There comes the call over the radio! ‘Baguette! There is a Black backed Woodpecker just here!’ Everybody grabs the binoculars and of course the camera and is going towards the place where the call came from. Volunteer Martin had just spotted the Black backed Woodpecker. Unfortunately it was gone until we were there but he got a really nice picture of it. However, hopes are up that we can spot it again and we all look out for the Woodpecker during the rest of the day.  This is it what makes volunteering at BPBO so exciting. You never know what happens next! I’m not going to tell you why you should volunteer yourself. Martin already told everything in his blog and I completely agree! So I just can tell you, find it out yourself!

The first time I was here in Canada to do some volunteering was seven years ago. And now somehow I keep coming back to learn and see more! You get to see different fantastic places and meet interesting people. Ok, I admit it’s not always easy to get up this early but as soon as you are out there you keep forgetting that you may be tired.  Just let’s see what happened the last couple of days.

11^th May

We banded 57 birds of 18 species and 49 species were spotted on census including 14 White Winged Scoters. Among the banded birds were a beautiful Golden-winged Warbler and the first Common Yellowthroat of the season.

12^th May

Weather could be nicer but we banded 40 birds of 16 species, including a Least Flycatcher, 3 Lincoln’s Sparrow and an American Robin (may be unspectacular for some but for me it was the first American Robin I banded).  45 species were seen on census including the already mentioned Black backed Woodpecker!

13^th May

It was quite a slow day. We banded 22 birds of 14 species. However numbers on census were the same again – 45 species including a Northern Pintail and the Black backed Woodpecker was seen again.

But not only the birding and banding makes it worth to come out here, the experience exchange with other volunteers from all over the world makes it unforgettable.

And yeah not to forget, the food is international and very delicious!

So I can definitively say, it was worth it to come over here from Switzerland and I’m looking forward to the next (hopefully exciting) two weeks.

And as we say in Switzerland –

‘ond tschuess bis gli!!’
Patricia

Today (May 14th) the warm sunny weather brought several new arrivals for the year to Cabot Head. We banded 45 birds of 23 species! Including: Our first Mourning Warbler, Rose Breasted Grosbeak and Wilson’s Warblers, Bay Breasted Warbler, Orange Crowned Warbler, Black Throated Blue Warbler, Blue Headed Vireo, a late Brown Creeper and Sharp Shinned Hawk. 3 new species banded! Daily census observations throughout the morning turned up Indigo Bunting, Baltimore Oriole, Bobolink, Scarlet Tanager, our first Canada Warbler, Blackpoll Warbler Wood Thrush and Yellow Bellied Flycatcher . We saw 19 species of warblers and 74 bird species for the day, migration is definitely ON!

Today (May 15th) was very windy here at Cabot Head and we could not open all our nets until it slacked off a bit around 8:00. There were lots different species about but in low numbers we saw 61 species. Banding was slow but there were a lot of great birds around. On census a Vesper Sparrow and a Savannah Sparrow were found together in a bush near the rocky point next to Wingfield Cottage. The most exciting bird of the day was a Le Conte’s Sparrow found between Georgian Bay and the Middle Bluff the first sighting ever for Cabot Head and and an awesome bird for Bruce County! After its initial discovery the bird was never to be seen again. A surprise on Baywatch was 2 Upland Sandpipers flying out over Georgian Bay paralleling the shore. We saw our first Great Crested Flycatcher living up to its namesake sallying for insects from a birch tree close to the cottage. Another surprise was a bolt of lightning striking our telephone pole and knocking out our phone. Storms on the Great Lakes can be awesome. Today we say farewell to Martin Scott from the Isle of Lewis in Scotland who is headed to Ottawa for a week before he goes to Churchill, Manitoba for the summer. Good Luck.

Today (May 16th) was windy and cold as  winds shifted to the North-East. Banding was slow but good with a Northern Parula, Chipping Sparrow and Sharp Shinned Hawk banded. There were 41 species on census including Northern Waterthrush, 4 Spotted Sandpipers, Greater Yellowlegs and a female Hooded Merganser on the basin floating with a dozen Common Mergansers. Winds remained moderate as a storm rolled in but no rain. Over 50 species were seen today a good day considering the weather here.

