted Kingfisher - 6
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - 3
Downy Woodpecker - 7
Northern Flicker - 1
Olive-sided Flycatcher - 1
Western Wood-Pewee - 10
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher - 7
Alder Flycatcher - 636
Least Flycatcher - 10
Hammond's Flycatcher - 28
Dusky Flycatcher - 6
Northern Shrike - 1
Warbling Vireo - 17
Black-capped Chickadee - 74 (3)
Mountain Chickadee - 1
Boreal Chickadee - 221 (1)
Red-breasted Nuthatch - 5
Golden-crowned Kinglet - 1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 63 (15)
Townsend's Solitaire - 1
Gray-cheeked Thrush - 1
Swainson's Thrush - 85
Hermit Thrush - 7 (1)
American Robin - 11
Varied Thrush - 1
Bohemian Waxwing - 1
Tennessee Warbler - 4
Orange-crowned Warbler - 54 (5)
Yellow Warbler - 305 (3)
Yellow-rumped "Myrtle" Warbler - 120 (10)
Yellow-rumped "Audubon's" Warbler -1
Townsend's Warbler - 5
Blackpoll Warbler - 58 (1)
American Redstart - 39
Northern Waterthrush - 42
Common Yellowthroat - 69 (4)
Wilson's Warbler - 108 (22)
American Tree Sparrow - 20 (8)
Chipping Sparrow - 28
Brewer's Sparrow - 2
Savannah Sparrow - 22 (3)
Fox Sparrow - 12
Lincoln's Sparrow - 19 (3)
White-crowned Sparrow - 34 (1)
Slate-colored Junco - 283 (32)
Rusty Blackbird - 10 (1)
Brown-headed Cowbird - 1
Purple Finch - 1
White-winged Crossbill - 1
Common Redpoll - 5
Pine Siskin - 10
= 2474 (113) birds of 55 species
0.341 (0.712) birds/net-hour
Please note that the Boreal Owls are included in the total but not in the birds/net hr

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