Well it is official, fall migration has blown away, literally; the last few days of monitoring were some of the windiest we have seen all season. Unfortunately the windy days prevented us from being able to get the nets open as often as we should have been able to so we didn’t quite hit the total of 1900 that I had predicted. All-in-all we ended up with a season total of 1874 of 53 species which still makes this the busiest fall banding season since 2006. The top five banded species didn’t present any surprises, except one. Four of them were expected species, but one was a species that hasn’t seen the top charts in many years. Species number one was the same as it is almost every year – the myrtle warbler with 370, the second, third and fourth most banded species were ovenbird (297), Swainson’s thrush (252) and Tennessee warbler (147). The bird in fifth place was the surprise, it was the black-capped chickadee with 105 banded. It is a shame the wind prevented us from achieving full net-hours and letting us catch even more birds; during the last few days chickadees continued to move through in huge flocks and given one or two more calm days we probably could have broken their season record of 128 that was set in 2000. There were two other species that did break their record seasons, though, and that was the sharp-shinned hawk and the Swainson’s thrush. The previous sharpie record was 40 set back in 2009, this year we banded 50. We didn’t observe or catch any new species for the observatory this season but there were a couple new species for me; I got to band my first common grackle and Le Conte’s sparrow. The end of fall migration is always so bittersweet. It is sad knowing that the field season is over and we will be resigned to the office, in Richard’s case, and a yet undecided new job, in my case. As sad as it is to no longer be out in the field – I can’t be too sad since when I look out the window right now I see snow blowing sideways in the wind. One of the highest highlights of the fall happened during saw-whet owl monitoring. After 9 years of netting for owls we finally caught a boreal owl! The boreal owl looks very similar to the northern saw-whet owl but it is a bit larger and has slightly different facial markings. Boreal owls breed further north, preferring forests that are predominately coniferous and aren’t as strongly migratory as the saw-whets. When we first started the owl monitoring program we expected to catch loads of boreals and were mystified that they eluded us for so long. Especially since almost every other station that monitors saw-whets catches the occasional boreal owl. Even the station near Edmonton that is in probably the most unsuitable boreal habitat catches one or two of these owls every year. Needless to say, this little owl generated a lot of excitement.
Weekly Banding Reports
- September 28 – October 3, 2023
- September 21 – 27, 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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