December 13 - Winter Songbird Monitoring

Just when I thought it couldn't get any wetter in the woodlot...it has now turned into a virtual bayou. Walking to net 15 was quite treacherous, as there were several spots where the water was over a foot deep. I don't want to even know how deep it is out near 16!


Even net 7 was flooded out!
On the bird front, there were two new species banded today! Sharp-shinned Hawk and Red-shafted Flicker. Sharp-shinned Hawks are much less common in BC than Cooper's Hawks, and only a few have been seen out at Iona this year.


This feisty bird was a hatch-year male.
Not many flickers were seen during migration, but they have become a common winter resident. So it was only a matter of time before we caught one, or two as we did today.


Otherwise it was a rather pleasant day, as pleasant as December in Vancouver can be, to be at the station. It was warm and we even saw a little bit of sunshine. Recapture numbers continue to be quite high, but unexpected was of the 19 banded birds, 10 were Song Sparrows. It's difficult to say if these birds have been present all along or if they were recent arrivals. A number of the birds caught today also had a considerable amount of fat. The warm conditions of late may have allowed these birds to add on more fat or perhaps they are getting ready for a flight further south.


One final highlight was our second Northern Shrike banded, this one an adult. Volunteers have been warned about the dangers of handling shrikes because of their razor sharp bill. I can now offer evidence of what may happen if you are careless when handling one.

December 11 - Winter Songbird Monitoring

It is hard to be optimistic when the weather forecast predicts rain for every day of the next week. But luckily optimism prevailed and we managed to get in an entire morning of monitoring in (well almost, we did lose 15 min at the end). The amount of rain we have had showed, as the entire north end of the woodlot was under a foot or more of water and many puddles were present in the south end. So if you will be coming out in the future, rubber boots are a must!

The number of birds caught (32) was lower than previous visits, although plenty of birds were still seen in the area. Perhaps it was just a one day anomaly. One positive note from the catch totals, was that 65% were recaptures, increased from 40-45% in mid-November. This will provide us with a better sense of what birds and how many are present at Iona over the winter, in addition to providing data on survival rates.


One of the Northern Shrikes that has been hanging around Iona Island was captured, the first for the banding station! It was a very brown hatch-year bird that was promptly attacked by an adult shrike upon release. Other notable sightings included a Yellow-rumped Warbler hanging around the woodlot, a Rough-legged Hawk flew over, and a group of six River Otters were seen playing around in the north wetland for most of the morning. Otherwise our usual mix of Fox, Song Sparrows, Spotted Towhee, Black-capped Chickadee, Ruby and Golden-crowned Kinglets were captured.

Winter Songbird Monitoring

Winter monitoring is underway!

A briefer on the program: Many songbird species that over-winter in North America are declining. Conservation and management of these species require estimates of population densities, survival rates, population trends, and understanding how these factors vary across habitat types and area. Much work has been done on monitoring birds during the breeding season, yet little work has been focused on the non-breeding season. Monitoring songbirds during the winter may provide insight into factors that influence population trends and can be useful to the management and conservation of these species.


Our winter monitoring program is modeled after the Monitoring Avian Winter Survival (MAWS) program in the southern United States and the MoSI (Spanish for monitoring overwinter survival) in Central American and the Caribbean. A program like this has never been attempted in Canada and so this is a pilot project to determine if this program will be successful and possibly duplicated. Southwestern BC is blessed by two factors that will likely contribute to the success of this project, a mild winter climate and a large population of overwintering songbirds. Our goal is to monitor the songbirds at Iona Island four days a month between mid-November until mid-March. I will update the blog following our sessions to provide a picture of how the songbird community changes over the winter.

September 14 - Fall Migration Monitoring

Its over! Today was the last day of our first fall season of migration monitoring at the Iona Island Bird Observatory. While all the data is far from being entered, preliminary numbers are around 1600 birds banded, 500-600 birds recaptured, and another 100 birds caught and released unbanded. But before all that, a recap of today...


