Final Banding Day and Journey Home

The exciting times of banding at Calvert are over for us. Such an amazing experience all around!

Fiery head of a Golden-crowned Kinglet

Our final day of banding was another very slow one. First three hours we banded we didn’t get one single bird. I joked that one our last day we would do the full 6 hours and not get anything – luckily that didn’t happen! The mist over the bay though was beautiful!

Mid-morning we had a small flock come through. We took this opportunity to mold a new set of potential bird banders on Calvert Island – we taught some researchers and staff some banding and handling techniques. Fun times for all! Our last day of banding consisted of 17 birds: 9 new and 8 recaps.

Jimmy with a Fox Sparrow

 

Josh with a Pacific Slope Flycatcher

 

Lori with an Orange-crowned Warbler

The trip home was amazing! We had another great boat trip with whales, sea lions, and exciting sea birds including a Sooty Shearwater and some Pigeon Guillemots. We then made great time driving from Port Hardy to Nanaimo. The drive home consisted of: three researchers, 2+ weeks worth of field work equipment, and personal gear all jammed into a Hyundai Fit. It was squishy to say the least but we all got home safe and sound!

Our final totals are as follows: 239 total birds captured of 15 different species. 144 new birds banded and 87 recaptures. This occurred over 10 days of banding.

Our top five caught species were (1) Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon subspecies), (2) Golden-crowned Kinglet, (3) Pacific Wren, (4) Orange-crowned Warbler, and (5) Song Sparrow.

Belted Kingfisher and Townsend’s Warbler were firsts for not only this Calvert Island project but also for the VIU Bird Banding Station.

To end off this blog we’d just like to send a huge thank you to the Hakai Institute. All the staff and researchers at the facility were more than accommodating and supremely kind. It was great learning from everyone and meeting some really amazing people. And a big thank you to Eric and Christina for everything you do!

And thanks to everyone that followed this blog!

Thanks everyone from Elsie and I!

Rainy Days

Its been very slow going here on Calvert. Yesterday it rained 90% of the day. We got up hoping to open – we even took all our gear out and walked out to survey our nets. It was slightly on the windy side and a bit misty so we hummed and hawed for a while – just as I called it, it began to rain and continued raining all day. Very little beyond napping, movie watching and eating happened yesterday.

Today didn’t look much better. We woke up to seriously thick marine clouds and rain. By breakfast the rain had let up and the mist and clouds were starting to dissipate so we decided to open up our nets. We had set up a new net that both of us were eager to try – it ended up catching 1/3 of the birds we caught today. I wish now we set it up much earlier.

Our total today was 15 birds – 10 new and 5 recaps. Its amazing how many banded birds you see walking around here. Nearly all the visible Juncos and Song Sparrows have a band. It would seem that there aren’t many birds around the lodge that we haven’t taken data on, yet our number of new bands is always larger than our recaps.

Today we saw our first Brown-headed Cowbird. It had us stumped for a bit – neither of us had seen one with that much yellow on its face. Cowbirds are one of Elsie’s favorite birds since they are brood parasites They don’t build their own nests or rear their own young – instead opting for the “easy way out” and foisting their eggs onto an unsuspecting nest. Unlike other brood parasites, such as cuckoos, they don’t kill off the host parent’s chicks. They live in “harmony” with their step-siblings but do manage to beg their way into a majority of the food, effectively outcompeting the other young. Cowbirds can be raised by a wide variety of hosts – including: Yellow Warblers, Song Sparrows, Gray Catbirds – and these hosts can be half the size of the nestling cowbird! (as Elsie is currently saying – “there is a whole coevolutionary arms race of amazing behaviours between cowbirds and their hosts”. If I don’t cut her off now she will continue this for PAGES! – don’t even bother get her started on mafia behaviours . . . . .).

Juvenile Cowbird

Tomorrow is our final day of banding here!!!

Always Something Exciting Here on Calvert!

Weather wise, today and yesterday were almost polar opposites. Yesterday came with an overcast morning, some wind, and a mid-morning sprinkle. At one point we started to close nets due to rain. Then, almost instantly, the rain disappeared and the sun began to shine – we opened back up and made it through our 6 hour day. Today however the sun is shining, there is hardly any wind and barely a cloud in the sky. However there is one thing that makes these two days very similar . . . .

