Summer has just begun, but we are already seeing signs of fall for the birds. During our MAPS program, some adults are already beginning their flight feather moult in preparation for migration. While we’ve only caught a few fledglings so far, we hear them begging and see parents stuffing their bills with insects as these… Read more »
Weekly Reports
June 26 – July 2, 2025
The Lesser Slave Lake Bird Observatory is now over halfway done our Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship (MAPS) program as the forest comes alive with fledglings. To not keep all their eggs in one basket for too long, baby songbirds purposefully leave the nest, or fledge, well before they are truly independent. Well-meaning people may… Read more »
June 19 – 25, 2025
The Lesser Slave Lake Bird Observatory is busy monitoring breeding birds, as well as insects and spiders with relatively new arthropod surveys started in 2021. Once per ten-day period during beat-sheet surveys, a square sheet is held under a branch which is hit exactly ten times to shake insects off which we identify and count…. Read more »
June 12 – 18, 2025
It is currently peak breeding season and we at the Lesser Slave Lake Bird Observatory (LSLBO) are hard at work capturing, banding and observing those birds breeding in the area. In the Boreal Forest alone, 325 bird species nest and raise their broods over the summer, and over half of those are small songbirds who… Read more »
June 5 – 11, 2025
The forest around the Lesser Slave Lake Bird Observatory (LSLBO) is alive with insects and flowers, and flushed with green leaves on plants that were barren a month ago. But our favourite signs of life are the birdsongs that ring out from the forest letting us know nearly everyone who will spend the summer with… Read more »
May 29 – June 4, 2025
The Lesser Slave Lake Bird Observatory’s spring migration monitoring program continues to wind down. Only a handful of species including Cedar Waxwings, Mourning Warblers, and Alder Flycatchers are still passing through, although recent encounters with a Short-billed Gull (formerly Mew Gull) and an American Pipit were exceptionally late in the season for some excitement. With… Read more »
May 22 – 28, 2025
The story of the birds this spring for the Lesser Slave Lake Bird Observatory is “it has been slow”. With 405 birds banded so far, we are well on our way to experiencing one of the slowest years for captures. We have just beat 2011 which caught 360 birds before the station was evacuated on… Read more »
May 16 – 21, 2025
Like last year, I, Nicole Krikun, am making a special guest appearance to write about my and Richard’s Birdathon run. For those of you who do not know or remember us, Richard was the Bander-in-Charge and I was the Assistant Bander at the LSLBO for many years. Although I no longer work with birds, I… Read more »
May 8 – 15, 2025
Spring has arrived in the boreal forest which filled with the melodies of songbirds this week at the Lesser Slave Lake Bird Observatory. Many of our short distance migrants have established their breeding territories or have become rare as they travel to different habitats or farther north. Replacing them has been our long-distance migrants with… Read more »
April 16 – May 7, 2025
The Lesser Slave Lake Bird Observatory began Spring Migration Monitoring on April 16. Our goal is to count every bird on-site over the morning. Part of this program involves capturing birds to mark them as individuals with a metal leg band. After banding, we can tell a specific chickadee apart from all the chickadees in… Read more »
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These species may not share colours, sizes, families, habitats, diets, migration or breeding strategies, but they do share something. Find out what: www.lslbo.org/weekly-banding-reports/june-26-july-2-2025/![]()
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*Birds are handled by professionals and released unharmed as permitted by federal and provincial authorities.*
Did you know birds aren't the only wildlife we monitor in the summer? We also contribute to Caterpillars Count! - an international citizen science project to document changes in arthropod abundances and seasonal timing. Although not the namesake of this program, one of the groups that fascinates us most is the spiders who display sexual dimorphism like some birds!![]()
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Read more: www.lslbo.org/weekly-banding-reports/june-19-25-2025/![]()
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Caterpillars Count! caterpillarscount.unc.edu/
Did you know a single male Yellow Warbler may have around 15 distinct songs he will alternate between for specific situations? Learn more at: www.lslbo.org/weekly-banding-reports/june-12-18-2025/