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Volunteers Needed!
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Migration Monitoring at
Thunder Cape Bird Observatory
Photos of banded birds by TCBO coordinator John Woodcock.
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Thunder Cape Bird Observatory is a joint project of the Thunder Bay Field Naturalists, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources - Wildlife Assessment Program (OMNR-WAP), and Bird Studies Canada, working in partnership with Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, and the Canadian Coast Guard. Core funding for the migration monitoring at Thunder Cape is provided by OMNR - WAP, to contribute to its assessment of bird population trends in Ontario.
Links to other bird banding
stations
Courtesy of the Kitchener Waterloo Field Naturalists
TCBO is a part of
The Canadian Migration Monitoring
Network
Their website has a Species Coverage Chart for TCBO for the period 1991-1999
The results of the Fall 2003 hawk migration watch at TCBO are available online at
The Hawk Migration Association of North America website
Graphically illustrated results of bird population trends based on data collected
at Thunder Cape Bird Observatory and 9 other observatories are available online at
Bird Studies Canada website
Thunder Cape is situated at the tip of the Sibley Peninsula.
Annual reports: 2007 2005 2002 2001 2000 1999
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Thunder Cape Bird Observatory is located at the southern tip of the Sibley Peninsula, at the foot of the Sleeping Giant. The location is visible from the city of Thunder Bay, Ontario, on the Western edge of Lake Superior. The bay separating the Giant from the City of Thunder Bay is also called Thunder Bay. Originally the site at Thunder Cape was occupied by a lighthouse and some outbuildings, but by the time the Bird Observatory came along, only a clearing and some foundations remained of the original structures.
Thunder Cape is situated in a fairly inaccessible location. The easiest way to get there is by boat (usually from Silver Islet) as long as the lake is not too rough. The other option is a 13 km long hiking trail from the Kabeyun Trail Head at Sibley Drive (Hwy. 587). You can ride a mountain bike as far as "The Chimney" at the Giant's knees, but from there the trail is too rough for biking. In wet weather it may be too dangerous even for hiking. Trail improvements including the placement of trail markers were undertaken in the summer of 1996. Hikers, and indeed all visitors, are always made welcome at the Observatory. The Observatory owns a boat, which is used to bring supplies and volunteers out to the Cape from the closest road access at Silver Islet.
Saw-whet Owls are caught in mist nets at night and banded.
They are attracted to the area by taped recordings of their calls.
Bird populations in Canada are monitored by volunteers taking part in the Breeding Bird Survey every summer and Christmas Bird Counts in the winter, as well as other surveys in various locations. However, many bird species breed (or winter) in remote areas where it is next to impossible to keep track of their relative abundance. In order to follow the population trends of these species (and others as well), migration monitoring stations such as Thunder Cape Bird Observatory are necessary.The suitability of the site was assessed in the fall of 1991 with encouraging results. From August 15 to October 12, 182 species were recorded and 4390 birds representing 92 species were banded. 14 species rare to the District of Thunder Bay were recorded, six of which were considered rare for all of Northern Ontario. Beginning in 1992, both spring and fall migration have been monitored at Thunder Cape, and where once stood a lighthouse, there now stands a cabin, beside it a sauna and further back a wooden tower rises above the treetops.
The wooden observation tower allows a view over the treetops.
The Observatory is run by a Chief Bander, a position first held by Dr. Dave Shepherd and starting in the fall of 1995 by Jul Wojnowski. Jul was replaced in the spring of 1998 by Graeme Gibson. In 1999 Audrey Heagy took on the job followed by Bruce Rodrigues the following year.In 2001 Bruce was assisted by John Woodcock who was then hired as Program Coordinator for the observatory. He ran the spring program in 2002 and has run all programs at the station starting in the spring of 2003.
The Program Coordinator (Chief Bander) is assisted by a crew of volunteers, some of whom have come from as far as England or India. Assistants have also been hired through federal and provincial student employment programs.
The Observatory is manned during bird migration in spring and fall. Mist nets are opened up every day to catch birds that will be identified, aged, sexed and weighed before receiving a leg band with an identifying number on it. Other staff keep track of birds swimming or flying by the Cape. A wooden tower was build to allow an unrestricted view towards the Giant above the treetops. Some birds are also caught in Heligoland traps at the very tip of the cape near the main cabin. Large amounts of data are thus collected and later analyzed to help assess bird population and migration trends.
A Black-capped Chickadee is carefully removed from a mist net,
bagged and brought to the banding lab for processing.
At least 156 bird species have been banded and 290 species recorded at TCBO since the fall of 1991 through fall 2003. Several firsts have been observed for the District of Thunder Bay and even some firsts for all of Ontario. The page: Rarities Documented at Thunder Cape contains a comprehensive list of rare birds documented at the Cape during each banding season as well as a chronological list of birds added to the District Checklist.
Some of the birds banded at Thunder Cape have turned up elsewhere in North America. Here are some examples: A Sharp-shinned Hawk banded at TCBO on Aug. 28, 1998 was recaptured near Veracruz City, Mexico on Sept. 28, 1998. It had averaged at least 112 km per day! A Pine Siskin banded in October 1994 was found in Helena, Montana in August 1995. A Saw-whet Owl from Sept. '93 showed up in Austin, Texas in March '94. A pair of Sharp-shinned Hawks banded on Sept. 9, 1991, were captured in Duluth, Minnesota on Sept. 27, 1992. Numerous other recoveries have been made.
The view north towards the Sleeping Giant from the observation tower.
Write to:
Thunder Cape Bird Observatory, c/o Thunder Bay Field Naturalists, P.O. Box 10037, Thunder Bay, Ontario, P7B 6T6. The TCBO Committee publishes a newsletter entitled "Thunder Cape News" twice a year and mails it to members of TCBO.We encourage you to consider becoming a member of the Thunder Cape Bird Observatory. Your annual membership fee of $10 will be used to support this worthwhile project and you will receive the two yearly newsletters keeping you up to date on the activities at the Observatory and the latest migration statistics.
Members of the Thunder Cape Bird Observatory Committee are:
Susan Bryan (807) 345-6446, Nick Escott (Past chairman) 345-7122, Allan Gilbert (Chairman), Allan Harris (Newsletter editor) 344-7213, George Holborn (MNR liaison) 939-3134 and Brian Ratcliff 768-8408.
Heligoland trap.
If you find a banded bird, call toll free 1-800-327-BAND from Canada, the U.S. and most of the Caribbean direct to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service in Laurel, Maryland. Report dead birds (with bands) that you find, or geese, swans, etc. with large readable neck bands. Be prepared to provide information on flock size, and colour of the neck bands.
Most of the information on this website has been compiled from various issues of "Thunder Cape News". The information has been supplemented by personal observations and photos by the author during visits to the Observatory. Thanks to Nick Escott for updates from the Cape.
Website and all uncredited photos by Aarre Ertolahti
Additional photos by John Woodcock and Allan Gilbert
Website maintained by Aarre Ertolahti