WE CAUGHT A BELTED KINGFISHER BOTH DAYS!

That’s right, we’ve now caught a total of three Belted Kingfishers (to Elsie’s absolute delight!!). Yesterday we caught a hatch year female with lots of brown on her sides and across her chest. Then this morning we caught another hatch year male. All of them have been caught in the same net. We’ve seen them fly over this area many times and there is a green post in some pond water which we’ve seen them perching from time to time. This could be the lure for them to be flying in so low. What’s interesting is all these young birds have already replaced their rectrices – so they have juvenile body and wing feathers but adult tail feathers. I haven’t done enough to know if this is usual or not but it has created a long aging discussion after each kingfisher banded.

Nice young male from this morning!

The brown across the chest indicates a female! She dropped by for a visit yesterday mid-morning.

Everyday we can hear the kingfishers calling as they zoom around above the bay. Normally we think we only see two. Its very interesting to know there are actually three around. Just goes to show how hard it is to identify individuals and how deceiving bird numbers can be.

We also caught another Townsend’s warbler yesterday – another nice hatch year female.

Today I had the supreme joy of getting to band a robin that had eaten WAY TOO MANY salal berries. Needless to say after scrubbing my hands 5 times, the stain has still not come out….

My hands are now stained purple . . .

Something I’ve been meaning to talk about but keep forgetting is the gardens here! They are lovely! So many beautiful flowering plants, shrubs and even an amazing vegetable garden. Some of what we get for lunch and dinner has been grown here locally. They’ve even got a small greenhouse with tomatoes and other vegetables.

Our numbers the past few days have been very low- Yesterday: 13 new and 7 recap, Today: 6 new 7 recap. It seems that some of the species we were catching earlier on this week are no longer here. We haven’t caught or seen a Pacific-Slope Flycatcher in over a week and we have barely seen any Rufous Hummingbirds. However today we did see our first Northern Flicker and a group of Cedar Waxwings. Now we can only hope in our upcoming final three days of banding we will start getting some migrants coming in – fingers crossed!!

1 TOWA, 2 TOWA, 3 TOWA, More!?

Most mornings, the bay that is the backdrop to our banding, looks like this in the mornings.

Can’t get enough of these sunrises!

Not yesterday. We woke up to rain and very cloudy skies – who would have guessed!? Needless to say we were a bit excited to sleep in until 7 am. Then around 10am we looked outside and the rain had stopped but it was still cloudy and dark out. We decided to try opening the nets for a bit in hopes to catch birds feeding after the rain. And we did!

Finally some birds!

We really lucked out in that we opened the nets minutes before the clouds dissipated and the sun began to shine. Our first net round consisted of 16 birds! This is our biggest net round here to date. We caught a nice mixed flock of Golden-crowned Kinglets, Wilson’s Warblers, Orange-crowned Warblers, and – to Elsie’s delight – 4 Townsend’s Warblers. She finally got her TOWA banding tick! Later on, we ended up catching a fifth Townsend’s Warbler for that day. Most were hatch year males but we caught one hatch year female from the flock. They are such beautiful birds and a treat to band!

Elsie and her first TOWA

Young Male Townsend’s Warbler

Young Female Townsend’s Warbler

We also had an interesting recapture. This is a bird that Eric and Elsie highlighted in their previous blog as having strange eyelids and naked skin around the eye. We caught this guy again and it seems to be doing a bit better. You can see what he looked like back in June, check out: http://wordpress.viu.ca/bandingatcalvert/2015/06/13/baby-birds-strange-face-and-lice/

Due to strengthening winds, we had to close with just 3 hours of banding done. But we ended with 25 birds – 16 new and 9 recaptures.

The rest of the day was spent napping, eating, and watching David Attenborough’s: Life of Birds. Then after dinner we joined the rest of the Hakai crew for some beach volleyball – mostly we used this time to scope out shorebirds! The sunset over the beach was amazing too. All in all a really good day, even with the rainy start!

