TORONTO BIRD OBSERVATORY

Transcription

1 TORONTO BIRD OBSERVATORY NEWSLETTER Volume 26, Issue 1 August 2003 Editor s Note: Paolo Viola is a member of the TRCA staff at Tommy Thompson Park. Paolo was instrumental in setting up and running the station for the spring season. This article is excerpted from Paolo s very detailed season report written for the TRCA. The spring of 2003 is hard to qualify with just one word. It started off, a bit late, with the expected precipitation and reluctantly rising temperatures of a normal April. May, on the other hand, saw the warming trend stall, and most of the month felt like an extended April with lingering cold and wet conditions. This had the effect of stopping the passage of migrants. Several early migrating species had already gone through before the nets were first opened and it would be a while before signif- Spring Season 2003 by Paolo Viola Canada Banded at TTP Bird Research Station icant numbers would show up again. The early part of the month saw a trickle of birds. By late May, the weather finally improved and birds long delayed were in a rush to get to breeding grounds. Some species were recorded in unusually good numbers well into the first week of June. This trial season at Tommy Thompson Park (TTP) ended with a total of 870 birds banded of 66 species over 30 days from May 3 rd to June 8 th (see table on page 2). April Although no banding occurred through April, observations of migrants were noted while working on site. Early migrants were already present at the beginning of the month. By mid-april, Northern Flicker, American Robin and Hermit Thrush numbers were increasing while the first few Ruby-crowned Kinglets and Yellow- (Continued on page 5) Table of Contents Spring 2003 Banding Totals 2 Spring Coverage and Volunteers 4 Report from the TBO Board 3 Announcements 7 TBO Newsletter, Volume 26, Issue 1 1 August 2003

2 Banding Totals - Tommy Thompson Park Spring 2003 Species Banded Recaptured Foreign Recaptures Total Yellow-shafted Flicker Eastern Kingbird Great Crested Flycatcher Eastern Phoebe Eastern Wood-Pewee Yellow-bellied Flycatcher Traill's Flycatcher Least Flycatcher European Starling Brown-headed Cowbird Red-winged Blackbird Baltimore Oriole Common Grackle American Goldfinch Savannah Sparrow Eastern White-crowned Sparrow White-throated Sparrow Chipping Sparrow Field Sparrow Song Sparrow Lincoln's Sparrow Swamp Sparrow Eastern Towhee Northern Cardinal Rose-breasted Grosbeak Indigo Bunting Scarlet Tanager Barn Swallow Tree Swallow Bank Swallow Northern Rough-winged Swallow Red-eyed Vireo Philadelphia Vireo Warbling Vireo Species Banded Recaptured Foreign Recaptures Total Black-and-White Nashville Orange-crowned Tennessee Yellow Black-throated Blue Myrtle Magnolia Chestnut-sided Bay-breasted Blackpoll Blackburnian Black-throated Green Western Palm Ovenbird Northern Waterthrush Mourning Common Yellowthroat Wilson's Canada American Redstart Gray Catbird Brown Thrasher House Wren Black-capped Chickadee Ruby-crowned Kinglet Wood Thrush Veery Gray-cheeked Thrush Swainson's Thrush Hermit Thrush American Robin Total TBO Newsletter, Volume 26, Issue 1 2 August 2003

