June 2 – 8, 2022

Posted | filed under Weekly Reports.

This week has been surprisingly busy for the Lesser Slave Lake Bird Observatory’s spring migration monitoring program with 318 birds banded between June 2 and 8. Although we are capturing expected numbers of late season migrants, such as Canada Warblers, Alder Flycatchers, and even a rare Connecticut Warbler, our nets have also seen unusually high… Read more »

May 26 – June 1, 2022

Posted | filed under Weekly Reports.

Though the air is filled with birdsong as Tennessee Warblers and White-Throated Sparrows compete for loudest voice in the boreal forest, migration has continued to slow this week at the Lesser Slave Lake Bird Observatory (LSLBO). While slow, the trickle of birds in the mist nets has brought our organization to a milestone on May… Read more »

May 19 – 25, 2022

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On May 18 Team Tanager went out for their big day to see as many species as possible for the Great Canadian Birdathon. Teammates Wayne Bowles, Robyn Perkins, Bronwyn Robinson, and first-timer Nola Sheets spent the morning at the migration monitoring station before heading out to tour a few hotspots around town. In total, they… Read more »

May 12 – 18, 2022

Posted | filed under Weekly Reports.

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 »

May 5 – 11, 2022

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

Posted | filed under Weekly Reports.

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 »