1 Hike + 7 Sandy Beaches + Good Timing = Priceless Adventure Day

Yesterday’s crazy slow day never really improved. We ended the day with just 13 birds – 8 new and 5 recaps. The weird thing was it was actually still relatively birdy out. We heard lots of Golden-crowned Kinglets, Chickadees, Pacific Wrens and we saw our first Ruby-crowned Kinglet of this trip so at least we know there are still birds here!

Today however we decided to take the day off and go exploring. The consensus was to go see if we can hike all the way to 10th beach! On the west side of the island there are a string of sandy beaches linked by a forest trail. It starts at the main West Beach and goes all the way to 10th beach. So after sleeping in and having a big bacon and eggs breakfast, we grabbed a packed lunch and headed off for an adventure!

Ready and excited to start our adventure!

Our first stop was a beautiful lookout spot. We hiked up this trail which awarded us views of all the west beaches as well as the island mountains. Its amazing how big Calvert Island really is. I now understand why Eric laughed at me when I asked if I could hike all the way around the island! Its approx. 160 square km and is 32 km long. The vegetation is very dense and the terrain rugged with many hills and valleys.

Calvert Island Mountains

Cool ecosystems on the lookout plateau

What a beauty morning to be out hiking!

After checking out the lookout we started on our beach adventure. Each beach was just as beautiful as the one before. Gorgeous white sand, brilliant blue waters, and not another soul to be seen – very peaceful! The hike itself was even interesting. Lots of small boardwalks through thick salal and even some hills that require ropes to help pull yourself up. We saw some Chestnut-backed Chickadees and even a couple dark colored unbanded Song Sparrows [ASIDE: after contacting an expert in the field of ornithology, it was determined these dark Song Sparrows are probably a subspecies called kenaiensis which are known to breed in south central Alaska. It’s cool to know there are two subspecies living and potentially breeding on this relatively small island].

Beautiful beach #1

Elsie hiking down the hill towards 4th beach

Any ideas what this is?

All the cool anemones and star fish. Half above and half below the water line.

After hitting 7th beach, we attempted to reach 8, 9 and 10. We hiked up the hill (in which we accidentally took the wrong trail) and came upon a boggy plateau. The trails here were slightly confusing and the way the trail seemed to be wandering didn’t look like it was headed to a beach. Instead of getting potentially lost, we decided 7th beach was a good place to hang out for the afternoon – it was by far our favorite beach too! When we first arrived there wasn’t another footprint anywhere on the beach. We decided to do something about that. Elsie and I ran all over the beach, did cartwheels and Elsie even made a sandcastle (which she called a “sand hut” due to its mound-esque shape). After some beach shenanigans – we decided the layered rocks surrounding the beach were a perfect place to settle in for lunch and a couple hours of reading.

Elsie making her sand-hut!

I love the sound of crashing waves!

Finally it was time to head back. We wanted to make it back to Hakai by dinner while also going back to spend some quality time at each of the beaches we passed that morning. The next beach we stopped at was 4th beach – it had a very large nice shaded area for us to get out of the sun for a bit – both of us were feeling the effects of the mid-day heat. So we laid out on the logs and did some more reading and listened to music for 30 mins or so. While I was laying on the log, something caught my eye. I sat up and saw what I thought was two black German shepherds running across the beach. I thought it was strange to see two dogs and not see a human near them. I pulled on my binoculars for a better look – it turned out to be two black wolves!!! They were just trotting along way at the far end of the beach. Elsie was busy reading her book so I yelled at her to take a look – we were both lucky enough to get good looks. That was the first time either of us had seen wild wolves – an experience we won’t soon forget!

Both wolves – one on the far left and one on the far right stepping on a log!

One of the two wolves!! So cool

The wolves on this island are supposedly small and also very elusive. After the wolves got a good look at us they immediately made their way into the forest and weren’t seen again. After a couple high-fives due to the coolness of that experience, we headed to where the wolves were seen and found their tracks in the sand.

We found their tracks!!!

After checking out the tracks, we continued meandering back towards the lodge. At one of the beaches, we hauled a huge chunk of Styrofoam off the tidal zone and into the forest where the beach debris is put to be taken away. It’s amazing to see whats in these piles of debris people have picked up off the beach – laundry detergent containers, bottles and plastic toys to name a few.

Massive chunk of Styrofoam we hauled off the beach – It was almost as big as Elsie!!