3 This past spring marked the beginning of a new adventure for TBO! In November of last year, the Board went to the membership to get their input on moving the location of the bird observatory to the Leslie Street Spit/ Tommy Thompson Park, and forming a partnership with the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA). This was after the Board considered the several challenges involved with making Mugg s Island a fulltime banding station that could meet Canadian Migration Monitoring Network (CMMN) standards, including vegetation changes, access, fluctuating volunteers and of course the ants. After getting a positive response from the membership at the November 23, 2002 meeting, the Board and representatives from the TRCA met several times to pursue this opportunity. The Spring 2003 season was our first pilot season of the new location at the Spit and a partnership with the TRCA to operate the bird observatory. Report from the TBO Board by Sandra Znajda Sign on the banding lab Although the Spring season got off to a bit of a late start we operated for mainly the month of May both in terms of the numbers and species of birds that were banded and the successful co-operation between the two organisations, the Spit suggests to be a promising location for monitoring bird migration in the Greater Toronto Area. Although it was sad not to see our old friend Mugg s this spring, the improved access resulted in a steady flow of members and volunteers helping out at the station, even during the week! We d like to extend a special thanks to everyone who came and helped out this spring! After reviewing the results from the spring, TBO and TRCA have decided to increase the operation time this fall, and run the station for the full 10 weeks. TBO and TRCA have recently jointly hired a bander to increase coverage at the station for this time period. Dan Derbyshire, who has extensive banding experience in locations ranging from Thunder Cape and Innis Point to Tortuguero in Costa Rica, will be banding at the station 6 days a week for the Fall season. We all look forward to working with Dan, and we hope to see even more members and volunteers come out and help with the station this fall. The Board will continue to keep members up to date on the plans and partnership negotiations after reviewing this Fall season. In terms of other Board news, there has been some changing of the guards for the 2003/2004 year. We unfortunately lost Lori Nichols to the call of a year full of adventure, climbing and caving, but we can t wait to hear all of her stories when she returns. I have taken over the position of Chair, and I only hope that I can fill the big shoes Lori has left behind! We also would like to welcome Richard Joos and Ian Sturdee to the Board. In addition to being occupied with testing out the new site and new partnership, the Board will be pursuing other tasks such as continuing to apply for grants to help fund the operation of the observatory. Thanks to your continued participation and help this year, and we look forward to a great Fall season! TBO Newsletter, Volume 26, Issue 1 3 August 2003

4 Spring Coverage and Volunteers Date Net-hours Birds banded Total Caught Species caught Species Observed Volunteers and Staff 03-May N/A JSB,LMN,DZ,MB,DGB,SZ, LN,PV. 04-May JSB,PV,CAJ,PNP,DZ,MB, LMN,LN,DR. 05-May LP,IS,JSB,PV,BV,NV,CP, LN. 06-May PV,IS,SH. 07-May PV,CAJ,SH,DR. 08-May PV,IS,TC. 09-May PV,DR,LN,CN. 10-May LN,SZ,PS. 11-May PV,GS. 12-May SZ,LN,PV,TC,IS,LP. 13-May PV,IS. 14-May CAJ,PV,LN,SZ,MS,RJ. 15-May PV,SZ,IS,TC. 17-May PV,LN,MB,LMN,DZ,GS,T C,IS,DGB. 18-May PV,LMN,DZ,JN,LN,CN,RS,LS,MB. 19-May LN,PV,DGB,CN,GS,PK,N V,BV,MB. 20-May PV,LS,RS,GSa. 21-May CAJ,PV,MS,DR. 22-May PV,MB,LS,RS,AF. 23-May PV,LN,MB,DR,GS,CN. 25-May LN,DZ,MB,LMN,TH,PNP, PV,Gsa 26-May PV,IS,TC,LP,MB,CN,LN,B V. 27-May PV,IS,MB,TC,PK,KR. 28-May PV,MB,GS,DR,KL. 29-May PV,MB,IS,TC,AF,PK. 30-May PV,MB,KL. 01-Jun PV,PNP,MB,DGB,RJ. 03-Jun PV,MB,TC,KR. 07-Jun PV,MB,DGB,LMN,DZ,TC. 08-Jun PV,MB,AF. Totals Personnel: JAF:Attila Fust, BV:Burt Vanderzon, CAJ:Christine Jamieson, CP:Cindy Pyves, CN:Corina Nagy, DZ:Dan Zabelishensky, DR:Dave Rayner, DGB:Diego Garcia-Bellido, GS:Graham Smith, Gsa:Greg Sadowski, SB:John Brett, IS:Ian Sturdee, JN:Jef Nichols, KL:Kara Lefevre, KR:Knud Rasmussen, LMN:Larissa Neumann, LS:Larysa Struk, LP:Leanna Pancer, LN:Lori Nichols, MB:Mary Boswell, MS:Merrilea Shields, NV:Norma Vanderzon, PV:Paolo Viola, PS:Patrick Stephen-Scanlon, PNP:Paul Prior, PK:Prabha Khosla, RJ:Richard Joos, RS:Roxanne Struk, SZ:Sandra Znajda, SH:Sean Hollis, TH:Theresa Hollosi, TC:Tove Christensen TBO Newsletter, Volume 26, Issue 1 4 August 2003

