This week has been unusually slow and quiet for the Lesser Slave Lake Bird Observatory. Many of the species which breed north of us and migrate early in the spring have already moved on with only a few stragglers left. However, many of the later migrants have yet to arrive. Most years, this week is… Read more »
Weekly Reports
May 5 – 11, 2022
After all the snow, rain, and generally cold weather this last week, not much has been recorded moving through the station and even less has been caught as the nets were mostly frozen shut. The wind has pushed the lake ice against the shore, closing off what little open water we had and severely limiting… Read more »
April 18 – May 4, 2022
On April 18, the Lesser Slave Lake Bird Observatory began its 29th year of monitoring when we started documenting spring migration for 2022. As many will have noticed, the beautiful, warm weather which melted much of the snow at the start of April did not last and it has been rather cold with rainy and… Read more »
September 23 – 30, 2021
As September draws to a close, so too does the LSLBO’s third record-breaking fall season in a row. In total we have banded 5,336 birds of 66 species, smashing last year’s total of 3,966! The top five species banded this fall were: Tennessee Warbler, Myrtle Warbler, Swainson’s Thrush, American Redstart, and Ovenbird. All five of… Read more »
September 16 – 22, 2021
The torrent of migrants that the LSLBO was experiencing earlier in the season has slowed considerably. Our season-to-date total now sits at 5,273 birds banded of sixty-three species, and we have been capturing less than twenty birds a day, most of them Myrtle Warblers and Slate-coloured Juncos. As the leaves continue to change colour and… Read more »
September 9 – 15, 2021
This past week of migration monitoring at the LSLBO has been frequently interrupted by high winds, but even during the waning days of fall migration, new species continue to arrive. Many of the birds that we are currently seeing around the station are short- or medium-distance migrants who winter in southern Canada or the United… Read more »
September 2 – 8, 2021
For the second time this fall, the LSLBO has received word of one of our banded birds being recovered elsewhere. This time, a young Swainson’s Thrush captured on July 27 was reported in Humboldt, Saskatchewan on August 30. It was not easy for the finder to determine its species, however, because they recovered only a… Read more »
August 26 – September 1, 2021
When a bird is banded, it receives a leg band that is stamped with a unique number allowing it to be identified as an individual. However, the odds that a given bird will be seen again are very small: think of how many birds there are in North America, and how few bird banders! A… Read more »
August 19 – 25, 2021
Fall migration has been looking rather different at the LSLBO this week. Instead of the Tennessee Warblers that have been so numerous for so long, recently we have seen an increase in Swainson’s Thrushes – another one of our most banded species. They are one of several different thrush species that we band here at… Read more »
August 12 – 18, 2021
Despite the often windy and sometimes raining weather hampering bird activity and frequently keeping our mist-nets closed, it has been an exciting week for the Lesser Slave Lake Bird Observatory. Tennessee Warblers continue to migrate south in large flocks and with 1,160 banded so far, we are creeping closer to banding almost double the previous… Read more »