April 19 - Spring Migration Monitoring

Our Spring Migration Monitoring program wrapped up on April 14, after three exciting weeks watching spring unfold. The program was very successful documenting the arrival dates and migratory movements for several species. Exciting moments included catching two Northern Saw-whet Owls on the first net round, hearing a Upland Sandpiper flyover, and catching over 130 birds on April 12.


Migration was slow over the first week, with Song Sparrows slowly building in numbers and waves of Tree and Violet-green Swallows passing through. Northern Shrikes were seen throughout the first week, but it appeared that this involved new birds arriving every few days. A few more of the wintering Yellow-rumped Warblers were banded and others recaptured, overlapping with the arrival of spring migrants.


The second week was showed a definite increase in the number of birds around. A number of Red-winged Blackbirds were caught this week, which seemed unusual as they had been around since the end of January, but had stayed largely in the marsh. Most often it was a mixed flock of females and males, perhaps caused by males pursuing females as the prospect for potential mates. The first interesting bird during this period was a Northern Saw-whet Owl caught on April 1st, but a Northwestern Crow captured on April 3rd was the first for the station and surprized all who were present. April 5th saw a fall-out of Violet-green Swallows with over 50 banded that day.


The third week of monitoring saw migration really pick up with the first arrivals of Caspian Tern on the 7th, N. Rough-winged Swallow on the 8th, Orange-crowned Warblers on the 11th, Common Yellowthroats on the 13th, and Yellow-headed Blackbird on the 8th. Large numbers of Violet-green Swallows and Audubon's Warblers were banded during this period, especially over the 13-15th. Another N. Saw-whet Owl was caught on 12th, which is quite intriguing, raising the possibility that a spring movement may occur in early April along the coast. The most interesting bird was a flyover Upland Sandpiper on April 12th, which was the first spring record for the Vancouver area.

Overall, 433 birds were banded and 205 were recaptured of 26 species. Many days of wind and rain resulted in reduced net hours and banding only occurring on 16 days. The species totals for the birds banded are listed below:

Species	Banded	Recaptured	Unbanded
N. Saw-whet Owl	2
Downy Woodpecker	1	2
Rufous Hummingbird			12
Tree Swallow	24
Violet-green Swallow	143	1	1
N. Rough-winged Swallow	3
Barn Swallow	1
Northern Shrike	1
Marsh Wren	8	8
Pacific Wren	1	1
Black-capped Chickadee	3	10
Northwestern Crow			1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	10	13
Golden-crowned Kinglet	3
American Robin	5	4	1
Orange-crowned Warbler	5	1
Audubon's Warbler	63	12	1
Myrtle Warbler	4	2
Unk. Yellow-rumped Warbler	4	1
Common Yellowthroat	2
Spotted Towhee	2	13
Song Sparrow	61	66	2
Lincoln's Sparrow	8	7	1
Fox Sparrow	11	54
Golden-crowned Sparrow	1	7
Oregon Junco	5
Red-winged Blackbird	50	2
House Finch	1
American Goldfinch	10	1

A big thank you goes out to all of our volunteers for helping complete our program. We are now taking a bit of a break, but will be starting our Breeding Bird Monitoring program in late May, so stay tuned for updates.

March 25-April 1 - Spring Migration Monitoring

Spring Migration Monitoring has begun and we are excited to be outside every day experiencing spring migration. This is our pilot spring season, and with no other observatories in British Columbia conducting a spring monitoring program, this makes our program especially unique and informative.

As noted in our previous entry the first few spring migrants arrived at the end of the our Winter Songbird Monitoring program. By the time our spring program began on March 25th, plenty more migrants and breeding birds had arrived. Every morning we are now serenaded with the sounds of bird songs, heralding the arrival spring. Not to be outdone the local population of Pacific Chorus Frogs are now beginning to call in earnest as well. The weather, as to be expected at this time of year, has not always cooperated with our banding efforts and we have not been able to band every day. But rain or shine our daily census walk has also been able to track the arrival of spring, especially for species that usually avoid our nets.

Flocks of both Tree and Violet-green Swallows have been seen daily, with 160 Violet-green Swallows on April 1st the largest to date. Hummingbirds have been absent since their first arrival on the 17th, but a Rufous Hummingbird was observed on the 1st. Our most notable catch so far this season has been a Northern Saw-whet Owl. There are no records for Iona Island in the spring, and only four in total for the area, so this bird was truly a surprize.


