By Danika Wack- Boreal Educator Fall migration has officially begun! By the time you read this article, the Lesser Slave Lake Bird Observatory will be close to wrapping up our MAPS breeding bird program and our field staff will soon be able to focus solely on the birds that have already started heading south. While… Read more »
Weekly Reports
July 13 – 19, 2023
Fall migration monitoring has officially begun! The warblers are beginning to move past the station including Tennessee Warblers, Yellow Warblers, and Myrtle Warblers. We are also observing many juvenile birds getting ready to depart the boreal forest plus 200 Tree Sparrows were spotted migrating overhead after the heavy rain last week. Although it seems like… Read more »
July 6 to 12, 2023
Things are getting busy at the Lesser Slave Lake Bird Observatory with the start up of the Fall Migration Monitoring Program on July 12th. While some birds are already showing signs of migratory behaviour, many birds around the station are still actively raising their families as we finish up our MAPS program (Monitoring Avian Productivity… Read more »
June 29 – July 5, 2023
The Lesser Slave Lake Bird Observatory contains breeding territory of five species of woodpeckers: Hairy, Downy, Pileated, American Three-toed, and Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. While we see plenty of them during their migrations (yes, some woodpeckers migrate like songbirds), Yellow-shafted Flickers rarely set up breeding territories near our sites. Indeed, prior to this year, we had never… Read more »
June 22 – 28, 2023
As we reach the peak of summer, it will not be long until we see young birds taking their first unsteady flaps from their home nest. As mentioned last week, some early nesters such as Black-capped Chickadees have already done so. Young birds still in the nest are called “nestlings”, and those old enough to… Read more »
June 15 – 21, 2023
After completing Spring Migration Monitoring on June 10, the Lesser Slave Lake Bird Observatory is now well underway with the next of our core monitoring programs: Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship (MAPS). MAPS studies locally breeding songbirds by capturing them at four sites in the Lesser Slave Lake Provincial Park. Currently we are banding adults… Read more »
June 8 – 14, 2023
June 10 was the final day of Spring Migration Monitoring for the Lesser Slave Lake Bird Observatory. It was an unusual end for the season because a Cougar was spotted too close for comfort and we decided to pack it in a little early. Aside from the abnormal Cougar encounter, hot temperatures, thick smoke, and… Read more »
June 1 – 7, 2023
With most of spring migration complete, the Lesser Slave Lake Bird Observatory is shifting gears to prepare for our breeding-focused projects beginning next week. Few species are still on the move. Yet, among the usual late migrating Alder Flycatchers, Mourning Warblers, and Canada Warblers have been a couple infrequent migrants with little in common with… Read more »
May 25 – 31, 2023
It has been a slow week at the Lesser Slave Lake Bird Observatory as we pass the peak in songbird migration. Only a handful of species are still moving, including Cedar Waxwings, Mourning Warblers, Alder Flycatchers, and Red-eyed Vireos. While most of our time is spent watching the skies and forests to document movements, the… Read more »
May 18 – 24, 2023
On May 17, Team Tanager of the Lesser Slave Lake Bird Observatory participated in the Great Canadian Birdathon fundraiser. Teammates Wayne Bowles, Robyn Perkins, Bronwyn Robinson, and first-timer Sarahanne Thompson spent the morning at the migration monitoring station before heading out to tour a few hotspots nearby. The bird observatory did quite well with 73… Read more »
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The early migrants are arriving in Slave Lake with sightings of Juncos, American tree sparrows, and our first robin this week. So that means our own Robyn will be starting up the Spring Migration Monitoring program at the station soon. ![]()
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If you would like to support our amazing team and bird conservation programs, you can send a donation to our Team Tanager in the Great Canadian Birdathon! ![]()
www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/Birds_Canada/p2p/birdathon24/team/lesser-slave-lake-bird-observa...
Are you looking for a unique fieldtrip for your students this spring? Check out our hands-on programs for students from Grade 1 to post secondary. Just a reminder that we are only able to offer these programs during the spring migration season from mid May to June 10th. So call soon as dates are booking up fast. ![]()
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Interested in knowing more about what a bird observatory tour is like? Check out our LSLBO Video tour: ![]()
www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qOPibmMQaU
Friday (Feb 16) is the LAST DAY to apply for our MIGRATION FIELD ASSISTANT position at the LSLBO!![]()
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If you have good birding skills and want to gain more hands-on field experience in the world of avian migration monitoring, visit our job board for more information on this rewarding position: ![]()
www.lslbo.org/job-opportunities/migration-field-assistant/