Yellow-throated Vireo (Seabrooke Leckie)

The July-early August period of the Monitoring Avian Productivity & Survivorship (MAPS) season is important to our annual assessment of productivity rates. During this time a critical shift occurs from the main nesting period for adults (May-June) and the post-breeding dispersal/pre-migration period (July-August). Some species are still nest building and incubating – mostly late breeders (Cedar Waxwing, American Goldfinch) and those raising second broods or first broods after nest failure. We are able to sample the year’s productivity (nest success) for many species during visits 4-7 when the juvenile or hatch-year birds are first introduced into the population.

Pileated Woodpecker (S.Leckie)

Blue Lakes (BLAK)

On July 7 we operated BLAK for the fourth session this season. We ended the day with 13 individuals captured, all of which were newly banded. Notable amongst the birds banded were four Ovenbirds, which have been relatively scarce this year, and two adult Yellow-throated Vireos. Only two of the birds captured were young birds, a Rose-breasted Grosbeak and a Hairy Woodpecker.

Visit 5 was completed on a calm, clear mid-July morning. We were a little shocked by how quiet it was as just three birds had been captured until the final net check when a young Black-capped Chickadee was extracted from net 12. The lone highlight of the record slow morning was our second-ever Pileated Woodpecker!

Hatch-year Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (S.Leckie)

Maplewood (MABO)

Activity at MABO has been a little higher than at BLAK, although markedly less so than in previous seasons. We captured 22 birds on July 8, which was followed by a total of just 11 on July 20. We’ve banded a decent number of young birds during the two visits including individuals of Veery, Scarlet Tanager and Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, among others. Since we started in 2009, MABO has produced substantially more recaptures than any other station. So far this year we’ve recaptured 13 at BLAK, 13 at RRID and 34 at MABO.

Red-winged Blackbird (S.Leckie)

Rock Ridge (RRID)

While MABO always seems to perform best of the three stations for adults in June, Rock Ridge typically outshines the others for dispersing adult and young birds in July and early August. A total of 13 birds were sampled on July 9, which was followed by a season-high total of 28 on July 19. This site is located on a high ridge along a peninsula that is bound by a large lake on three sides – attributes that naturally funnel birds on the move. An excellent diversity of species were detected and captured on July 19, which included a respectable number of young birds. Common Grackles, Red-winged Blackbirds and American Robins have been the primary species involved so far but this should changeover to warblers and other small passerines during visits 6 and 7, which are due in the next two weeks.

Hatch-year Blue Jay (S.Leckie)

Sharp-shinned Hawk (Derbyshire)

The third round of visits for the 2011 Monitoring Avian Productivity & Survivorship (MAPS) season were completed on June 27 (BLAK), June 29 (MABO) and June 30 (RRID). The weather in June has actually been rather normal and lacking in extended periods of unusual temperatures or precipitation – good for us and good for all the passerines raising young! A total of 17 (9 new, 8 recaptures) birds were captured at MABO during visit 3, the highlight of which was the second-year Sharp-shinned Hawk pictured above – a first for our MAPS efforts to date. Also of note was the recapture of five Veery from previous seasons, including three from our first couple of visits in June 2009.

Purple Finch (Seabrooke Leckie)

The BLAK station was the “winner” of Round 3 as 25 birds (20 new, 5 recaptures) were captured here during the visit. All five recaptures were of birds banded earlier in the 2011 season. We banded a nice variety of species, including another male Black-throated Blue Warbler, a Yellow-rumped Warbler and a Hermit Thrush. The highlight though was the male Purple Finch extracted from net 7 around mid-morning – another first for our MAPS program! This species does occur regularly at all three stations but are so strictly attached to the upper canopy that they will always be only rarely captured.

Weather at RRID was calm and clear with pleasant temperatures. A total of 17 birds were sampled by our mistnet array (15 new, 2 recaptures). We recaptured a Field Sparrow that was originally banded on June 20, 2010 as an After second-year male. It’s becoming clear that the return rate of adults is very low at RRID, especially compared to MABO. Habitats and species composition differ greatly between stations, which will certainly present some interesting topics for further study once a few more seasons of data are compiled.