Many people this winter have watched and photographed a adult Northern Shrike around Iona Island, principally in the area west of the outer ponds. This bird has not been seen for at least a week or two now, but a new second-year bird has replaced it. The bird had tempted us for a few days, flying near our nets and even getting out of one once. But on the 29th it was banded and it has remained in the area since then.


One sure sign of spring has been the arrival of Yellow-rumped Warblers. The wintering population of Myrtle and at least one hybrid Yellow-rumped Warblers have been augmented with at least 5-10 newly arrived Audubon's Warblers. Myrtle and Audubon's Warblers are fairly easy to tell apart, with the most obvious field marks being a white throat and supercilium in the Myrtle and yellow throat and no supercilium in the Audubon's. Hybrids between the two can vary in their plumage, but are usually typified by some yellow in the throat and an indistinct whitish supercilium. The photos below illustrate Audubon's, hybrid and Myrtle Warblers.



Most of the other newly arrived birds have been Lincoln's and Song Sparrows. Only a few of the former have been noted so far, with the first on March 29th. Song Sparrows have really begun passing through with many, mostly males, seen and heard on a daily basis. The first American Goldfinches were noted on March 30th, and increasing numbers of Brown-headed Cowbirds and Brewer's Blackbirds have also been seen. At least one Western Meadowlark is still around and was seen on the 1st.

Orange-crowned Warblers and White-crowned Sparrows have begun arriving in Oregon, it will now only be a few more days before we will begin seeing them here. Spring is here and it will be exciting to see what birds will arrive over the next week!

March 16, 17 - Winter Songbird Monitoring

Our Winter Songbird Monitoring program has finally come to a close, and it has been an exciting and amazingly successful pilot season. In total we banded 279 birds and recaptured 361 birds of 23 species. A full report will be coming shortly.

All of the winter residents are still around, but over these last two days of monitoring we have have been seeing and banding our first definite spring migrants. We originally defined mid-March as being the end point for our winter monitoring program and it seems to be well chosen. The winter residents will likely stay until mid to late-April. We will still continue monitoring these birds through re-sighting colour-banded birds and through birds detected during our Spring Monitoring Monitoring program.

It has been difficult to predict where the birds may be focusing their activity, but the area between the west side of the woodlot to the wetland has seen most of it lately. Part of this has been the kinglets, chickadees, and warblers using the willows which are starting to bud-out now. But even most of the sparrows have been in this area, feeding largely on the new shoots of grasses and other small plants. Spotted Towhees are also now on territory, and males are frequently seen on the tops of shrubs singing heartily, which has made re-sighting colour-banded birds a lot easier.


It is difficult to choose the favourite banded birds of the period, as the new spring migrants are nice to see again, but we have also had some interesting recaptures as well.


Two alternate plumaged male Audubon's Warblers (one on each day) were certainly a treat to see in the hand after a winter of mostly sparrows. There have been a few Audubon's and Myrtle Warblers around the banding area all winter. These were still in basic plumage when they were last seen, and the few that were caught had not started their spring pre-alternate molt. So these birds were true spring migrants. Another sure sign of spring was the first Rufous Hummingbird of the year on the 17th, an after second-year female, and a male was also heard on the same day. Marsh Wrens have been found at Iona Island all winter, but they always appeared to be few and far between, with only banded one up until the 16/17th. However, we have now banded six, all spring migrants, over the last two days. Several Golden and Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Song Sparrows, Fox Sparrows and Spotted Towhees were also banded recently, but it's difficult to say how many of these are spring migrants versus winter residents.


The recapture highlight from this period was a female Red-shafted Flicker that was originally banded on Dec 13, 2010. Also we managed to catch several Spotted Towhees, Song and Fox Sparrows that were originally banded in November, but have not been seen since. It is interesting that a number of them waited until mid-March to show up again. Perhaps they are starting to become restless before migration and are moving around Iona Island a bit more.


Other birds of note seen around Iona Island included 10-20 Violet-green Swallows, two male Tree Swallows fighting over a nest-box (a sure sign of spring!), at least three Virginia Rails calling from the wetland ponds, the wintering American Bittern, and a few Canvasback.

This concludes our Winter Songbird Monitoring season, a big thank you goes out to all of our volunteers! Stay tuned for updates from our Spring Migration Monitoring program starting on March 25. If you are interested in volunteering, send an email to ionaislandbirds@gmail.com.

