Waterbird Highlights: This week (Oct. 22–28), we had 26 species of waterbirds, with our highlight being gulls; BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE, Lesser Black-backed Gull, and an Iceland Gull (kumlieni). The kittiwake made a flyby appearance while the other two species of gulls hung out at the harbor and the Point. Lesser Black-backed Gull (Fall 2021) [...]
A Barred Owl banded in the fall of 2018 at WPBO. Well, this week's weather consisted of long cold nights of wet and windy weather, and we only banded one Barred Owl. The last few nights of the season look decent for owl migration, so we'll see what happens. ~ Tim Baerwald [...]
After an extended period of southerly winds and warm temperatures, the winds finally shifted, and at long last, it feels like late fall. American Tree Sparrows and Dark-eyed Juncos continue in good numbers. Joining them in increasing numbers this past week have been Pine Siskins and Purple Finches. Common Redpolls have arrived, and we had the first push of over 400 on Oct. [...]
Waterbird Highlights: This week (October 15–21), we had 36 species of waterbirds, of which half of the diversity were waterfowl. Of the 30,000+ individuals counted, 13% were dabbling ducks such as Mallard, Northern Pintail, and American Wigeon, and 78% were diving ducks such as Aythaya species, scoters, and mergansers. Long-tailed Ducks made 33% of the count [...]
The night of the 14th featured a nice flight with 11 Northern Saw-whet Owls and a Long-eared Owl banded. Since then, likely due to wet and windy conditions, we have only banded 10 more owls, peaking with five Northern Saw-whet Owls on the night of the 18th and three Northern Saw-whet Owls and one [...]
A Peregrine Falcon preens its foot. Photo by Chris Neri Highlights: Brewer’s Blackbird and Forster’s Tern Four Forster’s Terns spent some time around the Point on Oct. 11, and a Brewer’s Blackbird was present on Oct. 14. A late Bay-breasted Warbler was present on Oct. 16 and 17. After a week and a half of unseasonably warm weather and [...]
Our eBird October Big Day was a success with 66 species within a 24-hour birding period, and this total was decent with these less than ideal migration conditions. We were hard-pressed for waterfowl diversity/abundance, but we were able to pull out some decent waterbirds like an adult Parasitic Jaeger. Other non-waterbird highlights during the [...]
The night of the sixth featured the second-largest flight of the season with 12 Northern Saw-whet Owls banded! Since then (likely due to wet weather conditions), we have banded only nine more Northern Saw-whet Owls. The local amphibians have been enjoying the wet woods. ~ Tim Baerwald and Byron de-Yampert You can [...]
Highlights: Townsend’s Solitaire, Willet, and Red-headed Woodpecker We continue to experience unseasonably warm weather and southerly winds. Despite the unfavorable conditions for southward migration, there have been some good sightings this past week. The Ash-throated Flycatcher first found on Oct. 2 remained through Oct. 6. A Willet was present Oct. 4–6. On Oct. 7, Townsend’s Solitaire and a Red-headed Woodpecker made brief appearances. [...]
As for waterbirds, the most notable species this week were Willet, Forster’s Tern, and Parasitic Jaeger! The Willet stayed in the Point’s pond for a few days while the tern and the jaeger passed through the area. Willet Forster's Tern Parasitic Jaeger One of the highlight non-waterbird finds this week [...]