Here is a quick chart that describes an apparent decline of the adult population at all three stations since 2009 (Only 2010-2011 for BLAK). The graph was generated using total captures (newly banded birds and recaptures) for visits 1-4 by year and station. It would be such a tremendous resource if we had more MAPS stations across Ontario to facilitate local and regional comparisons of vital rates. Unfortunately, in marked contrast to the United States, participation in Canada and in Ontario has been very low. The development of a coordinated and standardized effort to monitor breeding bird demographics in the province would be a major asset for biologists to detect and understand forces affecting landbird populations – now more than ever with advancing climate change.

Scarlet Tanager (S.Leckie)

Our third season of M.A.P.S is now approaching its halfway point. Our second round of visits to the three stations was a little more active than the first, especially at Blue Lakes (BLAK) and Maplewood (MABO). This striking male Scarlet Tanager (Piranga olivacea) was one of 23 birds captured on June 16 at MABO. Veery was the most abundant species captured that day followed by the ubiquitous Red-eyed Vireos – the most prolific forest songbird in the Frontenac Arch.

White Admiral (D.Derbyshire)

After capturing just 10 individuals in early June at BLAK, we expected another quiet day when we set the nets up at dawn on June 15. Perhaps the fairer weather helped as the vireos finally showed up and a bunch of other species seemed to be more evident. We ended the day with a meager but respectable 15 birds captured. Butterflies and other non-avian critters seemed to catch our attention throughout the morning, including the White Admiral (Limenitis arthemis) pictured above – a personal favourite.

Five-lined Skink (S.Leckie)

There is no substitute for sitting patiently and quietly when you want to find wildlife. During our first visit a couple weeks earlier we had a Smooth Green Snake approach us at the banding station. During our next visit while I was out on a net round, Seabrooke was approached by this adult Five-linked Skink (Plestiodon fasciatus) at the station! We also had a brief look at a blue immature individual just yesterday at the same spot.

Black-and-white Warbler (D.Derbyshire)

Normally I pull the plug on any planned M.A.P.S visit when the forecast indicates a 50/50 or greater chance of precipitation – too risky for me. However, I had little choice with visit 2 to Rock Ridge (RRID) on June 17. There was a brief 30 minute shower near dawn, which delayed net opening, but the rest of the morning was generally just damp and cloudy. We closed slightly early due to the forecast late morning thunderstorms – don’t want to be caught in that when a couple of kilometres out on Big Clear Lake. We noted much more bird song and chatter on this visit compared to our first but it seemed that the dreary weather was limiting bird activity. We ended the abbreviated visit with just 7 captures but left feeling encouraged by the apparent increase in numbers of expected species, particularly Black-and-white Warblers and Eastern Towhees. We caught an Ovenbird, which was weird for rock barren habitat. Even more surprising was the Prairie Warbler that sang from two positions at opposite ends of the study area throughout the morning. I’ve already picked out his colour bands so hopefully he will be there when we return….

Eastern Towhee at Rock Ridge (Seabrooke Leckie)

In addition to all the stream hopping, nest searching, colour banding and biothon-ing, we are also well into our third consecutive season of the Monitoring Avian Productivity & Survivorship (MAPS) program. Our three stations have been a wellspring of data and ideas for the FBS program and a fundamental monitoring scheme for measuring the health and viability of local breeding bird populations. We launched the stations in 2009 and were pleased to find high numbers of adults at the sites. However, unusually wet and/or cold conditions in late spring/early summer of that year and again in 2010 appeared to contribute to low productivity (nest success) for two consecutive breeding seasons. This has been backed up by an apparent high nest failure rate detected by our nest searching efforts in both years. We hoped that things would begin to turn around in 2011 but unfortunately our results from the first of seven visits this year indicates record low numbers of adults – not unexpected given the lackluster output of young birds into the population in the preceding two years.