We arrived back at Hakai in enough time to clean the sand out of our gear and get ready for dinner. To top off this already fabulous day, dinner included fresh ceviche and orange-chocolate cheesecake. . . . Another absolutely amazing day on Calvert Island!!

Kim got a banding tick!

Today banding is super slow – only 3 birds in the past 2 hours – two of them recaps. So I decided to take advantage of these long, uneventful net rounds and update the blog with yesterday’s highlights.

Yesterday we ended with a 30 bird day – 17 new and 13 recaps. It was a beautiful morning for banding too with the sun shining and nothing but a bit of ocean breeze. You really can’t hate getting up early with no birds when the view from your banding table looks like this:

About mid-morning we found two more dark colored Song Sparrows in our nets. They are just so different than the ones we normally catch – their bill seems thinner and longer, the dark lores and the overall darker feathering is intriguing. Its good to know too that the first one wasn’t just a “one-off” and that there are more that look similar here. The one on the right seemed a bit more “normal” in coloration, not as dark as the one on the left. Both were hatch years too. I’m going to do some research into it and see if I can find out more about Song Sparrow subspecies.

Two more darker colored Song Sparrows

The absolute highlight today was getting my first banding tick for this project. After I had found Elsie her kingfisher, I told her jokingly she needed to repay the favour – and yesterday she actually did! We caught our first hatch year Townsend’s Warbler! This stunning little bird spends most of their time on the tops of trees which makes the chances of catching them slim. This one was caught with a bunch of Orange-crowned warblers and Juncos so it was probably flocking lower with them. I have to say, they are one of the most stunning birds we get on the coast. Their plumage, especially breeding males, is phenomenal!

Hatch Year Townsend’s Warbler

Very excited about this bird!

Looking through Pyle to figure out aging and sexing of Townsend’s Warblers

We’ve also had lots of visitors dropping by to learn about banding. Our table is sitting right at the entrance to the main dock so we get a lot of people passing by that are here to hike for a day or so. Its always fun talking about what you are passionate about.

So as an update on the slowness of today – we are now 4 hours in and still sitting at 3 birds…..

Beaches, Birds and BBQ Ribs – What more can a bander want!?

Today seemed slow and uneventful after yesterday’s BEKI excitement. We ended the day with 27 birds – 17 new and 10 recaptures. Our top captures have been Oregon Juncos, Pacific Wrens and Orange-crowned Warblers. Today’s highlight however was a Fox Sparrow. We haven’t seen or heard any around and they only caught one in June so we weren’t really expecting it. The other one caught earlier this year by Eric and Elsie had an interesting story behind it – read about it at this blog post: http://wordpress.viu.ca/bandingatcalvert/2015/06/22/the-story-of-fox-sparrow-666/

Fox Sparrow

Since the breeding season for most birds is over or at least coming to a close, we are seeing lots of moults in passerines. This is where they are replacing old feathers from last year with brand new feathers. The American Robin below shows the distinct difference between the old, worn, brown feathers and the “shiny” new, black feathers. She will keep these new feathers until after she breeds again next year.

American Robin with serious flight feather moult

So along with great banding, life here on Calvert is awesome! I must say, the food is unbelievably amazing. All sorts of fresh seafood, locally grown vegetables, and, yes, BBQ ribs. Every meal is like going to a gourmet restaurant! Serious hats off to chefs here!!! So to burn off all the extra delicious calories, Elsie and I have been spending the afternoons going on adventures. One day we spent a few hours at West Beach. We spent quite some time attempting to identify sandpipers and came to the conclusion we were seeing Semipalmated Plovers, Western Sandpipers, Least Sandpipers and Sanderlings. Sandpipers can be one of the hardest birds to identify correctly in the field and Elsie and I are both trying to improve our ID skill. After watching their behaviour, we spent some time looking at the photos and discussing (and debating!) identification.