March 4 & 7, 2011 - Winter Songbird Monitoring

As our Winter Songbird Monitoring program is nearing the end, the first migrants are beginning to arrive. The weather over the last month has been colder than normal, and the arrival of the earliest migrants, Tree and Violet-green Swallows and Rufous Hummingbirds are about a week or two behind. While monitoring on March 4 did not yield any clear-cut migrants, March 7th had the first Violet-green and Tree Swallows of the season flying around the outer ponds. A few other early migrants were also present, including several species of waterfowl, Killdeer, Golden-crowned Kinglets, Spotted Towhees and Song Sparrows. These are the first trickle of migrants, likely to start increasing later on this month. Willow buds have started opening up and with the warmer temperatures predicted over the next few days it is likely that leaf out will start. Also, get out your hummingbird feeders! With Rufous Hummingbirds present up to the Columbia River it is likely that in less than a week we'll be seeing them back in southwestern BC.


Banding on the 4th appeared spring-like with three Myrtle Warblers caught, although two were the birds caught in recent weeks. Another one of the Golden-crowned Sparrows wintering around the woodlot was captured and colour-banded with all yellow bands.

There also were three interesting sparrow recaptures in the last two days of monitoring, a Song Sparrow banded last April, a Lincoln's Sparrow banded last May and a Spotted Towhee banded last June. The interesting part is where these birds may have gone in the time between banding and recapture. The Song Sparrow and Spotted Towhees were both males with cloacal protuberances, indicating they were breeding locally. So these birds had likely setup territories near the banding area, and may have been roaming about recently getting ready to setup territories for this year. The Lincoln's Sparrow was a bit more interesting. It was originally banded on May 4, 2010 and was thought to be a migrant due to its high levels of fat and its capture during the height of their migration. Recatching it in early March means it has likely spent the winter here, as this is about a month before migration starts. But it raises the possibility that the bird may have been a lingering winter resident, as winter residents have greater site fidelity than migrants. Birds like this make our work interesting and make you rethink about how birds may be using the area.

February 21 - Winter Songbird Monitoring

As we inch closer to spring, early breeding birds are busy singing and establishing territories, while later breeding birds have been concentrating in areas of food. Black-capped Chickadees and Marsh Wrens have become more territorial over the last week, with males actively patrolling territories and chasing away other males. American Robins, Song Sparrows, Bewick's and Pacific Wrens have all been heard singing more frequently than before. Grasses and other herbaceous plants along the paths have been greening up and providing food for Golden-crowned and Song Sparrows. The bud's on the willows along the west side of the woodlot have been increasing in size and insects have been congregating in this area as well. Yellow-rumped Warblers, kinglets, and chickadees have all been spending more time in this area presumably to take advantage of increased food availability here.


We managed to catch our second Myrtle Warbler in as many days of monitoring, this bird was a second-year male. The usual mix of both kinglets, chickadees, Spotted Towhees, Fox and Song Sparrows were present, the only 'different' birds were a Pacific Wren recaptured that was originally banded in November and a bright looking American Robin. Other birds of note are the same birds that have been seen all winter, including several Virginia Rails and the American Bittern.

It has been interesting comparing the variation in Fox Sparrows that have been caught at IIBO this winter, with most from the Sooty Fox Sparrow group, but several from the Red Fox Sparrow group as well. We managed to catch two this time that had characteristics of Red Fox Sparrows, such as white tipping to their greater and median coverts and a very rufous colour, but they did not have well defined reddish streaking on their backs. These are likely hybrids between the two groups, possibly from north-central BC, although without genetic testing we will never know. Compare the following photos of the two birds with a more typical Sooty Fox Sparrow.


Nearby at the Vancouver International Airport, a program has been started this winter to capture, tag, and relocate raptors to try and reduce the number of airline strikes, benefiting both raptors and travelers. To get to Iona Island you must pass by the airport and so it is worthwhile to check any Red-tailed or Rough-legged Hawks that you see for patagial (wing) tags. These tags will have a letter and a number to individually identify a bird. The bird below with tag C7 is a Harlan's Hawk (a subspecies of Red-tailed Hawk) that was banded in late January and relocated, but it has subsequently returned to the airport.

February 13 - Winter Songbird Monitoring

There are not too many places in Canada where you have the opportunity to see, let alone band warblers in winter. Yellow-rumped and Townsend's Warblers regularly winter in small numbers in the Lower Mainland and on Vancouver Island. Wintering locations are most likely limited by temperature and food supply. Townsend's Warblers have been found to use backyard suet feeders, however Yellow-rumped Warblers feed on a more natural mix of insects and berries. As a result Yellow-rumps are found more frequently found in coastal areas, where temperatures are more moderate and insects can usually be found throughout the winter. Iona Island is one of the few locations where Yellow-rumps have been found reliably in winter. This is likely because of the moderating influence of the ocean and the relative abundance of flying insects around both the sewage lagoons and wetlands.

