MIGRATION SUMMARY

OCTOBER 31^st TO NOVEMBER 6TH, 2007

Pelee Island Bird Observatory (PIBO)

Although songbird numbers tapered off this week, there was a noticeable increase in activity on the lake and a number of Fall-firsts including Tundra Swan, Black Scoter, Surf Scoter, American Tree Sparrow and Snow Bunting. Gale-force winds and sleet affected coverage on the final two days of the summary period.    

October 31^st      

Not very much activity at the station this-morning with just twenty-five species recorded during the official count period. Very quiet on the lake and for land birds as well, with the exception of 4000 European Starlings recorded moving south in large groups.

November 1^st    

It was quite active this-morning with a nice variety of species (42) recorded including Bald Eagle, Whip-poor-will, Eastern Bluebird, American Tree Sparrow, Purple Finch and Pine Siskin. Large numbers of European Starlings, Red-winged Blackbirds and Common Grackles flying over the station and still lots of Double-crested Cormorants on the lake.  

November 2^nd        

It was another busy morning with forty-nine species tallied, although the netting area was quiet, with just ten birds captured. Species reported on the day included Tundra Swan, Black Scoter (only the second PIBO record for this species), four raptor spp., six sparrow spp., and the first Snow Buntings of 2007. Lots of blackbirds again today, including good numbers of Rusty Blackbirds. Northern Saw-whet Owls continue to filter through the area, with six birds captured during the evening netting session.   

November 3^rd        

Similar activity to the preceding day but with more birds on the lake including 10 Horned Grebes and 11 Surf Scoters recorded on the census.       

November 4^th         

It was fairly mild and overcast today with moderate winds from the northwest. A nice variety of species recorded during the count period including small numbers of Northern Flickers, creepers, Winter Wrens, kinglets, Hermit Thrushes and White-throated Sparrows. Although there was just one Northern Saw-whet Owl captured during the evening, it turned out to be a recapture of a bird originally banded in Wisconsin in October 2003!   

November 5^th      

The winds shifted back to the south and, as a result, migrants were few-and-far between this-morning. Just twenty-six species tallied on the day and only one bird banded during twenty net-hours of operation.   

November 6^th        

Gale-force winds from the north and a mixture of rain, sleet and snow reduced coverage to just the 90-minute census. Only four species of songbirds recorded and not very much activity on the lake apart from a good number of Buffleheads. Double-crested Cormorants still outnumber Red-breasted Mergansers, which is surprising for early November.  

Sixty-five species were recorded at the Point this week compared to eighty-one last week and six Fall ‘firsts’ were tallied, which brings the season species count to 173. In all, 54 birds were banded (not including twelve owls) and seven recaptured during 256 net-hours for a catch-rate of .21 birds/net-hour.

Golden-crowned Kinglet photo – Claire Sanders

The season’s final summary will be posted on November 17^th.   

Birds Documented at Fish Point  October 31^st – November 6^th, 2007