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Archived Postings

May 7, 2009 – May 13, 2009

The second week of May at the LSLBO saw peaks and lows in bird migration, but overall it was an interesting week from a birders perspective. Several days early in the week had heavy migration passage as hundreds of birds from a wide variety of species were counted in a matter of hours. One of the most obvious migrant species were yellow-rumped warblers, whose daily totals reached 700 on two occasions. Greater white-fronted geese were also on the migration move and their numbers reached a season high of 7000 on a single morning. But when migration wave ended we were left with a couple of days with only a handful birds flying overhead. Even though it seemed quiet, things were still happening. This was apparent because of all the new species that showed up. We observed our first least flycatcher, gray-cheeked thrush, Swainson’s thrush, Tennessee warbler, orange-crowned warbler, Cape May warbler, yellow warbler, palm warbler, black-and-white warbler, chipping sparrow, vesper sparrow, and white-throated sparrow. The ever growing species diversity means that a species can be seen at anytime. You have to stay sharp and be prepared for the unexpected. I was sharp and prepared. I wasn’t expecting a snowstorm. One of the keys to successful migration is energy efficiency. Birds tend to avoid migrating in bad weather because the energy costs are too high. A heavy snowstorm will ground migrating birds. This usually happens in late April- a dump of snow followed by bazillions of juncos pecking at the lawn or clearing out feeders. Mid-May snowstorms are less common and it was amazing to see the numbers and diversity of species that were grounded. We left the banding station just as the heavy snowfall began. Nearly every bird we counted flying north earlier in the morning before the snow had turned around and began flying south. This mass reverse migration displayed a general contempt for the current weather situation and the birds flight calls were likely filled with nasty curses. The roads and fields around the Boreal Centre were covered in hundreds of foraging birds. Most were white-crowned sparrows, but a host of other sparrows, warblers and thrushes joined them. All these birds were busy scrounging for food and were looking rather miserable. But they needed to find the food to maintain the energy reserves for the rest of their migration. Here comes a shameless plug. On May 23, the LSLBO banders are going on a hunt. Our mission is to find as many bird species as possible in 24 hours. We have formed a team for the Baillie Bird-a-Thon. This is a fundraiser that supports migration monitoring programs at the LSLBO and bird conservation projects of Bird Studies Canada. Unfortunately, a joke name for our Baillie team has stuck, we are now officially called Team Bander Awesomeness or TBA. Yes, its corny, but strangely fitting. If you are interested in supporting TBA, please contact the Boreal Centre at 780-849-8240 for more information. It should be a fun day.

2010