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.