With a number of volunteers out today the 100+ birds caught seemed slow compared to some of the busier days of late. A mix of birds were caught today with marked increase in the number of sparrows caught with eleven Song Sparrows, nine Fox Sparrows, four Lincoln's Sparrows, four White-crowned Sparrows, two Spotted Towhees, one each of Savannah Sparrow, Golden-crowned Sparrow and Oregon Junco. More kinglets of both species and Yellow-rumped and Orange-crowned Warblers were captured today. But not to be counted out another dozen Yellow Warblers were also banded. Other birds infrequently seen included Red-breasted Nuthatch, MacGillivray's Warbler, Pacific Wren, Western Wood-Pewee, and two Purple Martins.



While this is the last date for fall migration monitoring, we will be conducting other programs later this year. Updates will be provided once we begin those programs. I'll also try and provide informative posts periodically that might be of interest to our readers. Until then, thank you to the volunteers for all of the help this summer and fall! Without you this couldn't have happened.

September 13 - Fall Migration Monitoring

The weather did not look too pleasant at the start of the day, with rain, followed by drizzle lasting until about 830am. But when we were finally able to open the nets, boy were we hit by an amazing fall out of birds! Walking down the pathway to net one and two you could hear chirps and calls coming from every bush, when opening up nets eight and nine I watched a flock of 30 Yellow-rumped Warblers fly off to the east and a constant stream of Orange-crowned and Yellow Warblers flying to the woodlot. We weren't quite sure how busy we'd be, but when we did our first net round and caught about 30 birds we knew it was going to be a busy day. I ended up spending the entire morning at the banding table, so I wasn't able to get the best sense of what was around. But the noise from all the birds around you constantly chirping was quite exciting, and every time I looked up another flock of birds was either arriving at or leaving the woodlot. The corridor of shrubbery along the west side of the woodlot was funneling birds to the north along it all morning, mostly sparrows but warblers and kinglets mixed in as well.



Several interesting or notable birds were seen over the morning. The most unusual was a Dusky Flycatcher, our second bird this fall, which is quite good as there were only two previous records. The first Hermit Thrush of the fall was seen near net one at opening, three Bank Swallows were still seen in the swallow flock, two Townsend's Warblers and five Purple Martins were seen on census, a Western Tanager banded, and the first Common Mergansers of the fall were also seen. High counts of 150+ Orange-crowned Warblers, 300+ Yellow Warblers, 200+ Yellow-rumped Warblers, 150+ Savannah Sparrows and 70+ White-crowned Sparrows were noted.



Our final total was 166 birds caught in just over 3hrs of having our nets open. Its not too often you have a chance to witness an amazing fall out like this, so we were quite thankful that we were able to make it out this morning!

Sept 12 - Fall Migration Monitoring

A soggy, wet, rainy day meant no banding today. Census was done, and it seemed that every Yellow Warbler I looked at had a band on it. Apparently, we are doing a fine job at catching most of the Yellow Warblers that visit Iona Island. The rain did make it difficult in finding a lot of birds, either because the birds were hunkering down in the vegetation or the rain made it difficult to hear or see them. What did turn up were a few Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Warbling Vireos, Orange-crowned Warblers, and Lincoln's Sparrows. Decent numbers of Yellow Warblers, Common Yellowthroats, and Savannah Sparrows were noted despite the rain. A few Bank Swallows were still hanging in and one Semipalmated Plover flew over. Otherwise, here's hoping for a drier day tomorrow.

September 11 - Fall Migration Monitoring

A new bird was seen for our fall season, a Mourning Dove. Its strange to think that of the four species of dove/pigeon in the area it would be the third of them to be seen. Habitat around Iona would appear to be ideal for them, but they are now likely the least common of the group to be found in the Vancouver area. Its a strange thought for someone coming from out east, where flocks of hundreds of them can be found at the rural/suburban interface.


Also of note for all volunteers, birders and photographers is that we have recently begun to colour-band the Black-capped Chickadees that are resident on the island. We have been monitoring the chickadees present on the island since the spring, when two pairs nested in the woodlot. Shortly after their young fledged (and were banded), they left and two other pairs showed up and hung around for a while. Since then the odd chickadee has been banded, but for the most part we have been recatching the same chickadees. We have now uniquely colour-banded several of the birds to determine what areas of the park they are using and better determine survival rates without having to actually catch the birds. If you happen to be at Iona and see one these birds please let me know at ionaislandbirds@gmail.com about the colour combination, the date and the location in the park (or elsewhere!) of where you saw the bird. To read the combination, read the colours from left to right and top to bottom. As an example the bird below would be read as, and keep in mind the bird is upside down, red over red on the left and green over silver on the right.