This winter up to eight have been found at Iona and all look to be adult males, with an equal split of Myrtle and Audubon's subspecies. At least one or two have been teasing us all winter by flying just above the nets. Recently, though, the entire flock has been spending more time near the nets in the willows at the edge of the woodlot. Possibly as a result of this, at our last monitoring session we finally caught one!


The bird was an after second-year male Myrtle Warbler. It will be interesting to see now that the flock is spending more time around the nets if more will be caught, and if they will return next year. Other interesting birds around included a recapture Varied Thrush (originally banded in late November), a Spotted Towhee (last seen in April), and a Cackling Goose in the sewage lagoons.

February 8 - Winter Songbird Monitoring

Spring has sprung! ...or at least it has started. The Red-winged Blackbirds around the wetlands have been a little vocal over the winter, but this time they were in full song and defending territories. Canada Geese have also gotten into the act, by pairing off and becoming more aggressive towards other pairs. Pacific Chorus Frogs continue to be heard calling, although we have heard them here in every month of the year. Reports from Portland indicate that the first wave of spring migrants have come in, with Say's Phoebe, Turkey Vultures and increasing numbers of swallows (Barn, Tree, and Violet-green) all reported recently. It won't be too much longer until a few of these reach southwestern BC.

One continuing trend is the burst of activity during the first hour of the day, starting half an hour before dawn. We managed to capture 21 of the 27 birds caught today within this first hour, and the remaining six birds were caught on two nets runs over the rest of the morning. Several birders and photographers in the area also noted the absence of bird activity mid-morning. Interesting birds that were caught included a returning Song Sparrow and Spotted Towhee that were banded last April and had not been caught again until now, a Golden-crowned Sparrow first banded in late November and a Pacific Wren first banded in mid-November. Looking at this winter's data so far, it appears that there may a population of around 40-50 of each Spotted Towhee, Song and Fox Sparrow, and probably 10-15 Black-capped Chickadees and Ruby-crowned Kinglets, and 5 Golden-crowned Kinglets.

Other observations included many waterfowl in the sewage lagoons, with the bulk consisting of Northern Pintail, Northern Shoveler, and Green-winged Teal. Six to eight Yellow-rumped Warblers (both subspecies) were seen hawking insects in the cottonwoods on the west side of the lagoons. These are likely the same birds that have been present all winter, but they can be tough to find at times.

Now that we are nearing the end of the winter period it will be interesting to see when our birds leave and when the first wave of migrants will show up. It can't be too far off...

January 29/30th - Winter Songbird Monitoring

A slow weekend allowed us to take care of some site maintenance, namely building a roof for our banding table! Shawn Hilton came by on the 30th with tools and wood to put together a roof, with a little help from us, to provide us some protection from the elements. Slowly one step at a time the banding table is evolving into fully fledged station.


As mentioned before things were slow during this monitoring period. A total of 33 birds were captured, 22 recaptures and 11 new birds. Captures were dominated by Fox Sparrows (13), but also included Song Sparrows (10), Spotted Towhee (4), Ruby-crowned Kinglets (2), Golden-crowned Kinglet (1), Black-capped Chickadee (1), Bewick's Wren (1), and Golden-crowned Sparrow (1). A number of Song Sparrows have gotten wise to the nets and were observed flying under and around the nets. This indicates that colour-banding can be quite useful, as a number of other birds were observed well away from the nets and provide valuable survival information. One lonely Yellow-rumped Warbler, two Northern Shrikes, and one Canvasback were also noted around the banding area. Also of note for those remember from one of the previous posts regarding swallows, several have now been seen in the province including two Barn Swallows at both English and Boundary Bays and two Tree Swallows and one Barn Swallow at Swan Lake near Victoria. It will only be a matter of time before they are back at Iona Island again.

January 19 - Winter Songbird Monitoring

This was our rescheduled day from the Sunday washout and conditions were beautiful. There was a big full moon setting on the horizon as nets were being opened, and a light frost shimmered in the rising sun as we opened the last net.


