PIBO Update

View of Fox Pond. Photo by Sachi Schott As always, November has been the month for waterfowl. The tip of Fish Point is now denuded of Double-crested Cormorants and American White Pelicans, and instead has been hosting Canada Geese, along with a small number of gulls. The first Common Goldeneye of the season was seen

Double rainbow at Fish Point. Photo by Patrick Kramer The second fortnight of October began with a morning of north winds, during which PIBO banded 121 birds. Most of them were the ubiquitous Ruby-crowned Kinglets and Golden-crowned Kinglets, but Hermit Thrushes and Myrtle Warblers also continued to be common. By the following day the wind

Black-throated Blue Warbler. Photo by Sumiko Onishi After enjoying a spectacular start to the month of September, bird migration all but ground to a halt for the following two weeks. From September 16th to 30th, PIBO’s daily banding total never rose above 25 birds, and the large, mixed flocks of warblers that had made up

Almost as soon as we turned the page in the calendar, the fall migration accelerated to an incredible pace! Unusually consistent north and northerly winds helped to push large numbers of birds through Pelee Island and into PIBO’s mist-nets, with over 100 birds being banded on both September 2nd and 3rd and over 90 being

Common Nighthawk. Photo by Sumiko Onishi Fish Point was quiet for the first few days of fall banding owing to contrary winds and some inclement weather. A few season’s firsts showed up, including some Blackburnian Warblers and American Redstarts, but the fall migration didn’t really get underway until August 23rd, when northwest winds brought in

After enjoying July off, the Pelee Island Bird Observatory has returned to the routine of migration monitoring for the fall. The census began on August 1st, a calm, quiet day, marked with sightings of local breeding birds such as Indigo Buntings and Yellow Warblers. Families of Mallards and Wood Ducks still inhabit Fox Pond, though

Introduction The Pelee Island Bird Observatory (PIBO)’s spring migration coverage at Fish Point Provincial Nature Reserve (Ontario Parks – Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources) ran from April 1st to June 11th, 2017, for a total of 72 coverage days. Five participants helped to record 163 species at Fish Point during PIBO’s standard count period. 659

  American White Pelicans. Photo by Sachi Schott. The spring still had a few surprises in store for us as PIBO began to wind down its migration monitoring program for the season. From June 1st to 11th, we continued the daily 90-minute census at Fish Point, and got to know the local breeding birds very