Semipalmated Plover

Western Sandpiper attempting lunch

Then yesterday we decided to take a couple kayaks out for a quick paddle around the bay. Elsie had never been in a “kayak with a skirt-thing” before so I was excited to teach her about an activity I truly enjoy. She felt extremely at ease when I told her I have my kayak guide training and that I know five different ways to help her get back into the boat if she fell out 🙂

It felt so good to be out on the calm inlet waters! We got up close looks at the Red-throated Loons we’ve been hearing the past few days and had some fun doing gull identification. Just before finishing our paddle we saw a huge group of jellyfish! They were massive and everywhere – and the water was so calm and clear you could see all the jellyfish way down by the bottom. Couldn’t have asked for a better afternoon adventure!

Kim is a happy kayaker!

Elsie paddling in the bay

Elsie’s Kingly Day

WE CAUGHT A KINGFISHER TODAY!!!! AND IT WAS THE BEST THING EVER!!!!!!!! It was totally fabulous and magical and everything I have ever dreamed it would be!! I’ve been dreaming about banding a Kingfisher for quite a while actually – last year I did an independent research project on their intestinal parasites, and got to age/sex, etc., a lot of dead ones. Ever since BEKIs have topped my list of dream birds-to-band, and I’ve been angling to catch one for months now.

Elsie and her Belted Kingfisher

The morning started out with lots of frustration first though. As Kim and I were opening the last few nets a chattering Kingfisher came buzzing right over my head, at exactly net height. Alas, I failed to catch it, as my net was only half open, and it had flown through the half-closed portion – if only I hadn’t dallied with the Robins earlier it would have been mine!! Kim attempted to soothe my disgruntlement by telling me that if a bird almost hits a net once, it will definitely hit a net soon (I didn’t totally believe her though). I got over the letdown though, and we continued with the morning’s banding, although in my head I was concocting outrageous plans for Kingfisher trapping, including, but not limited to, playback attempts, net cannons, baited nets, or just a realllllly long butterfly net.

 

The morning was slow but sunny, and as the day drew to a close, I was in the middle of furling the forest nets when Kim’s voice came over the radio saying “Guess what I have for you Elsie?”. Needless to say, I started vibrating with excitement almost immediately, and finished closing my nets as fast as is humanly possible before running over to see my bird. I didn’t quite believe it was real until I opened the bag and saw it’s sassy little face staring up at me. There was much jumping (prior to holding the bird, of course), general excitement, and a small amount of squealing before I settled down into banding my first ever Kingfisher!!!!! The timing was perfect, with not other birds to process, and no nets to check I could really savour the moment, and fully appreciate this stunning little bird. He was a beautiful HY male, with some serious personality, he kept his mouth wide open ready to bite anything that came his way, and his mow-hawk raised to it’s most threatening height. It didn’t have quite the intended effect however, while it did make him look all spunky, he was also just adorably cheerful with his wide-mouthed grin.

 

Stunning Belted Kingfisher!!

 

He behaved himself nicely, but also proved to be a bit of a challenge aging-wise. My previous experience with BEKIs have all involved dead birds, most of which didn’t include a date of death, making aging them a bit of a challenge. This young fellow had lots of rufous in his upper breast band, a young-bird trait, and the black markings along the shaft of S6 were thick, both traits of young birds. But his central rectrices had almost no black along the shaft, and looked very much like an older males. Some young birds do molt their tail very early though, and he appears to be one of them.

 

HY Male BEKI wing

BEKI p6 – the amount of black along the shaft indicated an HY bird

Central rectrices (tail feathers) of the BEKI – little black along the shaft indicates these feathers were grown recently as they are more typical of an adult bird, but this Kingfisher was a juvenile!

The Kingfisher was so excited for his band! (Or maybe just wanted to bite the pliers on the table)

He’s as excited as I was!

We became good friends (or he just wanted to bite my face…)

We laughed together

We even posed for pictures together

 

Banding the Belted Kingfisher is probably the highlight of all my time on Hakai so far – they are just such charismatic birds, and I’ve been waiting for this day for so long!!! (And yes Eric, this means if we get one at Buttertubs now it’s all yours!)

 

 

Just look at that band!

 

 

We banded more than just a Kingfisher however (even if he was the most stately fellow to come through our station so far). We had lots more Oregon Juncos, a few Orange-crowned Warblers, and even a Wilson’s Warbler popped into nets today!