5 (Continued from page 1) rumped s appeared. The wave of Golden-crowned Kinglets and Brown Creepers had gone through. In the last 10 days of April, many swallows had arrived and Flicker and Hermit Thrush numbers peaked. White-throated Sparrows, as Yellow-rumped s, started showing up in good numbers. A storm very early in the morning of May 1st provoked a great deal of movement. Taking advantage of the front, Flickers, which the area had been crawling with, moved out. Their place was taken over by an abundant arrival of White-throated Sparrows accompanied by a few White-crowned Sparrows and many Palm s. May 3 rd -10 th After the passage of a front, migration typically calms down, the birds waiting for the next weather event. Nets were opened for the first time on the 3 rd of May and things were very slow. Weather was calm but not necessarily favouring bird movement: wind was light but predominantly coming from the N-E and temperatures dropped. The morning of the 6 th only saw a high of +4º Celsius. After four days, only 56 birds had been banded. The 7 th was a warmer day and 52 birds were caught. The most common species for that day, and that whole period, which saw 155 birds of 32 species banded, were White-throated and White-crowned Sparrows, and Palm and Yellow-rumped s. That increased activity was short lived as on the 10 th a very strong N-E wind was blowing. May 11 th - 17 th Magnolia Banded at TTP Bird Research Station The second week of banding started off with a lot of rain, reducing netting time but on the 14 th, temperatures finally rose and clouds moved out. Daily totals improved to 56 birds each on the 15 th and 17 th (accounting for almost two thirds of the week s total of 172 birds of 37 species). A higher variety of species was being captured with Yellow and Magnolia s starting to come through. Yellow-rumped s decreased and the White-throated Sparrows showed a second smaller peak in numbers. The 16 th was lost due to rain. May 18 th -24 th Still benefiting from the weather pattern of previous days, 49 birds were banded on the 18 th. Only 150 birds were caught for what should be a very busy time of the month although species diversity increased with 40 species caught. Once again, north and east winds were predominant and daily totals dipped. Many species were observed but their numbers stayed low with the exception of Yellow s. Some species, like the Swainson s Thrush, were obviously quite late with only one or two birds seen a day. By the end of the week, Common Yellowthroats were increasing. We noticed that the few birds we caught had good fat reserves and they were simply waiting for better weather. May 25 th -31 st Some slight improvement in weather, with more southerly breezes, triggered our best (Continued on page 6) TBO Newsletter, Volume 26, Issue 1 5 August 2003

6 (continued from page 5) week of the season. 287 birds of 42 species were banded with just over 50 birds for both the 25 th and 26 th and the season s highest total of 85 birds on the 29 th. In the first part of the week, numbers for many late species were finally growing, in particular for Least Flycatcher, Swainson s and Gray-cheeked Thrushes, Magnolia and American Redstart. On the 29 th, Swainson s Thrushes dramatically peaked with 25 banded. That same day the station also recorded 6 flycatcher species, good passages for American Redstart, Common Yellowthroat and Wilson s and a modest peak for Lincoln s Sparrow. The Chestnut-sided seemed quite adept at avoiding the nets since few were caught while numbers observed were high, peaking at 15 on the 25 th. When migration is long delayed, birds tend to make up time by flying straight over usual stopover areas, so, although numbers improved, it was to be a short-lived rush. June 1 st -8 th Because it was decided late to keep banding through the first week of June, many volunteers were unavailable on such short notice. Along with bad weather on the 4 th, this resulted in only 4 days of banding for this week. Many species were still moving through in good numbers due to the cold May weather. 106 birds were banded, with the most common species being Traill s Flycatcher, Swainson s Thrush (including 11 on the 3 rd ) and Yellow. On days with no banding (2 nd, th ), casual observations were noted. Besides the 3 already mentioned species, several American Redstarts and Wil- son s and Blackpoll s were seen daily. After the 3 rd, things were definitely winding down, yet on the 5 th, 13 species of warblers could still be seen at TTP. For this period, the number of species captured totalled 27. Recaptures Northern Oriole Banded at TTP Bird Research Station On top of all the banding, several previously banded birds fly back into the nets. We do process these recaptures, collecting information that helps in assessing a bird s health during its stay in the area and, eventually, estimating stopover periods for migrants at TTP. There are 163 recapture records for this spring. With one exception, they are all of birds that had been banded a few days earlier at the station. One Common Grackle, which was not banded at the park, was most likely a bird banded by TBO on Mugg s Island in previous years (original data still unavailable). Some individual birds account for many records. These local breeders, over the years, could provide information on longevity. Coverage Banding at TTP started on May 3 rd and ended on June 8 th for a total of 30 days out of a possible 37 (see the table on page 4). Spring 2003 s late start was due to delays in getting all of the equipment set up. Very good numbers of migrants were observed going through the area during April, as in May, and a start date around April 1 st for next year will permit a more complete coverage of the migration passage. (Continued on page 7) TBO Newsletter, Volume 26, Issue 1 6 August 2003

