Hi folks,
We are having a good season with some amazing regional rarities and a few
species posting highs. Note Pacific-slope Flycatcher and Wilson's Warbler
continue to battle it out for the #1 position and we have already beaten
last year's high for American Goldfinch! Nevertheless, banding totals are
behind schedule and we have yet to experience a really big day (56 is
biggest to date). However, perhaps this is not surprising with dry and clear
conditions prevailing and one high pressure system after another over us
throughout July and August? Furthermore, September did not start well either
with season low seven (yes, that was '7'!) new birds banded today! Hopefully
a change in weather and some new fall migrants will pick things up at nets
soon?!

Other rarities/uncommon birds recorded this 'fall':
Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel (offshore via 'MV Coho')
Marbled Godwit
Ruddy Turnstone
Red Knot
Black-legged Kittiwake
Tufted Puffin
Dusky Flycatcher
Bank Swallow
Northern Waterthrush

Here are our banding totals from July 20 to August 31:

Sharp-shinned Hawk - 2
Cooper's Hawk - 1 (only our fourth banded since '94)
"Red-shafted" Northern Flicker - 1 (only 6th banded since '94)
Willow/"Traill's" Flycatcher - 40 (very high)
Hammond's Flycatcher - 5 (low)
Dusky Flycatcher - 1 (our ninth record and fourth banded)
(#1.) Pacific-slope Flycatcher - 206
Hutton's Vireo - 3
Warbling Vireo - 8
Violet-green Swallow - 4
Northern Rough-winged Swallow - 2
Chestnut-backed Chickadee - 52
Bushtit - 37
Red-breasted Nuthatch - 4
Brown Creeper - 6
Bewick's Wren - 31
House Wren - 11
Winter Wren - 24
Marsh Wren - 5
BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER - 1 (adult male -- 6th BC record; second for Victoria
checklist!)
Swainson's Thrush - 23
American Robin - 9
Cedar Waxwing - 7
Orange-crowned Warbler - 56 (low)
NORTHERN PARULA - 1 (adult female -- third BC record; first for Victoria
checklist!)
Yellow Warbler - 37 (low)
Black-throated Gray Warbler - 1
Townsend's Warbler - 2
MacGillivray's Warbler - 45
Common Yellowthroat - 39 (low)
(#2.) Wilson's Warbler - 192
Black-headed Grosbeak - 1
Spotted Towhee - 9 (low)
Chipping Sparrow - 14
Savannah Sparrow - 2
Song Sparrow - 65
Lincoln's Sparrow - 17
"Puget Sound" White-crowned Sparrow - 57
"Oregon" Dark-eyed Junco - 13
Red-winged Blackbird - 8
Brown-headed Cowbird - 7
Purple Finch - 4
House Finch - 5
Pine Siskin - 8
(#3.) American Goldfinch - 145 (new record for us!)

Total - 45 species, 1211 individuals (avg. ~28/day).

Season species tally at 158 (goal=200).


David Allinson
President, Rocky Point Bird Observatory
572 Atkins Avenue
Victoria, BC
V9B 3A3
Ph. (250)391-1786

Web site: www.islandnet.com/~rpbo
276 species and counting!
Look for a bargraph checklist coming soon.

"Not everything that can be counted counts,
and not everything that counts can be counted."
Albert Einstein