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 »
Posts Tagged: spring migration monitoring
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 11 – 17, 2023
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
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
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 »
Migration Monitoring Volunteers
June 9 – 15, 2022
As June 10 concluded, so too did the 2022 Spring Migration Monitoring program at the Lesser Slave Lake Bird Observatory. With daily coverage since April 18, arrivals and migration peaks have been documented for 160 bird species. Although bird movements began slow-steady with a few sparrow rushes early in the monitoring period, there was a… Read more »
June 2 – 8, 2022
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
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 »
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Fall owl banding has been relatively slow, but it has been exciting including the recent recapture of a Northern Saw-whet Owl originally banded last October near Saskatoon. While migrating at night has many advantages, light pollution may have seriously impacted this little owls journey to the LSLBO. Find out more in our latest weekly report! ![]()
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www.lslbo.org/weekly-banding-reports/september-21-27-2023/![]()
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Image: Two capture locations for this Northern Saw-whet Owl with the light pollution levels in our area. ![]()
Map data obtained from lightpollutionmap.info
There has been another thrilling capture and it did indeed have long hind claws. These claws are hard to see when the bird is not in-the-hand, but they are this family's namesake. To discover who we banded read our weekly report: www.lslbo.org/weekly-banding-reports/september-14-20-2023/
It's that time of year again where we become night owls to capture these little owls! We have been running our owl migration monitoring program for two weeks now and it has been off to a slow start with half as many captures as this time last year. Read more: www.lslbo.org/weekly-banding-reports/september-7-13-2023/