Our History

HISTORY

In the early 1990’s, birders who visited the Rocky Point site noted that the abundance of migratory birds passing over this southernmost tip of Vancouver Island was considerably higher than in other locations. Alan MacLeod brought his observations to the attention of the Canadian Wildlife Service, who provided staff and guidance on monitoring songbirds. Rhonda Milliken conducted radar surveys, and a team of local volunteers from the Victoria Natural History Society, including David Allinson, Bev Glover, Colleen O’Brien and Michael Shepard took up the challenge of setting up a banding station on the site. Nets were placed in a wide variety of habitats, and non-standardized bird banding took place at the site during spring, summer, and fall between 1994 and 1999. The results confirmed the suspicion that Rocky Point was indeed a migration corridor for a wide variety of songbirds and raptors.

Thanks to funding by the Canadian Wildlife Service and ongoing support from Wendy Easton, in 1998, RPBO’s first professional Bander-in-charge, Dan Darbyshire, was hired. In addition to conducting the daily operations of the station, Dan drafted RPBO’s first protocol, which continues to form the basis of our current operational document. Since 1999, net location, hours of operation, a census route and many other procedures have been standardized. 

In 2000, RPBO formed a society under the BC Societies Act and became a registered charity.

As more and more volunteers became familiar with the workings of a banding station, other projects became possible. Several volunteers had obtained their banding permits and were anxious to expand the operations. In the fall of 2002, a proposal by director Paul Levesque to begin a Northern Saw-whet Owl monitoring project was approved. The number of owls captured that fall (210) exceeded expectations and the project became a regular component of RPBO’s monitoring effort. In the spring of 2003, Paul also proposed that a bird banding workshop be offered, both to provide bander training and to raise funds for RPBO. The workshops continue to be a cornerstone of RPBO’s public education. Another project initiated by Paul in 2003 was MAPS, with our first stations set up at Rocky Point and Royal Roads University (RRU). In 2009, the RRU site was replaced by one at Witty’s Lagoon (as the site at RRU had been dramatically changed) and in 2011, the RPBO site was replaced by one at Madrona Farms as access for MAPS activities was not granted by DND. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, Madrona Farms ended our access to their site. In 2021, a MAPS site was initiated at Power-to-Be near Prospect Lake. 

Once RPBO began hiring banding staff, fundraising became an essential part of operations. Important support has come from the BC Gaming Commission, the Public Conservation Assistance Fund, Shell Environmental Fund, the Baillie Memorial Fund, Microsoft, the Joan Outerbridge Charitable Trust, the Victoria Natural History Society, the Victoria Foundation and many others. In 2004, Michael Porter established an endowment fund with the Victoria Foundation with the goal of the interest from that fund covering the cost of hiring a bander-in-charge each year. Although the endowment fund has grown, it has not yet reached that objective. Private donors have supplied funds for operations, and for capital purchases of equipment and the trailer that was used to house our bander. Companies such as Pedder Bay RV Resort and Marina (Oak Bay Marine Group) and Kowa Optics have provided goods and services-in-kind to support RPBO. Individuals and volunteers have also provided in-kind donations of goods and labour.

In 2009, RPBO took on the Hummingbird Project of BC, initiated by Cam Finlay. It has been managed and expanded by Alison Moran and has been the source of many collaborations and scientific publications. This project is still fully staffed by volunteers.

Our newest program is Seawatch, initiated in 2016, and still fully staffed by volunteers. Weekly surveys are completed at Beechey Head in East Sooke Park.

RPBO Presidents
2000-2004 David Allinson
2004-2006 David Kelly
2006-2007 Paul Levesque
2007-2011 Ann Nightingale
2011-2011 Shona Lawson
2011-2014 Ann Nightingale/Michael Simmons (co-presidents)
2014-2016 Jessie Fanucchi
2016-2018 Andrew Harcombe
2018-2021 Kim Beardmore
2021-2023 Jennifer Armstrong
2023-2024 Andrew Harcombe
2024-current Rosa Munzer