Weekly Reports

May 25 – 31, 2023

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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

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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 »

May 11 – 17, 2023

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Many of our locally breeding migratory bird species were detected for the first time this past week. These species included Blue-headed Vireos, Least Flycatchers, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Western Tanagers (our mascot), Swainson’s Thrushes, Magnolia Warblers, Tennessee Warblers, and Ovenbirds. We are excited to hear a diversity of warblers’ songs joining in with the local sparrows and… Read more »

May 4 – 10, 2023

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For the Lesser Slave Lake Bird Observatory (LSLBO), this past week has been unusual in a few ways. Some species seem to be late to arrive despite the unseasonably warm temperatures which have encouraged the trees to leaf out early. It’s hard to believe that this time last year it was snowing! As well, early… Read more »

April 17 – May 3, 2023

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Spring avian migration monitoring began at the Lesser Slave Lake Bird Observatory on April 17, 2023 for our 29th year of standardized monitoring. While we were excited to see the snow melted enough that our shovels were not needed to dig out the netlanes, the warm weather did not deliver us the rush of early… Read more »

September 29 – October 5, 2022

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In the Lesser Slave Lake Bird Observatory’s final article of the year, we look back at our Fall Migration Monitoring season. Every day, rain or shine, between July 12 and September 30 we were able to document bird movements at our monitoring site approximately 15 km north of town. Over these 81 days, we recorded… Read more »

September 22 – 28, 2022

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We are one month into our owl migration monitoring program studying two very small owl species: Northern Saw-whet Owls and Boreal Owls. Saw-whets are roughly the size of a pop can and Boreals are only a little larger. Each night our nets are opened and a speaker is set playing each species’ songs to attract… Read more »

September 15 – 21, 2022

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With many of our long-distance migrants already departed, this week was generally slow for the Lesser Slave Lake Bird Observatory (LSLBO) with one exception: after days of rain and high winds, the nice weather on September 20 provided this year’s busiest day in the nets with 231 captures as birds foraged to make up for… Read more »

September 8 – 14, 2022

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With less than two weeks remaining, the end of songbird migration monitoring is fast approaching for the Lesser Slave Lake Bird Observatory. Although a few large foraging flocks produced two days of over 120 captures each, activity has begun to diminish as the second wave of Myrtle Warblers wanes. Only a few early migrants linger… Read more »

September 1 – 7, 2022

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With thousands more birds overhead and a day of 202 birds in the nets, September began busy for the Lesser Slave Lake Bird Observatory. The vast majority of these observations were Myrtle Warblers, but they were joined by a handful of Orange-crowned Warblers, Palm Warblers, Cedar Waxwings, and what was likely the last of the… Read more »