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Archived Postings

May 9, 2005 – May 15, 2005

May 9 – May 15, 2005 This week had an amazing start. There were birds everywhere! Birds were flying by faster than you could count them at some points during the morning. Migration was in full swing on the 9th with a massive movement of Tree Swallows (208 counted), Yellow-rumped Warblers (362), Blackbirds (203), and Chipping Sparrows (84). Large numbers of Greater White-fronted Geese (604) and Long-tailed Ducks (135) forced the banders to shift their gaze from the sky to the lake a few times. Despite this flurry of activity only 14 birds were banded this day, the majority of migrants were flying too high for the nets. The heavy movement lasted only one day. Passage was no more than a trickle for the remainder of the week. The curious thing about migration is that birds move in waves. There really is no method of predicting when the next big wave of migrants will pass through. When conditions are right the birds will move. When the conditions are right the banders will be there to try to catch them. Banding was slow to with only 102 birds banded this week; including the first Gray-cheeked Thrush, Black-and-white Warbler, Western Palm Warbler, White-throated Sparrow, and Chipping Sparrow of 2005. New sightings of the week included: American-white Pelicans, Broad-winged Hawks, Spotted Sandpipers, Common Terns, Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, Least Flycatchers, Blue-headed Vireos, Yellow Warblers, Black-throated Green Warblers, Ovenbirds, Western Tanagers, and Rose-breasted Grosbeaks. With all these new species arriving, the morning chorus of breeding calls is becoming quite busy. A new species was added onto the LSLBO’s checklist on May 15th. Jeff Manchak, the Lesser Slave Lake Provincial Park’s Visitor Services Specialist and fellow bird enthusiast, happened to hear and see a Rock Wren along the shoreline. Rock Wrens are commonly found in the badlands of southern Alberta. This sighting brings the total number of species observed at the LSLBO to 244.

2010