Blue Lakes (BLAK)

We began the season on June 4 at BLAK and found a mostly quiet woodland – far from the exuberant activity of even a year ago. We ended the day having captured just 10 individuals, although four of these were returns from previous years, which gave us some encouragement. For comparison we captured 24 individuals here during visit 1 on June 8, 2010. Numbers were down for most species with Red-eyed Vireo, Ovenbird, Black-throated Blue Warbler and Veery being the most lacking.

Big Poplar down at Net 8, MABO (S.Leckie)

Rock Ridge (RRID)

On the following day, June 5, 2011, we made our way to Rock Ridge in Frontenac Provincial Park. Once again, overall bird activity was considerably lower than in previous years, especially in the forest interior. A total of 10 birds were captured – again with 4 returns. This total is identical to that for visit 1 in 2010 but significantly lower than the 25 recorded in 2009. Black-and-white Warbler, Red-eyed Vireo, Scarlet Tanager and Field Sparrow are the species that seem to have declined here most heavily.

Male Yellow-bellied Sapsucker at BLAK (S.Leckie)

Maplewood Bog (MABO)

Our final stop for round one was to Maplewood Bog (MABO), which tends to be our busiest of the three stations. We captured 26 birds here during visit 1 in 2009, followed by 21 in 2010. After six hours of banding we arrived at, remarkably, yet another tally of 10 individuals!! We banded just four new birds and recaptured six returning individuals from previous years. The woods, once so abundant with thrushes, vireos and tanagers, were very quiet indeed.

Chestnut-side Warbler at BLAK (S.Leckie)

Our data from the MAPS program and our other studies appear to indicate a widespread downward trend in forest bird populations in the FBS study area since 2009. Factors driving populations are highly complex so we won’t be sounding any alarm bells or hitting the panic button just yet. Also, we know that populations are subject to periodic highs and lows in sync with naturally occurring but variable weather phenomena. We expect (and hope) that bird numbers will be gradually restored following breeding seasons with more favourable weather. Speaking of weather, the MAPS program is very well positioned to shed light on effects of climate change on breeding birds at the landscape, regional and even broader scales. It is unfortunate that there are so few MAPS stations in Ontario as it would be instructive to compare regional patterns and trends in vital rates in anticipation of shifting climate “normals”. All of this being said, there is still six more visits to each station in 2011 and a great deal more to learn.

Pileated Woodpecker (Seabrooke Leckie)

This monster of a woodpecker was a an exciting bird to band – a first for FBS! As I emerged from some dense pines en route to net 7 this Pileated Woodpecker began to struggle its way out of the net before I quickly corralled it into my hands. It left twelve small puncture wounds on my fingers before I could free its tangled feet and put him into a carrying bag – a very swift and powerful avian hammerhead! Seabrooke was delighted to receive it back at the station, it was the first she’d had in-the-hand for banding.

The rest of the morning was very much a continuation of the last visit on July 14 – dreadfully quiet! A total of seven birds were captured during the visit, one less than the previous record low of 8 at Blue Lakes on July 14 of this year! The site is so contrastingly empty of birds compared to our first few visits in June. The once common Yellow-throated Vireos, Chestnut-sided and Black-throated Blue Warblers, Veerys and Ovenbirds are all gone and the area is not attracting many dispersing birds of any kind. We remain undeterred by this curious development as it is vitally important to monitor both the highs and the lows.

Our last visit to Blue Lakes in 2010 will be held in early August, which should coincide with the peak of post-breeding dispersal for the region. Perhaps our first season at the station will end with a final flourish? Either way, we’ve had some fantastic birds there and will have better breeding seasons to look forward to….

Yellow-billed Cuckoo (Seabrooke Leckie)

I have no idea where the last two weeks went! We’ve completed visits 4 and 5 to all of our MAPS sites and not a word was posted here about it – until now. Our fourth round of visits were done during the heat wave when the ghastly humidity forced to shut down a bit early at Maplewood and Rock Ridge. Temperatures were more moderate during visit 5 but we ended up with even lower capture totals despite logging more net hours at both stations!