September 10 - Fall Migration Monitoring

Mid-September seems to be the time for diversity. Early migrants such as Common Nighthawk, Willow Flycatcher and Wilson's Warbler were still being seen, albeit in low numbers. Late season migrants are also showing up in increasing numbers, such as White-crowned Sparrows, Pacific Wren, and Golden-crowned Kinglets. Today recapture numbers were up and it looks like the island may be a good stopover location for Yellow Warblers, but also Common Yellowthroats. It is interesting that we seem to be re-catching few Lincoln's Sparrows, Orange-crowned and Wilson's Warblers. It could be that the habitat isn't quite as appropriate for them, but its hard to say as its still the first season. There has also been small numbers of Bank Swallows present since mid-August, it would be nice to know if those have been the same birds or new ones constantly cycling through.

Speaking of swallows, more Purple Martins were seen today, but its tough to say where exactly they are from. There are few (but an increasing number) of colonies in BC and it seems like most of the birds in the Vancouver area have moved on further south, so perhaps these are from further north or just the last few lingerers from the local colonies.

Pectoral Sandpipers are increasing in number, but there has yet to be any Sharp-tailed Sandpipers found. This is the start of Sharp-tailed season, which typically lasts through mid-October. Checking the sewage lagoons at Iona is one of the best spots in North America for finding this Eurasian shorebird. So perhaps one of these days a lucky volunteer may spot one!

September 9 - Fall Migration Monitoring

Bam! 169 birds today! Opening round was 32 birds, followed by a few rounds in the teens, and then another round of 31 birds! Things slowed down a bit afterward, but never really so much that we were without birds. Now normally bird catches peak at the start of the morning or shortly thereafter and then decrease over the morning and today seemed no different, until the closing round... When out of the blue we were hit with 22 birds, mostly Yellow Warblers. A exciting and busy day, but it never felt like we were too busy, as the quality of our volunteers now lets us handle these days with relative ease.

Almost half of today's birds were Yellow Warblers. I was certain we were over the hump of their migration and they were on their way out, but today showed you can't count them out yet. But where are these birds coming from? Alaska? High elevations?

There was a definite increase in the number of Orange-crowned and Yellow-rumped Warblers, Savannah and Song Sparrows, with new high totals for each species. Savannah Sparrow is a species we don't catch too often, likely because most of our nets are not located in open grassy areas where you typically find them. But net two must have been close enough as seven of the nine banded were from that net.


The number of recaptures were down for all species, especially Yellow Warblers. Birds are probably trying to get out of the area before the next front comes in later on tomorrow. So as I've said before I don't like predicting the future, but it could be a busy one.

Two other birds of note today were at least one Purple Martin heard calling over the pond, its getting a bit late for them, and a imm. male or adult female Anna's Hummingbird around the banding lab. The latter bird caused a bit of excitement as it was immediately identified as not being a Rufous, which accounts for 99.9% of all hummingbirds at the station. But after a bit of watching a few iridescent pinkish-purple feathers were seen in the throat and its identity was confirmed.

September 8 - Fall Migration Monitoring

The most notable increase in migrants at Iona today were shorebirds. The Red-necked Phalarope was gone, but a Wandering Tattler showed up (or one of the original ones?) out past the second shelter on the south jetty, and almost 37 Long-billed Dowitchers, 14 Pectoral Sandpipers, 1 Spotted Sandpiper, 3 Least Sandpiper, and 1 Semi-palmated Sandpiper, plus the usual both yellowlegs and Killdeer.

Small numbers of Fox, Song and White-crowned Sparrows continue to be banded, but larger numbers of those plus Savannah Sparrow are present in the sewage lagoons. Another unusual bird, for Iona that is, was a Red-breasted Nuthatch. Bank Swallows continue to be seen in small numbers, though they will likely vanish with the next cold front, as the Purple Martins did with the last. The incoming cold front could be causing some birds to move south ahead of it, explaining the six Golden-crowned Kinglets banded today. Perhaps these are the vanguard of the kinglet army marching south...

