James Bay Shorebird Surveys 2014 - Reports

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Below are three reports posted on the Ontbirds and Shorebirds Listservs

Report # 1 on 3 August 2014

This is Jean Iron's first report for the period 30 July to 3 August 2014 from Little Piskwamish Point on the southwestern coast of James Bay in Ontario. See map location in link #1 below. James Bay reaches deep into central Canada to latitude 51˚ N and is one of the most important and pristine staging areas for shorebirds in North America. Surveys are conducted under the direction of Christian Friis of the Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS) and Mark Peck of the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) and their partners the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (OMNR), Bird Studies Canada and Moose Cree First Nation. The Little Piskwamish crew comprises Mark Peck (crew leader), James Kennerley from the United Kingdom, Brendan Kelly from Newfoundland and Labrador, Jean Iron, Eleanor Zurbrigg, Doug McRae, Lisa Pollock and Hellen Fu. Two other survey crews are based at North Point and Longridge Point.

SHOREBIRD OBSERVATIONS: 18 species to date. The maximum counts and dates for each species are reported below. Counts are done around high tide when shorebirds are concentrated and resting. Reports pertain to Little Piskwamish (Lat 51.655515 N, Lon -80.57167 W) except where indicated. This is wet summer with below average temperatures.

Black-bellied Plover: 27 adults on Aug 1.

Semipalmated Plover: 90 adults and first juvenile on Aug 1. Solitary Sandpiper: 1 on July 30.

Greater Yellowlegs: 191, some juveniles.

Lesser Yellowlegs: 175 on July 31.

Whimbrel: 20 adults on July 31.

Hudsonian Godwit: 299 molting adults on Aug 1.

Ruddy Turnstone: 29 adults on July 31.

RED KNOT (endangered subspecies rufa): 1050 adults on July 31, 881 on Aug 1 with about 47 flags read on Aug 1, 525 (13 new flags) on Aug 2, 900 on Aug 3.

Total flags about 663 since July 15 from Argentina, Chile, most from Delaware Bay USA, Quebec 1. One knot has been almost 3 weeks illustrating the importance of James Bay. Knots are fattening and undergoing variable amounts of body molt before most make the long flight to South America.   

Sanderling: 8 molting and fading adults on Aug 1.

Semipalmated Sandpiper: 9000 on Aug 1, first juvenile July 31. One yellow flag from Suriname XLN.

Least Sandpiper: 45 on July 31, 70 (+50% juveniles) on Aug 2.

White-rumped Sandpiper: 10,000 molting adults on July 31. James Bay is one the most important fall staging areas for this sandpiper in North America. After fattening most overfly southern Canada and the U.S. going to South America.

Pectoral Sandpiper: 194 adults on Aug 1.

Dunlin: 634 adults on July 31.

Short-billed Sandpiper: 3 adults and 1 juvenile on July 31.

Wilson's Snipe: 3 on Aug 1.

Red-necked Phalarope: 1 adult on Aug 3.

SHOREBIRD TRACKING: A system of nano-tagging (begun last summer on James Bay) and Motus tracking towers and has been set up to track shorebirds such as Semipalmated Sandpiper, White-rumped Sandpiper, Dunlin, Hudsonian Godwit and Red Knot. Nano-tags are tiny and their signals can be received within a 20 km radius of a tower. Tags are placed on when the shorebird is banded and each tag has a different frequency. Several towers were set up this summer along southern James Bay. Other towers are located along Lake Ontario and Lake Erie, St. Lawrence River and Maritime Provinces including Bay of Fundy and the East Coast of the United States. Towers are 4-5 metres high and record time and GPS. See photo of a Motus tower taken by Tim Lucas at Presqu'ile Provincial Park on Lake Ontario.

http://www.jeaniron.ca/2014/JB14/tower.jpg

OTHER BIRD SIGHTINGS: 12 Northern Red-tailed Hawks (breeding subspecies abieticola) were seen July 29 from the train between Cochrane and Moosonee.

Mute Swan on July 31. American White Pelican, 6 on Aug 1. American Bittern, 1 on 2 Aug. Sandhill Cranes, 10 on 2 Aug. Yellow Rail, 3  ticking on Aug 1.Sora, 1 on 1 Aug.  Bonaparte's Gull, 37 including 1 juvenile on Aug 2. Common Tern, 8 on Aug 2. Great Horned Owl (breeding subspecies scalariventris) hooting on July 30 and 31. Gray Jay 5, (2 adults and 3 juveniles - probably a family group) on July 30. Boreal Chickadee, 3 on Aug 1. Swainson's Thrush, 1 juvenile daily. Singing Nelson's Sparrow (subspecies alter), 7 on Aug 1. Le Conte's Sparrow, 1 on Aug 1. White-winged Crossbill, 145 on Aug 1. Common Redpoll, 10 on July 30. Pine Siskin, 2 on July 31.

