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Archived Postings

May 29, 2006 – June 4, 2006

May 29th to June 4, 2006 We have arrived to the second last week of spring migration monitoring at the LSLBO. The signs that spring migration is nearing its end are becoming very apparent. The first sign is that no visual passage of migrants is occurring. There are more deer, beavers, bears, and chipmunks seen on the visual migration counts than migrating birds. The second sign is that the birds singing along the census route are the same ones singing in the same locations almost everyday. This indicates that those individuals have established nesting territories. The third sign is the increase of birds captured that have already been banded this season. These poor birds have set up territories near the netlanes and are getting caught quite frequently, sometimes daily. The fourth sign is that many of the birds captured are in breeding condition; they have either brood patches or cloacal protuberances. Some of the females are even showing egg development. The fifth sign is that the lake is quiet. There have been very few observations of waterfowl in front of the banding station; they are too busy with their nesting duties to be able to have their casual float past the lab. But migration has not ended! New birds are still arriving at the banding station. 130 birds were banded this week with a good number of alder flycatchers captured as the week came to an end. Alder flycatchers are late migrants to the area and it was expected to see a push of them this late in the season. Only two new species were captured in the nets: red-eyed vireo and house wren. Only one more week of spring migration coverage remains before we switch gears into the summer breeding monitoring programs. On June 3rd and 4th the BCBC/LSLBO celebrated the 2006 Songbird Festival. The Songbird Festival coincided with the grand opening ceremonies of the Boreal Center for Bird Conservation (BCBC). The weekend started with a volunteer appreciation ceremony that recognized the contributions of the people that made the BCBC and its programs a reality. The Songbird Festival occurred on the 3rd. Visitors were welcomed with tours of the new Center, activities at the canter, and guided birding hikes to the banding lab. The weather was far from ideal (with rain and strong winds), but most of the visitors to the banding station did see birds in hand. One group even saw a peregrine falcon. A very good sighting indeed. The last day of the Songbird Festival was the ribbon cutting ceremony to announce that the BCBC is officially open. The weekend was a success and congratulations to everyone involved for their hard work in making it that way.

2010