Morning of the 17th we were finishing up at the last research station in Cabot Strait, sitting off Cape Ray at the SW end of Newfoundland. There were some interesting birds about: Surf Scoters, male Harlequin Ducks(!), the first Leach’s Storm-petrel of the trip, and the first Dovekies – these amazing little alcids nest in huge numbers in Greenland (there’s only 1 small colony on the eastern side of Baffin Island) but spend the Winter in the frigid waters of the NW Atlantic around Newfoundland/Labrador. Of course, Northern Gannets, which are themselves amazing, were soaring by but by now were so commonplace that they were just another data point.

We headed out going W under threatening skies and a freshening SE wind (around 10 knots); seas were “flat” with waves less than a meter. As we got further offshore, the wind began to pick up, passing through 15 knots and moving toward 20. At this point I began to see a few small birds fly into the area of the ship. Some appeared to land. The first two birds that I saw from the bridge hopping around on the bow deck were a Common Yellowthroat and a Swamp Sparrow. Strange, I thought, that these two species, which utilize a similar habitat, should be found together at the same time in such a strange hostile place – 22 nautical miles from the nearest land in a building oppositional wind. I wondered if they had even travelled in close proximity from the same area….

As the wind began to grow, more birds flew in; some stayed – I could see them on the deck – while others seemed to be taking a look but after a couple of circuits around the ship I didn’t see them again. Here’s a list: Common Yellowthroat, Swamp Sparrow, 2 American Robins, 1 Palm Warbler, 2 Myrtle Warblers, 1 Golden-crowned Kinglet, 1 Purple Finch, 1 Dark-eyed Junco, and here’s the kicker – a Sharp-shinned Hawk(!), more than 22 nautical miles from shore. All but the robins, kinglet and hawk I saw land and begin searching for food on the ship. The last I saw of the Sharpie it was heading SW where, if it was lucky, it might have made the Magdalene Islands. Of the robins and kinglet I have no idea.

I was going to go looking for them this morning….but….a huge storm blew up in the middle of the night bringing 50-60 KNOT winds (1 knot = 1.8 kilometer) and 6 METER waves and rain. As heavy spray from the ship pounding into waves was coating the wheelhouse windows I decided I would put this search off until more benign conditions prevailed. This wind would have stopped the migration and any birds caught out in it (like, possibly, the birds around the ship) I fear would have succumbed unless they simply said to hell with it and allowed themselves to get blown back to the north shore of the Gulf.

Postscript: I didn’t find any birds from yesterday, either dead or alive, but I did find a Blackpoll Warbler hopping about the stern deck. I had seen it fly in from the west. It was very bedraggled and looked worn out. I was amazed that it was even alive after experiencing that storm.

Savannah Sparrow on Boat

Dark-eyed Junco on boat

Song Sparrow on boat

White-throated Sparrow on boat

We had spent the night of October 12th working our way into Chaleur Bay on the CCGS Hudson, stopping at preset locations to drop instruments into the water to measure temperature, oxygen level, salinity at various levels from the bottom up and, in some spots, to drop a net to capture plankton.

The morning of October 13th we were working our way back out, running east. Chaleur Bay is a large inlet of the Gulf of St. Lawrence that separates NE New Brunswick from Quebec’s Gaspe Peninsula; it runs east to west. At its widest point it is about 15-17 nautical miles wide. When we started, shortly after sunrise the skies were clouded (from the showers the night before) and, although mild, there was a light wind blowing from the SE.

My role on the Hudson is to count seabirds following a very specific protocol which would allow, eventually, for the determination of a density figure – X number of birds (bird species) per square kilometer. I must say that on this particular morning it wasn’t very exciting as the Bay seemed pretty well empty of seabirds. My thinking is that many of them have made the move to their wintering quarters out in the open waters of the Atlantic – the Gulf freezes during the Winter so not much reason to tarry. It seems that Northern Gannets, though, are making a go of it as they have been common all along the route….and juveniles are just starting to show up, having recently fledged and are learning what it takes to survive. Plunge diving from great heights might look like fun but its an essential skill that, if not learned, will determine a gannet’s future.

As we proceeded East, out to the open Gulf, I began to notice passerines flying to the ship. Some seemed to go around and keep going; others went around a couple of times, even landed on the deck, and then kept going; and some landed and just began to look for sustenance. This happened more and more as the day went on – and the wind picked up from the SE and showers moved in. As the weather worsened more birds seemed to be landing and staying…..searching for any food they could find, and any insects were quickly gone so soon there was nothing left.