 

Cute Wilson’s Warbler

WIWA decided to stick around a bit

 

Also a bit of an oddity was a very dark Song Sparrow – possibly just a strange hypermelanistic morph, but maybe an unusual subspecies? Either way, it definitely stood out, especially when compared to the more typically-plumaged sparrows.

Very dark Song Sparrow

Just a Creeping Around!

Very excited to say Day 1 of banding was a success! It’s always hectic the first day – straightening nets, organizing gear and working out other general kinks. But yesterday went relatively smoothly! We ended the morning with 28 birds – 23 new, 5 recaptures of 10 different species.

The highlight yesterday was capturing a juvenile Brown Creeper. Elsie had never banded one before so she got quite elated when she pulled it out of the bag. As per their name, Creepers like to creep along the tree trunks and branches, gleaning as they go. What’s cool is their tail is super stiff and they use this to balance on the tree. As Elsie points out, this is a fantastic example of convergent evolution with woodpeckers – both groups of birds independently evolved stiff tail feathers.

Elsie with her Brown Creeper

Beautiful Brown Creeper

All our recaptures we caught yesterday were from when Eric and Elsie were here in June. One was a Song Sparrow and the rest were Dark-eyed Juncos (Oregon subspecies).

Elsie with a Song Sparrow she banded earlier this year in June!

Otherwise, it was a pretty relaxing day. The view from where we band are just breathtaking – its amazing watching the sun rise over the ocean. After banding, Elsie and I worked on data entry, did some birding from our balcony, and set up 3 more nets in thicker, salal dominant habitat.

Today was a slow morning. Most of the morning we dealt with ocean mist – needless to say all our books got slightly damp. With now 11 nets opened, we only managed to catch 18 birds – nine of which were recaps. We decided to set up two more nets in a different location in hopes of increasing our captures.

The ravens here however are living up to their stories. They are bold and mischievous. We came back to our banding table after a net round to see a raven pulling dirty bird bags out from under our table. It was throwing them all over the place! It tried leaving with a bag but luckily we were able to coerce him to drop it. Now that the ravens aren’t occupied with breeding and feeding young, they are causing much more trouble than necessary! I am just about to start a book called “Mind of the Raven” by Bernd Heinrich – hopefully that will give me some insight into their devious ways!

Since it’s a nice afternoon, Elsie and I are going to head over to West Beach to enjoy some white sand!

Off to Calvert Island!

Today Elsie and I were on the road by 4:15 am in order to get from Nanaimo to Port Hardy before our 10am boat. We made great time, except for a few “bumps in the road” which included but was not limited to: almost taking the highway back to Nanaimo from Courtney (luckily we caught it in time to make a quick turn-around!), and thinking Zeballos would be a good place for a pit stop – not realizing its an extra ~50km out of the way (luckily we caught that in time too!). Needless to say, after 4.5 hours of driving we made it safely to Port Hardy.

After helping load all the gear onto the boats, we began our journey to Calvert Island! Several other researchers, visitors, and workers were on the boats so it was interesting to hear about all the exciting things we should expect on Calvert. The boat ride took just over 3.5 hours and luckily the water was flat calm for most of the trip – a good portion of the trip was in relatively dense fog though. The wildlife in this area is phenomenal! Not even 20 minutes out of the dock we spotted ~15 orcas a few hundred metres from our boat. I can’t think of a better way to start off a trip through coastal BC waters! Then we saw about six porpoises and even a sea otter floating on its back. AND we haven’t even talked about the birds yet!! We saw hundreds of Common Murre, numerous Rhinoceros Auklets (lifer for Kim!), flocks of Red-necked Phalaropes plus Bald Eagles, kingfishers and gulls galore.

Elsie on West Beach

Finally we arrived at Calvert Island. The accommodations are incredible, the facility is just plain gorgeous and it even boasts white sandy beaches. . . . need I say more! It’s a field worker’s paradise! The afternoon included touring the grounds, finding hidden net lanes, re-organizing equipment and settling in. After a delicious dinner, we set up 8 nets in productive yet easy to manage areas. Elsie and I are very curious as what the bird population will be like here – there are quite a few small birds around and the evening definitely got a bit birdy. There are also quite a number of  ravens hanging around – they already have decided red net bags make great play toys . . . .

View from one of our net lanes!