Andrew

Today (May 7th) a Nicaraguan ornithologist enjoyed many new arrivals for the year to Cabot Head. Salvadora Morales arrived on the 5th of May sponsored by Bruce Peninsula Bird Observatory to enjoy some birding in Ontario and give some outreach presentations about bird conservation in Nicaragua at schools in North Bruce. Salvadora will be staying at the station until the 21st of May when she heads to Ottawa to give presentations to local naturalist groups. She has enjoyed viewing many warbler species in their full breeding plumage something unseen in Nicaragua.

And now for something completely different……

May 7th was a dark and gloomy day with storm clouds looming over Cabot Head throughout the morning. The clouds managed to push down migrants into the forest and eventually into our nets! We had another warbler first for the year, a Northern Waterthrush and a Swainson’s Thrush as well. With 65 birds banded of 16 species it was a good day with 9 species of warbler banded! A large movement of Palm and Myrtle warbler moved through with over 100 and over 200 counted respectively.

May 8th was beautiful day with sunny skies and warm temperatures but not great conditions for catching birds. We closed the station early for a field trip with Salvadora to a colonial nesting bird site on Snake Island. Despite that we added saw two new species, we banded our first Least Flycatcher and observed our first Common Yellowthroat.Hawks moved through in decent numbers with over 100 Broad Winged Hawks, Rough Legged Hawk, Red Tailed Hawk, Northern Harrier, Sharp Shinned Hawk, Bald Eagle, Osprey and Merlin. Another highlight was 3 Wood Ducks flying over the basin searching for more appropriate habitat.

May 9th was another gloomy day with the early morning on the cusp of an inevitable downpour of rain. And once again birds fell out of the sky and into our nets. We banded 11 species of warblers including our first Bay Breasted Warbler and American Redstarts. There was a big movement of sparrows as well with 7 species of sparrow banded. Including Swamp Sparrow, Chipping Sparrow, White Throated Sparrow, Eastern White Crowned Sparrow, Song Sparrow, a late American Tree Sparrow and our first Savannah Sparrow. In total we banded 57 birds of 23 species in 4 hours. And then the rain came and didn’t stop until after noon but birds continued to move through another surprise was a single Northern Pintail flying north over the basin.

Today (May 10th) was less rainy the yesterday but much less birdy as well. We banded 8 species mostly Western Palm Warblers but also a Sharp Shinned Hawk. We observed Barn Swallows, Tree Swallows, Cliff Swallows (our first for the year) and a lone bank swallows flying over the basin today. The resident Bald Eagles were sitting on the basin today munching on a fishy snack they have been absent for the past few days and their nest is complete but its unlikely that they will lay eggs this year. An eastern Towhee was also heard calling today and 3 Great Blue Herons were seen flying over Georgian Bay.

Andrew

Why volunteer? You don’t get paid, so why do it? That’s a question I am often asked. Well feel good factor maybe a cliché, but it works, but in this instance Bruce Peninsula Bird Observatory goes well beyond that.

Birds. Since a kid I have wondered at the marvel of birds, but to see the birds on a different continent so close, in the hand, touching them, examining them in minute details, gives a very warm feeling.

Banding (or ringing as we call it in Scotland) has largely eluded me so to see species such as Blue Jay and Yellow Warbler in the hand is a treat. You soon wonder how such fragile creatures make such long migrations. No suitcases, airplanes, pre-packed meals or sat navs here.

Migration is one of nature’s great wonders. We know why they do it – to escape the winter weather – but the feats of energy and determination never cease to amaze.

The hordes of Myrtle Warblers that moved through the canopy, the ever tail pumping Palm Warblers or the heavy weigh Common Loons powering past in determined flight offshore. We know they are going north – but to where? Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta or beyond? Every bird you see raises another question.

Those questions are often raised and discussed through the day and over the camaraderie of a team cooked meal and an inevitable beer. Visitor ages range from the 20s to 60s, and from Toronto, Switzerland, Nicaragua and me from the Scottish island of Lewis.

People who all enthuse birds – it’s somehow in their DNA, a lifetimes passion, and such great fun. That’s why I am a volunteer.

Martin Scott

May 5th was an average day with little action from the nets but lots of activity in the morning with 48 species observed for the day. Raptor activity was good with 8 species observed but all in low numbers. 2 Caspian Terns were flying around the basin during the census. Our first White Crowned Sparrows of the season were observed for standard count and a late Fox Sparrow was another first observed for the year at Cabot Head.