I was surprised that some decided to stay with the ship as the southern shore was only 4 nautical miles away at this point. I guess I was even more surprised that they were flying at all. Passerines usually migrate at night but here was a prime example of diurnal migration. I wondered where this set of birds had started the night before and why they hadn’t put down at daybreak. Did the southern shore look “doable” so they just kept going when morning broke? Did they sense that poor weather was coming so they wanted to get as far as possible? And when the conditions changed against them why did some stay while others continued on? Had they run out of energy fighting the increasing wind and the ship was a last resort? Lots of questions….but not a lot of answers I’m afraid.

So…what to do with a flock of stranded birds on the ship….and no bird seed. I got some multi-grain bread from the kitchen and broke it up into very small pieces (and poured out the leftover grains from the bread bag). I created 2 “feeding stations”: one at the stern and one at the bow, both in areas sheltered from the wind. It didn’t take a bedraggled White-throated Sparrow long to find this windfall and as soon as the other birds saw one of their fellows feeding they were right in there. I had to replenish the feed 3 times on the first day as they seemed ravenous. I was able to monitor the bow group easily from my window on the bridge. At any one time there were 19-22 birds using it.
On the 14th the conditions were much the same and the feeding station (I went with just the bow station now as I could easily monitor it) was heavily used. At one point I made a quick count: 9 White-throated Sparrows, 9 Dark-eyed Juncos, 2 White-winged Crossbills, 1 Pine Siskin, and 1 Song Sparrow all feeding at the same time…then flying off to hide in the ship’s nooks and crannies while other birds took their places.

In the afternoon the conditions got better and I saw evidence of birds flying from the ship even though land was considerably farther. I also saw migrating flocks of White-winged Crossbills fly to the ship, around it and then keep going but in “strange” directions: one group of 50+ headed SE into the diminishing wind while another group of 40+ went NW!?

By the 15th the feeding group was cut in at least half. A quick count revealed 4 juncos, 4 White-throated Sparrows, and 1 Pine Siskin. And by the morning of the 16th, in Pictou harbour, there were only 2 juncos and they flew the half kilometer to the mainland as soon as it got light.

Here’s a list of the birds I encountered (* indicates a species that stayed on the vessel for awhile rather than just checking it over and then continuing):
Myrtle Warbler* (1 later found dead)
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Common Yellowthroat*
Dark-eyed Junco*
Fox Sparrow
Song Sparrow*
White-throated Sparrow*
Swamp Sparrow*
Savannah Sparrow *(later found dead)
Purple Finch*
Pine Siskin*
White-winged Crossbill*
Hermit Thrush
Swainson’s Thrush
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Horned Lark
American Pipit

Feeding Station on boat

Common Yellowthroat on boat

Swamp Sparrow caught in wheelhouse

White-winged Crossbills

October 10, 2021 – Thanksgiving banding

We had a somewhat slower day today compared to some of the busy days we’ve been having recently, likely due to south winds the last couple nights. However, the weather was beautiful and we still caught some interesting birds. A fair amount of the birds we caught today were recaptures, suggesting that a lot of birds are hanging around the site to forage, instead of attempting to migrate in the unfavorable winds. We also got some very interesting news today: a Northern Saw-whet Owl banded at our site in Lowville in fall of 2020 was recaptured just a few days ago at Prince Edward Point Bird Observatory!

An Eastern Wood-Pewee we caught in the first net round

Nashville Warbler

Sam extracting a Field Sparrow from the net; this is a sparrow we don’t catch too many of.

Rob brought his drone and got this awesome photo of the banding site from above!

Banded at Lowville:
1 Eastern Wood-Pewee
5 Golden-crowned Kinglet
3 Ruby-crowned Kinglet
3 Nashville Warbler
1 Magnolia Warbler
1 Field Sparrow
1 Song Sparrow
3 White-throated Sparrow

Recaps:
6 Black-capped Chickadee
1 White-breasted Nuthatch
1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet
1 Gray Catbird
1 Song Sparrow
3 White-throated Sparrow

Total 31 (of 11 species)

October 12, 2021
We had a rather slow day at Lowville on the 12th, likely due to South winds the night before. However, we still had a nice diversity of species. Almost half of the birds we caught were recaptures, which makes sense with the unfavorable winds.