I’ll start this summary of round five with the Rock Ridge (RRID) station in Frontenac Provincial Park. The weather was perfect and post-breeding dispersal was evident for the first time in 2010. Our first Yellow-billed Cuckoo of the year was banded along with small numbers of the usual suspects.

Early morning along the ridge (Derbyshire)

The day started off well with lots of young birds moving along the ridge – primarily Eastern Towhees, Yellow Warblers and Pine Warblers. The first half of the morning was quite productive, which was followed by the latter half ending with five consecutive empty net rounds – a record for us! We finished the visit with 17 total captures – 3 less than visit 4 when the heat and humidity were extremely high. On the bright side, we’ve somehow eclipsed last year’s pace at Ridge Ridge in terms of total birds banded and recaptured.

juv Pine Warbler (Seabrooke Leckie)

This juvenile Pine Warbler is the first we’ve captured at any of our MAPS stations! Pine Warblers nest in the tall pines on either side of the ridge near the banding station but they never seem to come down low enough to be captured. It makes sense that our first would be a dispersing youngster, which are less tied to the canopy foraging.

Adult Veery in moult (Derbyshire)

Our fifth visit to the Blue Lakes (BLAK) station was somewhat shocking as it ended up being the slowest day we’ve had since we started MAPS in 2009! The Black-throated Blue Warblers that were abundant earlier in the summer had vanished and the morning had this eerily quiet feel to it. The Veery, like the Black-throated Blue Warbler, was a dominant species earlier in the season but were noticeably missing during visit 5. We did recapture one Veery during the morning, an adult male in the midst of basic moult.

Chestnut-sided Warbler (Seabrooke)

Always nice to find Chestut-sided Warblers in the nets. This male was recaptured for the first time since it was banded in mid-June. Fortunately there are still a number of these holding territories on the shorelines of lakes and ponds in the area. We ended visit 5 with 8 birds captured in six hours of sampling – REALLY quiet. I’m looking forward to getting back there to see how the season unfolds.

Scarlet Tanager (Seabrooke)

We can always expect birds at Maplewood (MABO)! This is the most consistent station of the three in our MAPS network. At the end of the day we tallied up the results and noted that 22 birds were captured, which is a quiet day for MABO. We sampled the first real wave of young birds at the station in 2010, which included this juv Scarlet Tanager as well as American Redstart, Hairy Woodpecker and Yellow-bellied Sapsucker.

Other noteworthy records included our first captured Ruby-throated Hummingbird of the year and two more Scarlet Tanagers! Multiple Wood Thrushes are still singing at the site and at least one Wood Thrush youngster has been banded in 2010. The exodus of Veerys at Blue Lakes is being echoed at MABO where the species was not encountered at all during visit 5. The Veery is normally an abundant species at MABO but our results in 2009 and 2010 have suggested widespread breeding failure. The weather conditions in both years have been atypical and likely a factor impacting nest success for at least some species. It will be exciting to begin analysis of the data after a few more seasons, preferably with more ‘average’ conditions. I will be particularly interested in statistics on survivorship, productivity and recruitment for Veerys.

Spring Peeper (Pseudacris crucifer)

As we are already into visit 4, I thought I’d better wrap up visit 3 to MABO and RRID in one summary. The visit to Maplewood Bog on June 29 was a unique MAPS experience for me because for the first time I was all by myself! Our first priority is to perform net checks at frequent and regular intervals of no more than 25-30 minutes, which is a challenge without multiple personnel. I was able to do this during visit 3 but felt the fatigue of near constant motion for the six hours of the fieldwork!

The weather was damp and cool with intermittent drizzle, keeping bird activity low and giving me some extra time to race around the net circuit. I was somewhat shocked that I’d processed 27 birds that morning – a not too shabby total considering the conditions. I had no time for photos with the exception of an irresistible Spring Peeper that clung to the stem of a shrub near net 6. As usual, an excellent variety of birds were captured including a female Scarlet Tanager, the first juvenile Wood Thrush of the year and a second-year Veery that was banded as a young bird in August 2009!