Today (May 6th) was another day when the birds literally fell out of the sky. Migrants continued to move through all morning and well into the afternoon. The daily Bay Watch turned up some good sightings with 246 White Winged Scoters and 3 Black Scoters flying north, an excellent sighting for Cabot Head! In total we observed 15 species of warbler and banded 10. Including our first Orange Crowned Warbler, Yellow Warbler and Black Throated Blue Warblers! We banded a total of 58 birds of 19 species today including Magnolia Warbler, White Throated Sparrow, Chipping Sparrow, Sharp Shinned Hawk and our first Veery. We also saw our first Northern Parulas, Blackburnian Warblers,

Above: Black Scoter (aka “Darth Vader with a lemon shoved in his face” M S Scott pers comm.)

Chestnut Sided Warbler, Gray Catbird and Red Bellied Woodpecker. Raptor migration was in full swing today with hundreds of birds “kettling” over Middle Bluff of 10 species. 2 Peregrine Falcons were seen flying out over Georgian Bay, the usual 2 Merlins were around and an American Kestrel was seen hunting over the Pine Barrens. The 2 resident Bald Eagles were flying around the basin and a Golden Eagle was seen flying over the bluff getting mobbed by the 2 Bald Eagles and headed south. Sharp Shinned Hawks were a plenty mostly flying low through the forest. Buteo movement for the day was the most spectacular with over 600 Broad Winged Hawks seen throughout the morning “kettling” over middle bluff. 4 Rough Legged Hawks both dark morphs and light morphs were seen and several Red Tailed Hawks were also observed. The arguable highlight of the morning however was a single adult Swainson’s Hawk flying amongst a hundred kettling Broad Winged Hawks likely a first for Bruce County! The volunteers this morning were buzzing with excitement at the diversity and numbers seen today at Cabot Head!

The morning of May 2nd started off with an ominous cloud bank looming over Cabot Head and light South winds the perfect combination for bird fallout. Fallout they did. We observed 63 species and banded 19 birds of 10 species. More warblers arrived today including: Nashville Warbler, Black and White Warbler, Ovenbird and Cape May Warbler. We also observed many other first for the year birds like: Blue Gray Gnatcatcher, Scarlet Tanager and Blue Headed Vireo. But the highlight of the day was an Eastern Tufted Titmouse that moved through with all the warblers and sat in a bush for about 30 seconds before disappear never to be seen again. The Titmouse may be the first record for North Bruce! Myrtle warbler continued they’re mas movement with around 500 moving through! We also managed to get in some hawk watching and spotted at least 2 Rough Legged Hawks flying south as well as a single Cooper’s Hawk. So far our best day in terms of diversity of birds moving through Cabot Head!

The 28th was another good day for birds passing through but rain in the morning forced us to close the nets early. We continued adding new species for the year including our first Ruby Throated Hummingbird, Cedar Waxwing, Caspian Tern and Northern Goshawk! The same warbler were around from the yesterday in smaller numbers and we had only 100 myrtles moving through so migration definitely tapered off a bit. The hawk migration was quite good despite dense fog and no sun. We had 10 Turkey Vultures, 1 Osprey, 1 Bald Eagle (resident), 14 Sharp Shinned Hawks, 1 Northern Goshawk, 51 Broad Winged Hawks, 1 Red Tailed Hawk, 23 Rough Legged Hawks and the 2 usual resident Merlins. We have also been seeing both Tree Swallow and Barn Swallow every day flying in a fury around the Gargantua wreck.

Today (May 4th) started out cool and foggy with light North West winds and seemingly bad weather and little bird life moving around at dawn. But many birds began moving through after a couple hours in big numbers many of which ran into our nets. We banded 91 birds of 18 species today and continued our trend of adding new species for the year. We banded Ruby Crowned Kinglet, Black throated Green Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, Nashville Warbler, Chipping Sparrow, Slate Coloured Junco, Western Palm Wabrler, Black and White Warbler, Myrtle Warbler, Ovenbird, Blue Headed Vireo, Swamp Sparrow, Song Sparrow and others! The highlight of banding was a female Golden Winged Warbler caught on the closing net round. A repeat of the other day happened when more than 50 birds of 7 species were caught in our first 3 nets! We also observed our first Common Tern, White Crowned Sparrows, Eastern Towhee and Tennessee Warbler. Hawk migration really got going today mostly after the count period with close to 100 Turkey Vultures, over a hundred Broad Winged Hawks, Sharp Shinned Hawks, Rough Legged Hawks and 2 Peregrine Falcons! Migration has certainly taken off with the south winds and then next few days of warm weather will undoubtedly bring more migrants for us to observe!