7 (continued from page 6) Announcements Net Locations Since this was a new project, net lanes had to be created. Fifteen net lanes were located following habitat feature interpretations based on experience from other banding stations. Obviously, it was expected that not all nets would be ideally placed, and it is hoped that within 2 to 3 seasons all nets will have definitive locations. Some of the most favourable features of the peninsula were unfortunately located considerable distances from the banding laboratory. To keep net checks manageable, nets were clustered in the centre of the peninsula but # 7, 8 and 9 were placed farther away to take advantage of different habitats. Net set up for the fall will be changed; some nets will be moved to new locations in order to improve the sampling of migrants and shorten net check duration. Volunteers This banding station, like all banding stations, could not function without the invaluable help of volunteers who give time and energy. Thanks to TBO s already existing list of volunteers and ads circulated by TRCA and TBO, a good number of volunteers were available for this trial season. I would like to thank all those volunteers who came out in spring Particular appreciation should be given to Lori Nichols, TBO s former Chair and bander-in-charge, who gave so much of her time at the station. Photo Credit: Thank you to Knud Rasmussen for the photos printed in this newsletter, which were all from the Spring season. Contact for the Fall Season To arrange times to volunteer, please contact Dan Derbyshire at: derbyshire@rogers.com Help Shape Our Future Join TBO s Board of Directors! We have an opening for a member-at-large on the Board. We usually meet once a month. Special projects may require additional time committments. Please contact Sandra Znajda: sznajda@hotmail.com New Website Address TBO s web site is now at: www3.sympatico.ca/tboweb Watch for updates this fall! Island Airport TBO is on the record as opposing the expansion of the Toronto Island Airport. For more information about this issue, please visit the Community Air web site: Welcome to New TBO Members: Tove Christensen Melissa Darker Emma Followes Attila Fust Diego Garcia-Bellido Richard Joos Merrilea Shields Ian Sturdee TBO Newsletter, Volume 26, Issue 1 7 August 2003

8 TBO Board of Directors Chair: Sandra Membership Sec. & Treas.: Mary Recording Sec.: Dan Newsletter Editor: Larissa Members at Large: Richard Ian Membership Information and Dues Payment: Membership dues for Toronto Bird Observatory are $20.00 per household per year, payable each calendar year. For information, contact: TBO Membership Secretary c/o Mary Boswell Apt. 307, 70 Heath St.W. Toronto, ON M4V 1T4 Newsletter Information The Toronto Bird Observatory Newsletter is published three times a year in March, August and December. The newsletter is also available in electronic (PDF) format. You may request an electronic version, either in addition to or instead of the hardcopy newsletter. To request the electronic version of the newsletter, send an to: mboswell@sympatico.ca. Do you have experiences or photos that you want to share? We welcome articles, photos, and drawings for inclusion in the newsletter. Let the rest of the membership know of your interesting banding experiences, techniques and special projects. Submissions may be edited for style and length. Copy deadlines for the next three newsletters are: November 30 (December issue); February 25 (March issue); July 15 (August issue) issue. Please all submissions to the newsletter editor at tboweb@sympatico.ca TBO Newsletter, Volume 26, Issue 1 8 August 2003