September 7 - Fall Migration Monitoring

An average day with a not so average bird...
Today was standard with regards to the bird life found in the banding area. The Pied-billed Grebes, American Coots, dabbling ducks, and Hooded Mergansers were all in the wetland ponds. The Red-necked Phalarope first found a few days ago is still present.

Barn Swallow numbers have increased again, with a few Cliff, Violet-green, and Northern Rough-winged Swallows mixed in. Surprising was the three Purple Martins seen flying over the banding lab. Now these were surprising because the martins that nested at Iona had all left the area about a week ago, and so these are migrants and getting on the late side for martins as well.

Mid-season warblers and sparrows continue to increase in numbers, with a couple dozen Yellow-rumped Warblers flitting about the front of the woodlot above the banding lab (apparently the best place to watch them here), increasing numbers of Savannah, Fox, White-crowned (of the Puget Sound variety), and Golden-crowned Sparrows, plus one Oregon Junco. Pacific Wrens are also increasing with four found in the nets or around the woodlot today. Now some of you may be asking what the heck a Pacific Wren is, as they are not illustrated in any of the field guides (as such). This past summer the American Ornithologists' Union, which is the body whom most birders and banders follow for keeping track of bird species, split the Winter Wren into three species. The Pacific Wren, found in western North America, the Winter Wren in eastern North America, and the Eurasian Wren, which we don't have to worry about as its over in Europe and Asia. Now the differences between the Pacific and Winter Wrens are subtle, but noticeable if you pay attention. I've attached both photos below and see if you can tell which is which.



Now the star of the day was a Dusky Flycatcher is rare, but annual in the Vancouver area, and is seen more frequently in the spring than the fall. This is the third record for the park, both others are from the spring.


Migration is coming at us now, so who knows what might be found next.

September 6 - Fall Migration Monitoring

Another washout of a day. The radar made it seem like there could be the possibility of banding, but looking out the window in the morning should have convinced me otherwise. Our trooper Tom Plath made it out for census and managed to find one of the Red-necked Phalaropes still in the south pond, but otherwise few notable birds.

September 5 - Fall Migration Monitoring

Today we banded 21 species, perhaps what will be our most diverse total for the fall. Lots of birds were heard and seen when opening and on the first rounds for the first couple of hours. Warblers, mostly Yellow, Yellow-rumped and Common Yellowthroat could be heard in most bushes or flying into the south end of the woodlot. Vireos, flycatchers, chickadees and kinglets joined this mix, albeit in smaller numbers. This area is quickly appearing to be one of the best for finding songbirds at Iona. Bewick's Wrens could be heard singing from their usual locations at the front of the woodlot, near the sewage pond gate and now near net one as well. Add to the mix our second Pacific Wren (aka liquid chocolate) banded for the fall.


Sparrow and flycatcher diversity were both really good with eight and four species of each being seen. Included in the mix were our first Golden-crowned Sparrow of the fall, plus our first Western Wood-Pewee and Hammond's Flycatcher, and lots of Western Flycatchers. A note should be made here that the 'Western Flycatchers' we band are all almost certainly Pacific-slope Flycatchers, but due to a large amount of overlap with Cordilleran Flycatcher, caution is used and the old species name, Western Flycatcher is used.






Our highest total of Warbling Vireos banded was achieved today with nine. Junco, Song Sparrow, kinglet, and Yellow-rumped Warbler numbers increase as is expected now that we are moving towards the beginning of the mid-fall migrants. The most notable birds for the day were two Red-necked Phalaropes seen in the south pond on census twirling about looking for food.

September 4 - Fall Migration Monitoring

It was a good ole fashion gusty day down at Iona. No nets were opened today with winds gusting up to 60 km/hr. We probably wouldn't have caught much either as most birds appeared to have hunkered down to wait out the storm.