OTHER LOCATIONS: Black Guillemot, 3 at Longridge on Aug 2. Gray Catbird, 1 at North Point on July 30. See map link #1 below. 

BEARS: Two Black Bears near camp. Polar Bears normally do not occur south of Akimiski Island where a sizable population spends the summer. See map link #1 below.

MORE INFORMATION in 3 links below:

1. Map showing location of Little Piskwamish Point http://www.jeaniron.ca/2014/JB14/map.htm

2. Population Estimates of North American Shorebirds 2012

http://www.shorebirdplan.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/ShorePopulationAndresEtAl2012.pdf

3. Ontario Shorebird Conservation Plan

http://www.jeaniron.ca/Shorebirds/OSCPlan.pdf

WESTERN HEMISPHERE SHOREBIRD RESERVE: The hope is that James Bay (or part of) will be designated a Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve of Hemispheric Importance. "These sites act as staging, nesting or breeding grounds for at least 500,000 shorebirds annually, or at least 30% of the biogeographic population of any species." James Bay much exceeds the minimum criteria for a "Hemispheric Importance" designation.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: The Western James Bay Shorebird Survey is a cooperative effort of the Canadian Wildlife Service, Royal Ontario Museum , Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (OMNR), Bird Studies Canada and Moose Cree First Nation. Survey camps are rented from the Moose Cree First Nation. The OMNR provides accommodations in the staffhouse while crews are in Moosonee. Thanks to Rod Brook, Sarah Hagey and Kim Bennett of OMNR for logistical support. This project would not be possible without the many hours of dedicated volunteer effort. Jean thanks an anonymous donor for financial assistance.

NOTE: Jean celebrated her birthday on August 1. I thought readers would enjoy her message to me by DeLorme inReach two-way satellite communicator with GPS. "Wonderful birthday wiener boil and creek tea on mudflats at dusk prebanding. Double rainbow. Lovely birthday cake tonight. Chocolate with little sugar eggs on top and a citronella candle in middle".

Next report in 5-7 days.

Ron Pittaway

Toronto, Ontario

Report # 2 on 10 August 2014

This is Jean Iron's second report for the period 4 - 10 August 2014 from Little Piskwamish Point on the southwestern coast of James Bay in Ontario. See map link #2 below. Surveys are conducted under the direction of Christian Friis of the Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS) and Mark Peck of the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) and their partners the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (OMNR), Bird Studies Canada, Nature Canada and Moose Cree First Nation. The Little Piskwamish crew comprises Mark Peck (crew leader), James Kennerley from UK, Brendan Kelly from NL, Jean Iron, Eleanor Zurbrigg, Doug McRae, Lisa Pollock and Hellen Fu. Darrell Isaac and Jeffrey Isaac from Moose Factory First Nation arrived on August 5 to assist with the survey.

Two other crews are based at North Point and Longridge Point.

JAMES BAY: Ontario's coastline of James Bay measures about 560 kilometres or 350 miles. The west coast is extremely flat and intersected by several large rivers and many streams. The southern coast is characterized by long narrow promontories, wide tidal flats, shoals, sandy bays, extensive brackish marshes and pools. It's a shorebird paradise of great conservation concern.

SHOREBIRD MIGRATION CHRONOLOGY: Most (not all) southbound shorebirds migrate in three waves: adult females first, adult males second, juveniles last.

SHOREBIRD OBSERVATIONS: The maximum counts and dates for each species are reported below. Reports pertain to Little Piskwamish at Lat 51.655515 N, Lon -80.57167 W.

THREE HIGHEST TOTAL DAILY COUNTS: 18635 shorebirds on July 31, 15530 on Aug 3 and 13812 on Aug 4.

Black-bellied Plover: 57 molting adults on Aug 6.

Semipalmated Plover: 60 adults on Aug 6, 1 juvenile on 9th.

Killdeer: 4 adults and 3 juveniles on Aug 6.

Spotted Sandpiper: first juvenile on Aug 5 and 2 juveniles on 8th.