Banded:
2 Golden-crowned Kinglet
2 Ruby-crowned Kinglet
1 Nashville Warbler
1 Common Yellowthroat
2 Song Sparrow
2 White-throated Sparrow
1 American Goldfinch
Recaps:
2 Black-capped Chickadee
6 White-throated Sparrow
1 Northern Cardinal
1 American Goldfinch

October 13 & 14, 2021
We did our first night of owl banding on the evening of the 13th. We target Northern Saw-whet Owls; a small forest owl species that migrates through our area (and sometimes winters). We did indeed catch owls! 5 Northern Saw-whet Owls for our first night, and we hope to catch more.

Northern Saw-whet Owl

The morning of the 14th was unseasonably warm, and ended up being one of our biggest days of the season so far with 86 birds caught! A nice variety of species for this time of year, but the large numbers were due to lots of kinglets and sparrows.

First Junco of the year!

Brown Creeper

Banded in Lowville:
2 Downy Woodpecker
3 Black-capped Chickadee
1 Brown Creeper
1 Winter Wren
21 Ruby-crowned Kinglet
8 Golden-crowned Kinglet
1 Gray-cheeked Thrush
1 Swainson’s Thrush
3 Tennessee Warbler
1 Blackpoll Warbler
3 Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)
3 Swamp Sparrow
10 Song Sparrow
12 White-throated Sparrow
1 Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored)
5 American Goldfinch

Recaps:
1 Blue Jay
2 Black-capped Chickadee
1 American Goldfinch
1 Gray Catbird
1 Tennessee Warbler
1 Nashville Warbler
1 White-throated Sparrow
1 Northern Cardinal
1 American Goldfinch

Total: 86

~Written by Ashley Jensen

October 8, 2021
written by Ben Oldfield
Today was another busy day at the Lowville banding site. 85 birds were banded and 10 were retrapped making for a fast pace morning. Ruby Crowned Kinglets were around in high numbers with 29 being banded and an estimated 125 around the site. Below are the totals for the day and some pictures. Liam, Eila and Nola were all a big help with extracting and banding today!

White Breasted Nuthatch – 2
Ruby Crowned Kinglet – 29
Golden Crowned Kinglet – 9
Swainsons thrush – 1
Hermit Thrush – 1
House Wren – 1
Winter Wren – 1
Nashville Warbler – 6
Orange Crowned Warbler – 1
Tennessee Warbler – 1
Myrtle Warbler – 3
Western Palm Warbler – 1
Common Yellowthroat – 1
Swamp Sparrow – 2
Lincoln’s Sparrow – 1
White Throated Sparrow – 11
Song Sparrow – 3
Eastern White Crowned Sparrow – 2
American Goldfinch – 8

Total – 85

October 6, 2021
written by Ben Oldfield

Light North winds paired with overcast skies made for a good day of banding in Lowville. In the 5 hours we were open we captured 85 birds with 74 of those being new. I fully expect these high totals to continue over the next few days. Ruby Crowned Kinglets made there presence known with 22 banded, followed by 11 Nashville warbler’s. FOS birds include a banded Fox Sparrow, Lincoln’s Sparrow and a White Crowned Sparrow observed throughout the day. See list below for final banding total.

Blue Jay-2
Ruby Crowned Kinglet-22
Golden Crowned Kinglet-7
House Wren-2
Swainson’s Thrush-2
Downy Woodpecker-1
Black-capped Chickadee-1
Nashville Warbler-11
Magnolia Warbler-1
Yellow Rumped Warbler-7
Black Throated Blue Warbler-1
Black Throated Green Warbler -1
Lincoln’s Sparrow-1
White Throated Sparrow-9
Fox Sparrow-1
Song Sparrow-4
American Goldfinch-1

Total-74

Oct 5, 2021 – Fall is truly here!
written by Ashley Jensen

It’s that time of year.. when you can feel things starting to change. The leaves are starting to pull their nutrients back from their leaves revealing beautiful warm colors, cool rainy weather is moving in, and the days are getting shorter. One of the other things that signifies fall is here is a switch in the bird species we are seeing (and catching). We are catching fewer of some of the warbler species, and lots more sparrows and kinglets, which is always a sign to me that fall is truly here. Our day in Lowville started with a thick humid mist, and fairly low visibility. It seems the dense fog kept the birds foraging low, and probably helped us catch more birds later in the day. While the first net run was the busiest (which is pretty typical), it did not really slow down all day! If we had the time and energy, we probably could’ve kept the nets open all day and continued to catch birds until sunset.

Unusually bright crown on this Golden-crowned Kinglet -AMJ

Golden-crowned Kinglets are a regular visitor here, but this male has an unusual amount of orange in his crown! Usually the males have a yellow crown with orange that peeks through at the center and is barely visible unless the bird decides to erect their crown feathers. What a stunner this little bird is!

Banding setup in Lowville