I took this opportunity to walk out to the end of the south jetty to see what birds may be blown in by the westerly winds. With the tide out most of the birds were concentrated at the far end, however a few Caspian Terns, Great Blue Herons and a Spotted Sandpiper were seen en route. Once out at the tip I stationed myself against the side railing and began scanning the horizon for anything 'unusual'. It didn't take too long before two light morph adult Parasitic Jaegers came gliding in on the wind. Shortly afterward two dark morph adult Parasitic Jaegers also were seen flying by but this time closer to the water and harder to pick out. One thing that did stand out for when comparing the jaegers to the gulls was how much the jaegers used the wind when flying. Whereas most of the gulls appeared to have more difficulty with it and were having to flap more frequently and harder. Other notable birds seen were a Common Tern, several Common Loons, and a pair of White-winged Scoters flying by.

Now lets hope for a couple of calmer days so we can open the nets.

September 3 - Fall Migration Monitoring

Fall continues to push summer further away, at least that's the impression you get from the birds. Lincoln's and Song Sparrows continue to increase, and singles of Fox Sparrow and Golden-crowned Kinglet are sure signs of fall pushing in. A few Common Nighthawks continue to be seen over the ponds, plus a Western Tanager in the woodlot, and a Swainson's Thrush recaught that was originally banded in early August. Also five Purple Martins were seen this morning which will probably move out once this next front pushes through.

Not all the sightings around the station are bird related, coyote scat in the area is showing that they are around and enjoying the blackberries. A Pacific Chorus Frog that has been heard behind the banding lab, was finally seen today slowly crawling amongst the blackberries.

September 2 - Fall Migration Monitoring

Slow and steady was the name of the game today. Yellow Warblers no longer continue to dominate the way they have over the last week or so, as Lincoln's Sparrow numbers are inching upwards, as were Warbling Vireos. Overall, there were a number of birds in the woodlot and surrounding area, but it was quieter today than the last few days. A new flock of Yellow-rumped Warblers, a Golden-crowned Kinglet (likely the same as yesterday), and two Common Nighthawks were the noteable birds of the day. No big influxes of ducks or shorebirds into the area were noted. The ducks that are here are presenting interesting ID challenges as they are all in eclipse plumage. You can easily figure out the Northern Shoveler and Green-winged Teal, but the others still require a careful look for a positive species ID.

Here are two photos taken today of a after hatch-year (AHY) and a hatch-year (HY) Yellow Warblers. Note the slate gray bill, both upper and lower mandible in the AHY and the bicoloured bill (gray and a ivory colour) in the HY bird. This is something banders use when ageing Yellow Warblers in the fall and can be seen when birding as well.

September 1 - Fall Migration Monitoring

September is here and it sure feels like fall. A cool brisk start to the day and the season's first kinglets were all good signs that fall is here.

We only managed to open four of the nets as winds kept most of the nets closed. Still we managed to catch 29 birds (19 new birds and 10 recaptures), almost all of which were Yellow Warblers. As has been the case for the last 5-6 days everywhere you looked a Yellow Warbler was flitting through the bushes or trees, or calling as they flew overhead. If more nets had been open today could have easily been another 100+ bird day. We did manage to catch three birds that weren't Yellow Warblers; Western Flycatcher, Warbling Vireo, and Ruby-crowned Kinglet. The RCKI was the first in the park since last April and was joined by at least one GCKI heard calling in the woodlot. Calmer winds are forecast for tonight and tomorrow, so perhaps things may get busier.


Birds Banded:
Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 1
Warbling Vireo - 1
Western Flycatcher - 1
Yellow Warbler - 16

Birds Recaptured:
Yellow Warbler - 10

August 31 - Fall Migration Monitoring

Rain, rain, rain, blessed rain. It was a morning to finally sleep as the forecast and radar both indicated it was going to rain all morning. Tom was out for census and managed to record a decent variety of birds, including 16 waterlogged Yellow Warblers and 3 Bank Swallows. Back to the early morning wake ups tomorrow.

August 30 - Fall Migration Monitoring

The walk out to the banding lab and to open nets seemed a bit quieter than the day before, but the first round was a different story. It was a virtual repeat of the day before with 30+ birds caught. Thankfully things calmed down a bit afterward and kept steady at 5-10 birds/round, except for a few busier ones. The parade of Yellow Warblers continues, although an increase in Orange-crowned Warblers were noted. Perhaps this means that we are seeing a changing of the guard. Another sure sign that fall is coming shortly is that we caught our first Fox Sparrow of the year. While it may be a while before we see many more of them, that combined with the rain forecast is a sign that summer is coming to an end.



