Hooray! The birds have arrived! The diversity of species around the lab this week has exploded. Yellow warbler, black-and-white warbler, Lincoln’s sparrow, white-throated sparrow, Swainson’s thrush, least flycatcher, and western tanager, just to name a few, have arrived and are exuberantly advertising their presence with song. With an increase in birds in the area, we are starting to see some better banding totals. This makes more than just us banders happy, the educators at the Boreal Centre are also very glad to hear it since they are bringing school groups out for tours on an almost daily basis. The educators do a fantastic job whether or not we catch a bird, but being able to show students what we do is far more exciting than just hearing about it and we love fostering an appreciation of birds in young people. In the words of one impressed teenager who came out “I thought this would be a lame field trip, but birds are totally legit!” I had a winning moment this week. A few years back I was birding on Marten Mountain in the spring and saw a yellow-bellied sapsucker that was still in its juvenile plumage – something it should have moulted out of over the winter. A certain other birder didn’t entirely believe what I ‘thought’ I saw. The other day I caught a sapsucker in juvenile plumage. Solid proof that it happens. I Win. Besides that bit of fun, the highlight capture this week was a blackpoll warbler. We catch some of these warblers during fall when they are in their non-descript juvenile plumage, but it is uncommon for us to catch an adult male in its breeding plumage. Blackpoll warblers are a true wonder of the avian kingdom. They have the longest migration of any songbird in North America: an up to 19,000 km round-trip. In the spring they fly over land from Venezuela to northwest Canada and Alaska to breed but as arduous of a journey as that is, it pales in comparison to their fall migration. In the fall, blackpolls leave their breeding grounds and rather than fly south they head east, all the way to the Maritime Provinces. Once they are there, they bulk up for a few weeks and then fly out over the ocean in the general direction of Africa. Around Bermuda, they are swept up by the trade winds and blown into South America. For three days, they fly over 3000 km of open-ocean unable to stop to eat or rest at all. Any bird that isn’t strong enough will fall into the ocean and perish. When I know what these birds go through just to come up here to breed it makes me feel even more passionate about doing everything in my power to help them. Blackpoll warblers primarily nest in black spruce forests and bogs dominated by alder and willow. Both of these habitat types are sensitive to disturbances and take a long time to restore themselves if they are destroyed or altered. I, for one, hope that there will always be a home for blackpoll warblers in our northern forests.
Weekly Banding Reports
- September 28 – October 3, 2023
- September 21 – 27, 2023
- September 14 – 20, 2023
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- August 31 – September 6, 2023
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4 days ago
29th Annual Slave Lake Christmas Bird Count is coming soon
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 17th ![]()
Join us next Sunday for a fun day of winter birding around Slave Lake. Our goal - to count as many birds in Slave Lake as we can in one day! Don't worry if you are not an expert birder. We work in teams so you will have the chance to learn some tips from our more experienced participants. This annual census of winter bird populations will take place in over 2000 locations over the holiday season and it is the longest running Citizen Science program in North America. ![]()
Even if you can't join us, you can still help us out. Send in your tips on the locations of the busy bird feeders around town. Or keep track of the birds that visit your backyard feeder that day and send in your data. ![]()
To sign up for the Slave Lake Christmas Bird Count, contact us at 780-849-8240 or email info@borealbirdcentre.ca. We would love to have you join us! ![]()
Not from Slave Lake? Check out the CBC map at Birds Canada for a count near you!
www.birdscanada.org/bird-science/christmas-bird-count
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3 weeks ago
LESSER SLAVE LAKE BIRD OBSERVATORY SOCIETY![]()
NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
5:00 pm. December 7th, 2023
Location: Boreal Centre for Bird Conservation. ![]()
All members and supporters of the Lesser Slave Lake Bird Observatory Society are invited to attend our upcoming Annual General Meeting on Thursday, December 7th, 2023. ![]()
The meeting will take place at the Boreal Centre for Bird Conservation. However, members will be able to attend the AGM virtually via ZOOM if they have pre-registered for the meeting. ![]()
PLEASE RSVP to Patti Campsall, LSLBO Executive Director via email at executive.director@borealbirdcentre.ca or you can also phone 780-849-8240![]()
Meeting ZOOM link, AGM Agenda and other meeting documents will be send out prior to the meeting to all registered attendees.![]()
Interested in becoming more involved in the LSLBO or joining our Board of Directors? Please contact Patti Campsall to find out all the ways you can help support our programs!
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2 months ago
As we wrapped up 30 years of bird banding at the LSLBO this fall, Robyn Perkins, - LSLBO Bander in Charge shared some of her fall migration experiences with the CBC Radio Active show last week. Wonderful job Robyn!
www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-52/clip/16014728
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