Solitary Sandpiper: 4 adults on Aug 4 and 2 juveniles on 5th.

Greater Yellowlegs: 270 on Aug 6, 75% juveniles on 9th. Unlike most shorebirds, some Greaters undergo both body and wing molt at James Bay before continuing migration.

Lesser Yellowlegs: 137 on Aug 6. Almost all now are juveniles.

Whimbrel: 9 on Aug 3.

Hudsonian Godwit: 167 molting adults on Aug 4. One red flag OEM from Chile on Aug 5. Another with red flag JK from Chile on Aug 9. Most adult Hudsonian Godwits molt body feathers while at James Bay before departing in late Aug and early Sept with most going nonstop to South America.

Marbled Godwit: 1 juvenile on Aug 7 and 2 juveniles on 8th. The estimated disjunct James Bay population is 2000 birds. Most adults depart in late July. The wintering grounds of James Bay birds were unknown until recently.

Birds fitted with satellite transmitters on Akimiski Island in 2007 and 2008 went southwest to winter along the Gulf of California (Sea of Cortez) in Mexico. Previously it was thought that James Bay godwits wintered on the south Atlantic Coast of the United States, which is much closer to James Bay. 

Ruddy Turnstone: 23 on Aug 6.

RED KNOT: Highest daily count was 1670 adults on Aug 6. First 3 juvenile knots on Aug 8. Flag re-sightings are currently about 1400 so Mark Peck is very happy. Knot numbers this year are similar to most previous summers.

Mark estimates that about 5000 adult knots are using Little Piskwamish this summer making it one of the most important southbound sites for the endangered rufa subspecies in North America. One knot with a white flag ALH was banded on the Mingan Archipelago on the north shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence in Quebec. Mingan is the other major southbound staging area for knots in Eastern Canada, but there is virtually no mixing of birds between there and James Bay. The knots are fat and in excellent condition. They will soon fly nonstop to South America. Knots that fail to gain adequate weight suffer reduced survival.

Sanderling: 4 molting adults on Aug 4.

Semipalmated Sandpiper: 7000 on Aug 4. Very few juveniles to date but increasing. Both adults and juveniles are being fitted with nano-tags. This peep has declined very significantly in recent years. See SHOREBIRD CONSERVATION NOTE below.

Least Sandpiper: 170 on 7th. Almost all were juveniles. The switchover from adults to juveniles was rapid.

White-rumped Sandpiper: 5900 molting and fattening adults on Aug 6.

Pectoral Sandpiper: 100 on Aug 8.

Dunlin: Dunlin 800 adults on Aug 8. Thousands of Dunlins (subspecies hudsonia) stage in James Bay. Adults undergo a complete (wings/tail/body) prebasic molt and juveniles undergo a partial (body) preformative molt before both age classes resume migration about mid-September and later. This is the reason that North American Dunlins are very rare south of the subarctic until much later than most other shorebirds.

Stilt Sandpiper: 1 juvenile on 9 Aug.

Short-billed Sandpiper: 1 juvenile 9 Aug.

Wilson's Phalarope: 1 juvenile on Aug 6 and 9th. Small numbers breed in the vast prairie-like marshes of James Bay.

Red-necked Phalarope: 4 juveniles on Aug 7.

OTHER BIRDS: Canada Goose, 460 flying over on Aug 5. American Wigeon, 5 on Aug 4. American Black Duck, 98 on Aug 6. Mallard, 82 on Aug 8. Northern Pintail, 105 on Aug 7. Green-winged Teal, 56 on Aug 6. Ring-necked Duck, 1 on Aug 6. Scaup species, 6 on Aug 1. Common Goldeneye, 18 on Aug 6. Hooded Merganser, 5 on Aug 9. Common Merganser, 2 on Aug 4. Red-breasted Merganser,1 on Aug 7. Black Scoter, large raft of 4000 mostly molting males on Aug 5.

Common Loon, 6 on Aug 6. Pied-billed Grebe, 1 juvenile on Aug 6. American White Pelican, 16 on Aug 4. American Bittern, 2 on Aug 6. Great Blue Heron, 1 juvenile. Osprey, 4 on Aug 6. Bald Eagle, a few adults and immatures in area. Northern Goshawk, 2 adults on Aug 5. Merlin, 3 on Aug 6. Yellow Rail, 3 on Aug 8. Sora, 2 on Aug 5. Sandhill Crane, 28 on Aug 7. Bonaparte's Gull,631 mostly molting adults, juveniles increasing. Little Gull, 2 molting adults on Aug 10, 1 molting to second winter plumage on Aug 7 and 8.