North winds kept up at the beginning of the period, but a break in the winds brought fall out of thousands of warblers and other migrants, followed by a lull of little activity has made the last 3 days at Cabot Head very exciting!

If your looking for pictures of some of the birds we’ve seen and banded a Cabot Head you can check out the Bruce Peninsula Bird Observatory page on Facebook if you’re into that sort of thing.  A link to BPBO’s Facebook page is found at the top of the home page on this web site.

Banding was slow on the 29th with 10 birds of 5 species banded including: Golden Crowned Kinglet, Ruby Crowned Kinglet and Black Capped Chickadee. Bay Watch and census turned up some good waterfowl including: 17 Common Loons, 5 Red Necked Grebes, 58 Horned Grebes, 124 Lesser Scaup, 22 White Winged Scoters, 22 Long  Tailed Ducks, 36 Red Breasted Mergansers, 2 Ring Necked Ducks, 1 Pintail, and a lone Pied Billed Grebe floating in the basin.  A good variety of raptors moved through as well including: 1 second year Bald Eagle moving through other than the usual 2 adult resident Bald Eagles, 6 Sharp Shinned Hawks, 6 Broad Winged Hawks, 7 Red Tailed Hawks, 1 Rough Legged Hawk, 1 American Kestrel and the usual 2 local Merlins still engaging in courtship.

On the 30th, the north winds turned south west. The break in the north winds rained a fallout of Myrtle Warblers down upon the forest canopy at Cabot Head. As one volunteer watch for fifteen minutes from the tip area. 430 Myrtle Warblers flew by crossing the mouth of the basin to the lighthouse. This continued from 09:00 to 11:00. Banding was the best yet in terms of numbers and diversity. We banded 3 new species for the year: Eastern Phoebe, Swamp Sparrow and Yellow Bellied Sapsucker. We also banded Hermit Thrush, White Throated Sparrow, Black Capped Chickadee and both Kinglet species. During the 10:00 net check we were surprised to find over 50 Myrtle Warblers and a Yellow Bellied Sapsucker in our first 2 nets! We quickly extracted all the birds and checked the remaining nets which had no birds. After banding all the warblers, we banded a few more birds from successive net checks ending up with 69 birds of 9 species banded for the day! Otherwise diversity was average with 46 species seen during the standard period (from 1/2 hour before sunrise for 7 hours). Spotted Sandpiper, Killdeer and Greater Yellowlegs were observed flying through. We had a discussion and did some quick mathematics and determined that there were probably 2200 Myrtle Warblers migrating through Cabot Head on the 30th. The only word that comes to mind is Myrtle-tastic!

The 1st of May was quite a contrast to the previous days flurry of bird activity with 42 species observed for the day. Diversity was good but numbers of birds were very low, and as well Cabot Head was blanketed in a dense fog. No birds were seen during daily Bay Watch due to no visibility. We banded only a single bird; a Myrtle Warbler left behind by all his brethren from the day before. Killdeer and Greater Yellowlegs were observed again as well as a Northern Harrier. Another lonely female Bufflehead landed on the basin mid-morning and floated alongside some Common Mergansers. Weather is looking good for a big push of migrants from the south in the next few days so keep your eyes open for birds as we will be.

Andrew

Hi everyone, the past few days weather was dominated by cool North winds and rain. Banding was slow even when the nets were open but there were tons of birds around madly trying to get to their breeding grounds.

On the 26th we were rained out in the morning and we were unable to open nets. Census produced 35 species including: Northern Shoveler a great find on the Wingfield Basin, Rusty Blackbird and many, many Northern Flickers.  A Killdeer also flew by during census. In the morning as we were opening nets we heard the beeps and whistles of the American Woodcock across the basin displaying for their females. In the afternoon a birding road trip produced 5 Vesper Sparrows on Dyer’s Bay Rd. as well as Eastern Bluebird, Eastern Meadowlark, American Kestrel and a Green Winged Teal in a flooded area in a field.