Bird activity seems to be shifting to earlier in the morning, with more birds caught on the first and second round, compared with the third and fourth round earlier in the winter. As mentioned in a previous post it could have been the colder weather earlier in the winter that had been causing a delay in bird activity. Now that temperatures are a bit warmer, bird activity has shifted back to around sunrise.

A Golden-crowned Sparrow and two Varied Thrushes (both recaptures) were our highlights from banding. About 20 Golden-crowned Sparrows have been present at Iona all winter, however, their activity has been concentrated along the fence between the woodlot and the sewage lagoons. They have now shifted their activity to other areas around the woodlot, including the open area in the centre. This shift resulted in one being caught and colour-banded. With their habit of foraging along the paths around the woodlot, this bird might be one of the easier ones to resight while birding.


Winter residents frequently show site fidelity their original wintering areas. In the late fall a Fox Sparrow originally banded in April, had returned to winter here. I have recently looked over the recapture history for our Song Sparrows to see if any might be returning winter residents, and it appears that five have returned. It will be interesting now to see if their departure dates are similar to last year, and how it will overlap with the arrival of spring migrants.

Two Yellow-rumped Warblers and the adult N. Shrike were still present on the 19th and when out on January 21st a Western Gull (new for the station) and Western Meadowlarks were found along the beach near the washrooms.

January 15, 16 - Winter Songbird Monitoring

The Pineapple Express has arrived and we were treated to balmy temperatures and unfortunately rain on Sunday. With all the rain we have had lately the water levels in the woodlot have continued to rise, with some areas now under 1m of water. We were able to open one of our nets in the north end of the woodlot as one of our volunteers saved the day and brought out hip-waders this weekend.


Overall catch rates are down a bit from early December, but we still caught ~30/day, with recaptures hovering around 50%. Its hard to say if the new birds are ones that have avoided our nets so far this winter, or if they are 'recent' arrivals. Some may be of the latter. This past weekend at least six Yellow-rumped Warblers seen around the sewage lagoons, and only two had been seen in December. It is possible that these birds may have been floating around the Vancouver area this winter and have recently made it to Iona Island, or they may have ridden the southerly winds up from points slightly further south.

Speaking of birds that may have ridden up on southerly winds, two species that I was hoping for and did not see this weekend were Barn and Tree Swallow. Most people would never think to search for these species in the middle of winter in Vancouver. But, since the 1990's many Barn and Tree Swallows have been seen every winter along the Pacific coast from California to BC. They typically arrive on southerly winds and generally don't stick around too long. No one knows exactly why they do this, but its not just these species that are traveling around at odd times of the year. Cave Swallows have in late fall for the last dozen or so years ridden low pressure systems from Texas and Mexico up to southern Ontario and the northeastern US, before following the eastern seaboard south again. So far this winter there have been several reports of Tree Swallows from both Washington and Oregon, a couple of reports of Barn Swallows and one report of Cliff Swallows in Oregon. Its only a matter of time before swallows are back in BC, so keep your eyes open for them in coastal areas such as Iona Island or the Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary.


Banding highlights this weekend were a recapture Varied Thrush, originally captured on December 31, our first new Marsh Wren since the fall, and another two American Robins (perhaps also moving around with the recent warm weather). All sparrows caught this weekend were still extremely fat, indicating that they are continuing to do quite well despite the rain. Other interesting sightings have included the wintering A. Bittern and Virginia Rails, two N. Shrikes (both of which were banded), a Rough-winged Hawk (new for the station!), and two Lincoln's Sparrows.

January 8 - Winter Songbird Monitoring

The ice and cold is gone, at least for now. Everything was back to its wet soggy self again, with the recent warm temperatures and rain having melted all of the ice that was present a week ago. It was really as pleasant of a day you could ask for in winter, the only problem we ran into (and for the first time) was a lack of birds. Only 23 birds were caught, however, what we lacked in numbers we made up for in quality.

Of note for those banders who will be coming out soon, is that with the switch over to the new year the age categories for birds have been changed. For those who aren't aware of how birds are aged, there are generally three categories that are used, young, adult and unknown, and the names for each category will vary depending on the time of year. It is easiest to picture things starting in the fall when most of the young birds of the year have fledged, these birds are known as hatch-year (HY) birds because they are in their hatching year. Their parents and other birds that did not hatch that year are known as after hatch-year (AHY) because it is after their hatching year. Unknown (U) is reserved for birds for which their correct age cannot be determined. Other age categories used are: local, for birds near their known nesting site, and third-year, fourth-year, etc. for various species which the adults can be more accurately aged than AHY, but we generally don't catch many of those species.

