Saturday, 11 August 2012

[Maine-birds] For shorebird lovers


Hi Folks, 

I copied this summary of shorebirds staging in the James Bay area of Canada from the Bird Studies Canada newsletter (see link below).  Many of the shorebirds passing through Maine during the fall migration stopover in the James Bay area to deposit fat to fuel their flight to the Bay of Fundy area, Maine coast, Canadian Maritimes and elsewhere, depending on species.  Based on years of color-dying and banding shorebirds in James Bay and resighting many in Maine, the most common species following this route include semipalmated sandpiper, semipalmated plover and least sandpiper. Once in Maine, they feed for about ten days during which time their weight usually doubles prior to flying directly to northern South America.

What a lifestyle! Eat large quantities as fast as possible, gain lots of weight over a couple weeks, work most of it off in a couple days of flying, then repeat the sequence again: eat, gain, burn it off, then eat as much as you can again.  The life of a migrant shorebird.

Link to the Bird Studies Canada newsletter: https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?shva=1#inbox/139144da1fa93555

The next link below connects you to a video showing many flocks of shorebirds flying at James Bay.  It is a really good video in that you can estimate flock size, then hit pause and count the birds, over and over.  You have small shorebirds as well as larger species in small, medium and large flocks. Counting shorebirds accurately is an art and takes a lot of practice and calibration.  A video like this gives you a different view every time, a new flock to count or estimate then check yourself.

Enjoy, it is a rainy day!



9 August 2012 – As participants in the Western James Bay Shorebird Survey, Bird Studies Canada's Stu Mackenzie and Ron Ridout recently joined Christian Friis (Canadian Wildlife Service) and Don Sutherland (OMNR – Natural Heritage Information Centre) for two weeks near Chickney Point, Ontario. The crew counted over 1,000,000 shorebirds of 23 species. Most of the individuals counted were adults. Counts exceeded 100,000 on three days (108,730 on July 21; 120,076 on July 24; and 123,777 on July 25), making this one of the densest concentrations of migratory shorebirds in the province. 
   Highlights included one-day counts of 88,130 Semipalmated Sandpipers; 28,750 White-rumped Sandpipers; 19,420 Dunlin; 1876 Hudsonian Godwits; and 1182 Marbled Godwits. Considering that the most recent estimate of Ontario's Marbled Godwit population is a few thousand, a substantial portion of the Ontario population was observed within a couple kilometres. For some idea of the numbers of birds, select this linkto view video footage from the survey. 
   The western James Bay coast is a migratory staging area of world significance for several shorebird species. Two month-long surveys are conducted at three camps with the support of the Canadian Wildlife Service, the Royal Ontario Museum, and the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources. 

--
Norman Famous, Wetlands and Wildlife Ecologist
513 Eight Rod Road
Augusta, ME 04330

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