On September 1st, the Lesser Slave Lake Bird Observatory began its fall owl banding program. While the LSLBO never captures huge numbers of owls, this year had an especially slow start – it wasn’t until September 8th that the first Northern Saw-whet Owl was captured for the year! Pictured: The Northern Saw-whet Owl is one… Read more »
Weekly Reports
August 27 – September 2, 2020
By Robyn Perkins, Bander in Charge September brings the beginning of the Lesser Slave Lake Bird Observatory’s owl migration monitoring program, and with it sleep loss for our banders as they juggle a program that runs nightly (owls) and another that begins at sunrise (songbirds). Concern over our sleep got me wondering how birds sleep… Read more »
August 20 – 26, 2020
With a few busy days scattered amongst those with poor weather which were predictably slower, this week at the Lesser Slave Lake Bird Observatory we’ve banded 557 birds, bringing our total for the fall to 2718 of 52 species. Capturing birds involves more finesse than one might expect. The location of the mist-nets is important…. Read more »
August 13 -19, 2020
The LSLBO has been busy. Although we monitor bird activity daily rain or shine, we can only open the nets we use to capture birds when the weather is calm and warm, which we experienced with this latest glimpse of summer. With good netting coverage, we have banded 511 birds this week, bringing our fall… Read more »
August 6 – 12, 2020
While the past week has forced our nets closed due to high winds and other unfavourable weather, since fall migration started we have been seeing an influx of young birds eager to head south as soon as possible. We’ve also finally finished the Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship (MAPS) program for this season. With stations… Read more »
July 29 – Aug 5, 2020
By Sachiko Schott LSLBO Assistant Bander At migration monitoring stations like the LSLBO, birds that are captured are tallied in one of two categories each day: birds that were banded, and birds that were recaptured. A banded bird is a one that is captured and banded that day, while recaptured birds are those that are… Read more »
July 23 – 29, 2020
by Laura Brandon, Lesser Slave Lake Bird Observatory Although many of us are just starting our summer vacations, birds are already on the move during the third week of fall migration monitoring. In total, we’ve banded 826 birds from 34 species so far this season, the majority of which have been Tennessee warblers and yellow… Read more »
July 17 – 23, 2020
This was the second week of fall migration monitoring for the Lesser Slave Lake Bird Observatory. We are actively observing songbirds as they leave the breeding grounds on an arduous journey with the reward of a warm, insect rich winter spent in southern climes. Despite the slow start to bird movements last week, this week’s… Read more »
July 9 – 16, 2020
By Robyn Perkins, LSLBO Bander-in-Charge Despite summer just beginning for many people, the Lesser Slave Lake Bird Observatory launched its Fall Migration Monitoring program on July 12. This is the time of year where songbirds hatched a month ago begin trickling away from their hatching grounds while their parents stick around to replace old feathers… Read more »
July 2 – 8, 2020
By Bronwyn Robinson, Field Assistant Perhaps you are familiar with the nasally weh-weh-weh of a red-breasted nuthatch whisking up a tree trunk. They’re quite small and, in my humble opinion, shaped similarly to a thumb. We often get these fellows at the observatory. They don’t usually migrate, but if food becomes scarce they might all move at… Read more »
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Lesser Slave Lake Bird Observatory Society![]()
SPECIAL MEETING![]()
Date: Wednesday, March 15, 2023![]()
Time: 4 pm![]()
Place: Boreal Centre for Bird Conservation or ZOOM![]()
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A Special Meeting of the members has been called to approve new Bylaws for the Lesser Slave Lake Bird Observatory Society. ![]()
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Please RSVP for the Special Meeting by emailing info@lslbo.org or phoning 780-849-8240. A copy of the proposed bylaws as well as the ZOOM link for the meeting will be provided with your RSVP.
Last summer, the LSLBO completed our 29th year of avian population monitoring at Lesser Slave Lake. It is always incredible how much our team at the station accomplishes each year, so check out all the highlights in our 2022 ANNUAL REPORT. ![]()
www.lslbo.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Annual-Report-2022.pdf![]()
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Thank you to Robyn Perkins, Bronwyn Robinson, and Nola Sheets for all their hard work last season. And of course, thank you to all of our amazing supporters who help make all of this possible: Alberta Conservation Association, West Fraser, Vanderwell, Tolko Industries Ltd., Alberta Parks, Environment and Climate Change, TC Energy, Canada Summer Jobs, and all of our LSLBO members, staff and volunteers.
Have you ever wondered what our LSLBO Bander in Charge does in the winter season? There is always a lot of program planning and paperwork, but sometimes Robyn gets to do some pretty cool things like helping to collect data for an owl research project. Awesome field day!