Great Horned Owl, 1 heard on Aug 7 and 8th. Long-eared Owl, 1 heard on Aug 5 and 6th. Common Raven, 22 on Aug 5. American Crow, 5 on Aug 6. Black-capped Chickadee, 4 on Aug 3. Boreal Chickadee, 3 on Aug 8. Horned Lark, 1 on Aug 7 and 8th. Tree Swallow, 66 on Aug 4. Alder Flycatcher, 8 on Aug 4.

Nashville Warbler, 1 on Aug 4. Tennessee Warbler, 3 on Aug 4. Yellow-rumped Warbler, 80 on Aug 6. Palm Warbler, 1 on Aug 4. American Redstart, 1 on Aug 9. Common Yellowthroat, 4 on Aug 3. Wilson's Warbler, 4 on Aug 6. Northern Waterthrush, 7 on Aug 4. Yellow Warbler, 12 on Aug 4. Savannah Sparrow, 65 on Aug 7. Le Conte's, 3 on Aug 4 - 7th. Nelson's Sparrow (daily) with 4 on Aug 8. Fox Sparrow, 1 on Aug 4. Song Sparrow, 40 on Aug 6. Lincoln's Sparrow, 10 on Aug 4. Swamp Sparrow, 13 on Aug 6. Dark-eyed Junco, 2 on Aug 9. Red-winged Blackbird, 200 on Aug 8. Rusty Blackbird, 1 on Aug 6. White-winged Crossbill, 145 on Aug 1, 105 on Aug 4, 80 on 8th. Common Redpoll, 3 juveniles on Aug 6. Pine Siskin, 2 on Aug 5.

SHOREBIRD CONSERVATION NOTE: I've copied the following email from Ken Abraham (emeritus OMNR Research Scientist) with his permission. "See the article linked below on tracking Semipalmated Sandpipers with geolocators. Note that the bird highlighted in the article spent a month (21 July to 22 August 2013) in James Bay on its southern migration and a week (2 June to 10 June 2014) in James Bay on its spring migration. The other significant (and remarkable, almost unbelievable) finding is that it flew non-stop for 6 days from James Bay to Brazil (i.e., it did not go to the Bay of Fundy) which underlines even more the importance of the James Bay coastline for feeding and energy acquisition. It's not often we get this kind of information on the conservation importance of a site before there is an imminent threat of its loss due to some development. We should make the most of this information in our quest to get the area designated as a protected area." See link. #1.

#1. http://bit.ly/1urNasi

#2. Map of survey locations.

http://www.jeaniron.ca/2014/JB14/map.htm

 #3. Population Estimates of North American Shorebirds 2012

 http://www.jeaniron.ca/2013/ShorebirdPop2012.pdf

 #4. Southbound Shorebirds: Some basic facts.

http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/articles.southboundshorebirds

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: The Western James Bay Shorebird Survey is a cooperative effort of the Canadian Wildlife Service, Royal Ontario Museum , Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (OMNR), Bird Studies Canada, Nature Canada and Moose Cree First Nation. Survey camps are rented from the Moose Cree First Nation. The OMNR provides accommodations in the staffhouse while crews are in Moosonee. Thanks to Rod Brook, Sarah Hagey and Kim Bennett of OMNR for logistical support. This project would not be possible without the many long days of dedicated volunteer effort. Jean thanks an anonymous donor for financial assistance to the program.

NOTE: This is Jean's sixth consecutive year surveying southbound shorebirds on James Bay. Little Piskwamish is a new location for her. The crew will be coming out on Wednesday August 13 (weather permitting for chopper) except for Lisa Pollock who's staying with next crew and Doug McRae who's going to North Point with a new crew there. The crew hopes to get out early enough to take the train on Wednesday from Moosonee to Cochrane. Then the 8 hour drive home on Thursday. Jean will post a third report with a link to survey photos on her website within 10 days.

Ron Pittaway

Toronto, Ontario 

Report # 3 on 19 August 2014

This is the third report for the two day period 11 -12 August 2014 from Little Piskwamish Point on the southwestern coast of James Bay in Ontario. Be sure to see photos and videos in link below. Surveys are conducted under the direction of Christian Friis of the Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS) and Mark Peck of the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) and their partners: the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (OMNR), Bird Studies Canada, Nature Canada and Moose Cree First Nation. The Little Piskwamish crew comprised Mark Peck (crew leader), James Kennerley, Brendan Kelly, Jean Iron, Eleanor Zurbrigg, Doug McRae, Lisa Pollock, Hellen Fu, and Darrell Isaac and Jeffrey Isaac from Moose Cree First Nation. Two other crews were based at North Point and Longridge Point. They may file reports.