Now those HY and AHY birds remain as such all fall and up to December 31st. Starting January 1st the birds that hatched the previous year (formerly HY) become second-year (SY) birds because they are in their second calendar year of life, and the adults (formerly AHY) become after second-year (ASY) because these birds are in at least their third calendar year of life (ie. after their second-year). Unknown birds become AHY because at least in January-March most birds have not begun nesting yet and all birds will be at least after their hatching year. The terms SY and ASY will continue to be used until the summer we all of these birds will molt out all of their feathers and grow in new ones and we will not be able to separate these birds any more. Hopefully this will make a bit more sense of the ageing codes for everyone.


Now back to the birds! We managed to catch one new species for the station and observe two new species. We have been hoping that our nets along the edge of the north wetland might eventually catch a non-passerine marsh bird and we were finally rewarded with our first Wilson's Snipe! These birds spend the winter in decent numbers around the wetlands at Iona Island and it seemed like a matter of time before one of them would be caught. One neat thing with these birds is that their eyes are placed so far back on their head that they can watch you even when you are behind them.


The other new species for the station was a Cackling Goose observed flying over in a flock of Canada Geese shortly after net opening. Cackling Geese spend the winter in small numbers in the Lower Mainland, with a few being seen in the Vancouver area and more being seen in the agricultural areas further up the Fraser valley. The other new bird for the station was Snow Bunting that was both heard and seen flying over the station heading towards the south jetty, which is the location where they are most typically found at Iona.


The bulk of the days catch were the three usual species (Spotted Towhee, Fox and Song Sparrows), with an American Robin, two European Starlings, several recaptured Ruby and Golden-crowned Kinglets, Black-capped Chickadees, and a Bewick's Wren. Other interesting birds from the day were a Northern Shrike (likely the same adult from December), two Virginia Rails, an American Bittern, and at least one banded Varied Thrush (not sure when that bird was caught though).

One final note to keep you warm as we prepare for another snowfall, is that spring migration has begun! In the southwest a few Selasphorus Hummingbirds (either Rufous or Allen's) were reported moving north over the past week. The always early Purple Martin has been reported across Florida as well as singles in Texas and Georgia.

December 31 - Winter Songbird Monitoring

Temperatures had dropped considerably between the last time we were out banding and the 31st. A solid centimetre of ice had formed on all of the pools of water in the woods, which made getting to those nets considerably more difficult. At least we didn't have any snow to contend with. The wetland ponds were just about completely frozen over as well, with only a small area along the east side of the south pond remaining open and full of ducks. But we were treated to one of those few beautiful winter sunrises.


On cold days bird activity can take a little while to perk up and on the 31st it was no different. Only a few birds were caught until about an hour and a half after sunrise and most bird movement was noted after this time as well. The amount of energy needed to stay warm and move around foraging for food is probably greater than what they can gain through eating. So, for the songbirds wintering here it is probably more energy efficient to hunker down and wait for things to warm up.


It was also interesting to note that most of the birds caught had a lot of fat on them. We use a eight level system (0-7) to rate the amount of fat birds have on them. On migration birds can put on a lot of fat (typically 3-5), to be used as an energy resource to keep them going as they migrate. During the summer most birds are focused on nesting and then with replacing their feathers and most of their energy resources are put towards those activities instead of fat (typically 0-1). In the winter birds frequently put on enough fat (typically 2-3) to keep them through the night and/or through temporary food shortages caused by inclement weather. The birds must have anticipated it being a cold night and morning as most had 4-5 fat on them, with several having up to six.


Diversity was about average with 40 of the 48 birds caught were either a Spotted Towhee, Song or Fox Sparrow. Two of the most interesting birds banded most people wouldn't look twice at: Bewick's Wren (1) and Black-capped Chickadee (3). But we haven't banded a Bewick's Wren since August and the entire flock of chickadees in the woodlot had been banded, except none were seen except the three new ones. Also of note was another new Varied Thrush. This is the sixth one banded this year, all since November 21st, and none have been recaptured. It has been noted that this winter there have been higher than normal numbers of Varied Thrushes through the Vancouver area. Our banding totals likely reflect this and the lack of recaptures indicating that the habitat here isn't very suitable for Varied Thrushes. One final mention should go to the Northern Shrike that left a memorable mark on my thumb a few weeks ago. What is very likely the same bird (a banded adult shrike) is still being seen around Iona Island, primarily around the area west of the wetland ponds. It will be interesting to see how long this bird will stick around.