The 27th was a loony day, we had nets open but with a strong North wind passerine activity was minimal. However an extensive lake watch on  Georgian Bay was undertaken by two eager volunteers Martin Scott and Brad Bloemendal who observed 16 species of mainly waterfowl over 3 hours. The list includes: 89 Common Loons!, 7 Red-Throated Loons!, 7 Red-Necked Grebes, 3 Horned Grebes, 16 White-Winged Scoters, 13 Long-Tailed Ducks, 4 Northern Pintails, 24 Red-Breasted Mergansers and 6 Common Mergansers, as well as 4 Tree Swallows. All together we had over 100 loons in the census area a very loony day for us. We banded a Sharp-Shinned Hawk as well as some kinglets and Myrtle Warblers. A Western Palm Warbler was also seen in the morning and a Black-Throated Green Warbler was heard singing! Pine Warbler was also observed bringing the warbler total for the station to 4! not bad for April and hopefully more of their brethren will arrive splattering the trees with their vibrant colours.  Today we also say goodbye to Brad Bloemendal a volunteer staying here for the past two weeks. Just want to say good luck looking for Darth Vader!

The 28th was another typical April day at Cabot Head. North winds didn’t prevent net opening but seemed to keep activity of the birds low. We banded Ruby-Crowned Kinglet, Brown Creeper, Myrtle Warbler and others. A highlight of the day was a nice male Hooded Merganser swimming around on the basin amongst the Red-Breasted Mergansers and Common Mergansers. Also a pair of  Canada Geese along with 6 of their goslings grazed on the grass around Wingfield Cottage. Raptor migration was minimal but the resident Merlins and Bald Eagles were active and hunting. As we sat down for dinner we watched a Bald Eagle drop on top of a Ring-Billed Gull hammering the gull with it’s colossal razor-sharp talons! The gull seemed unscathed and floated happily along as the eagle sat in a nearby fir tree looking out at the basin. Later a volunteer watched as a Merlin nailed a Red Squirrel in a birch tree knocking it to the ground the squirrel was startled and quickly ran off into the forest! All bird have to eat but both predators went hungry thus evening and the race between predator and prey continues as is the cycle of life.

Andrew

On the 23rd we had a slow day of banding with few birds banded but an awesome surprise. We banded an adult male Merlin as characterized by uniform beautiful blue plumage. The Merlins are being very active now flying around Wingfield Cottage all morning and all afternoon making our day very merliny. Aside from the merlin we also banded 2 adult male Sharp-shinned Hawks! Lots of kinglets are still around mainly Ruby-Crowned Kinglets but also a few Golden-Crowned Kinglets. 41 Pine Siskins in multiple flocks throughout the day were observed as well. The Basin was quite quiet but the usual Common Mergansers and Double-Crested Cormorants were around as well as a lonely female Bufflehead.

On the 24th we were unable to band all morning due to cold temperatures and a mix of snow and rain all morning not to mention blistering North winds. Census was slow due to the high winds the highlights being Northern Harrier and a pair of Bald Eagles flying around the basin. There wasn’t much flying around due to the cold and the wind. Although in the evening Horned Grebe, Red-Necked Grebe and White-Winged Scoter were observed on Georgian Bay and a single male Northern Shoveler was seen flying into the basin and briefly stayed before flying off.

The 25th was are best yet day for both banding and birding in terms of numbers and diversity. We banded 40 individuals of 8 bird species including Brown Creeper, Golden-Crowned Kinglet, Ruby-Crowned Kinglet, Sharp-Shinned Hawk, American Tree Sparrow, White-Throated Sparrow, Slate-Coloured Junco and many Myrtle Warblers. We found ourselves in myrtle-mania  as hoards of Myrtle Warblers flew around the thickets of Choke Cherries at Cabot Head. One flock hit the net A1 and ended up being half our catch for the day! Also an American Tree Sparrow was banded most likely the last we’ll see this spring a pleasant surprise though a little out of place alongside the Myrtle Warblers. Census produced 33 species including: Rusty Blackbird, Pileated Woodpecker, Osprey and Purple Finch. Waterfowl include Red-Necked Grebe, Horned Grebe, Common Merganser, Red-Breasted Merganser and Long-Tailed Duck. Not only a great day for birding but also a beautiful day in general with the temperatures rising and the sun shining!

Andrew