LINK TO PHOTOS AND VIDEOS - 5 PAGES

http://www.jeaniron.ca/2014/JB14/p1.htm

HIGH COUNTS: An estimated 46,256 shorebirds were observed on Aug 11 and 30,875 shorebirds on Aug 12. These high counts resulted from strong north winds combined with high tides after the full moon on Sunday August 10. We were in awe as many thousands of shorebirds wheeled around at high tide.

Given these numbers at one location, there must be several million southbound shorebirds using James Bay.  

SHOREBIRD OBSERVATIONS: Highest maximum counts and dates for each species are reported below. Reports pertain to Little Piskwamish.

Black-bellied Plover: 150 adults on Aug 11.

American Golden-Plover: 4 adults on Aug 11.

Semipalmated Plover: 140 on Aug. One third were flying high and migrating south. Some juveniles noted.

Killdeer: 12 adults and 4 juveniles on Aug 11.

Solitary Sandpiper: 1 juvenile on Aug 12.

Greater Yellowlegs: 380 adults and juveniles on Aug 11

Lesser Yellowlegs: 325 on Aug 11. All juveniles.

Whimbrel: 3 on Aug 11.

Hudsonian Godwit: 299 molting adults plus first juvenile on Aug 11.

Marbled Godwit: 2 juveniles on Aug 11. Adults have departed.

Ruddy Turnstone: 101 on Aug 11.

RED KNOT: 2000 on Aug 11 and 2000 again on Aug 12 including 12 juveniles on both days. Juvenile numbers should increase over the next few weeks and adults will depart soon. Total flag re-sightings were about 1600 for the period July 15 to Aug 12. Because many individual flagged knots were seen more than once, the total number of flags represents over 350 individuals.

Mark Peck estimates that at least 5000 adult knots are/were using Little Piskwamish this summer making it one of the most important southbound sites for the endangered rufa subspecies in North America.

Sanderling: 1 molting adult on Aug 12.

Semipalmated Sandpiper: 11,000 on Aug 11 and 7800 on Aug 12. Juvenile numbers increasing to about 10%.

Least Sandpiper: 250 on Aug 11. All juveniles.

White-rumped Sandpiper: Conservative estimates of 30,000 adults on Aug 11 and 19,000 on Aug 12.

Pectoral Sandpiper: 300 on Aug 11. First juvenile on Aug 11.

Dunlin: 1200 molting adults on Aug 11 and 1000 on Aug 12. Numbers are building.

Short-billed Sandpiper: 5 juveniles on Aug 11.

Wilson's Snipe: 80 gathering in a coastal marsh on Aug 11.

Red-necked Phalarope: 1 juvenile on Aug 12.

VIDEO LINKS TO SHOREBIRDS

1. Red Knot Surveys http://youtu.be/x6TP3tAgiKM

2. Red Knots Feeding http://youtu.be/WbY737Rytwg

3. Juvenile Red Knot http://youtu.be/A2YpLGoZq_s

4. Hudsonian Godwit http://youtu.be/YhqqRm4orHU

5. Juvenile Wilson's Phalarope https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htCKQoxXpBg

6. Comparison of juvenile Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs http://youtu.be/hDM_5Sr0Hd8

7. Peeps: http://youtu.be/kEAZz3fS9tg

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: The Western James Bay Shorebird Survey is a cooperative effort of the Canadian Wildlife Service, Royal Ontario Museum , Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (OMNR), Bird Studies Canada, Nature Canada in cooperation with the Moose Cree First Nation. Survey camps are rented from the Moose Cree First Nation. The OMNR provides accommodations in the staffhouse while crews are in Moosonee. Thanks to Rod Brook, Sarah Hagey and Kim Bennett of OMNR for logistical support. This project would not be possible without the many long days of dedicated volunteer effort. Jean thanks an anonymous donor for financial assistance to the program.

SHOREBIRD CONSERVATION: It is our hope that these surveys and public support will contribute to James Bay (or parts thereof) being designated a Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve of Hemispheric Importance. James Bay greatly exceeds the minimum criteria for this designation. 

Jean Iron and Ron Pittaway

Toronto, Ontario