Northern Pintail are noted daily flying in high from the north, presumably migrants, and overall duck numbers are slowly starting to build. The large numbers of swallows present on the weekend (500+) has dissipated slightly with only ~250 around today, comprised of all six of the regularly occurring species. Rain forecast for tomorrow likely indicates a well deserved sleep in for all volunteers, except Tom Plath who will keep the census going strong!

August 29 - Fall Migration Monitoring

Today was quite momentous for two things, one it was our busiest day yet with 175 birds caught, and two, one of our volunteers Nathan proposed to his partner Angie. The busyness of the morning kept us all on edge to find an appropriate moment. Luckily a Red-winged Blackbird was caught and Nathan had Angie band her favourite bird with a special 'band' he had made that asked the magic question. She said yes and took the band instead of the blackbird. Congratulations to Nathan and Angie!


On the bird front, things were busy on pretty much every net run and all around us. After helping get a dozen birds out of net 1 and 2 I wandered over to net 5 only to find everyone else already extracting the 20+ birds that were over there. At that point we split up and started banding to ensure that there would be enough bags to complete the net run. We had a few lulls of 5-10 birds, but usually had about 20 birds back at the station at any one time waiting to be processed. Luckily we had a crack team of extractors who were able to keep up with the onslaught of birds. Variety was not the spice of the day, but if you loved Yellow Warblers it was your day to be at the station as they composed about 120 of the 175 birds caught. Other noteworthy birds included a Rufous Hummingbird (we haven't had many lately), several Warbling Vireos and of course the Red-winged Blackbird. Migration is heading onwards at full-speed right now, who knows what the next while might bring.

Also of note was this Song Sparrow which had a long and narrow bill, I don't know if it represents an abnormal individual or subspecies I have not seen before. Any comments?

August 28, 2010 - Fall Migration Monitoring

What seemed like ideal conditions (clear skies and northerly winds) for overnight migration did not materialize into birds being caught. However, of the 40+ birds captured today only a few were recaptures, indicating that many of the birds that were staging at Iona have moved on.

The day started off calm, but the wind picked up mid-way through the morning resulting in the closing of half the nets. As a result no birds were caught over the last few rounds. But with a few busy rounds early on it ended up a moderately paced morning, with lots of Yellow Warblers and our first wave of Lincoln's Sparrows. We also managed to catch the station's first Western Tanager.



In the sewage lagoons there were now 4 Red-necked Phalaropes and a Wilson's still hanging around. Few other interesting birds were noted in the area.

While I have almost given up with predicting what the next day will bring, the strong winds forecast tonight it will likely be a slower day tomorrow.

August 27, 2010 - Fall Migration Monitoring

The rains early last night likely prevented most migrants from moving last night as today was relatively slow. The first couple of net rounds were quite slow, however, things picked up later on. Yellow Warblers were still the bulk of the catch, but several Trail's Flycatchers, Warbling Vireos, and Common Yellowthroats were caught. A first for us was a hatch-year Red-eyed Vireo that was caught and banded mid-morning. Several Marsh and Bewick's Wrens that have been hanging around for a while were caught as well.



A Merlin and Peregrine Falcon cruised through the area repeatedly terrorizing the swallows, shorebirds and waterfowl in the ponds and lagoons. A early morning visit to the SE sewage lagoon resulted in 3 Red-necked Phalaropes and a Wilson's Phalarope being seen. Swallow numbers continue to be high (in the hundreds) and consist largely of Barn Swallows, though Bank, N. Rough-winged, Tree, Violet-green Swallows and Purple Martin were seen. Fall is definitely on the way now that more migrant waterfowl have shown up, including Northern Pintails, American Wigeon and American Coots were observed in the south pond and possibly a few more Hooded Mergansers.

Hopes are high that with clearer and calmer weather tonight more birds may be present tomorrow morning, we're bound for another big fallout one of these days.