Maplewood Bog – Visit 3 of 7

New birds banded (19 of 11 species)
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American Redstart – 1
Northern Waterthrush – 1
Red-eyed Vireo – 3
Song Sparrow – 2
Wood Thrush – 1
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker – 1
Scarlet Tanager – 1
Gray Catbird – 2
Eastern Towhee – 1
American Robin – 5
Blue Jay – 1

Recaptures (8 of 6 species)
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Northern Waterthrush – 1
Red-eyed Vireo – 1
Gray Catbird – 1
American Robin – 1
Veery – 2
Wood Thrush – 2

Black-throated Green Warbler (Seabrooke Leckie)

Our first ever Black-throated Green Warbler (Dendroica virens) was banded at Rock Ridge during visit 3 this past week. Black-throated Greens are regular breeders in Frontenac Provincial Park, particularly in areas with mature conifers and dense canopy cover. Overall, things are moving along nicely at this site as young birds are beginning to appear in numbers. Another male White-throated Sparrow was banded (below) while a tan-morph individual was spotted carrying food in an area of juniper scrub at the north edge of the station.

Red-eyed Vireo (Seabrooke Leckie)

Red-eyed Vireos are more commonly heard and captured than seen at Rock Ridge. There are a few pairs occupying young deciduous patches of Sugar Maple-Oak. Growth rates are very slow here so it might be more accurate to describe the forests as ‘low’ instead of young as many of the trees are probably 50-80 years old but appear much younger. Blue-headed Vireos also breed in this conifer dominated eastern edge of the park but we’ve not encountered any so far at Rock Ridge.

White-throated Sparrow (Seabrooke Leckie)

A total of 25 birds were captured during visit 3 – a very good sample of what is present. We captured several young birds including individuals of Eastern Phoebe, Black-capped Chickadee, Field Sparrow, Song Sparrow and American Robin – all early nesting temperate migrants. There has been little sign of productivity so far for any neotropical species at the three stations. The extraordinary amount of rainfall in the month of June may be influential to productivity indices in 2010 – visits 4-7 should be instructive.

Rock Ridge – Visit 3 of 7

New birds banded (17 of 12 species)
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Black-throated Green Warbler – 1
Common Yellowthroat – 1
Field Sparrow – 2
Black-capped Chickadee – 1
Chipping Sparrow – 1
Eastern Phoebe – 1
Red-eyed Vireo – 1
Song Sparrow – 2
White-throated Sparrow – 1
Hairy Woodpecker – 1
American Robin – 4
Common Grackle – 1

Recaptures (8 of 6 species)
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Common Yellowthroat – 1
American Robin – 1
Red-eyed Vireo – 1
Chipping Sparrow – 1
Black-capped Chickadee – 2
Eastern Towhee – 1

Yellow-throated Vireo (Seabrooke Leckie)

Visit three to Blue Lakes happened late last week. A definite highlight of the day was the capture of three adult Yellow-throated Vireos (2 new and 1 recap) and the discovery of a nest with young in the crown of a large Red Oak near net 1! We’ve banded the male and female tending the nest but also captured a new gravid female (carrying egg) in net 1 around mid-morning. We suspected at least a couple of pairs were in the area but the appearance of a gravid female so close to the nest of another pair seems rather curious. Very cool to have this species around and in numbers too!

Juv Downy Woodpecker (Derbyshire)

The morning’s work went smoothly and a steady trickle of birds were handled over the six hours. Despite that multiple territories of Black-throated Blue Warblers are present within the station boundaries, we have only managed to band and recapture the one male and female individual. We are starting to wonder if the other singing males are unpaired.

We’ve now completed nine visits to all three stations combined and are not even halfway through the season! The remaining visits to each station will be interesting as adults move or reestablish territories and this season’s crop of young birds begin to disperse. The month of June was extremely wet and it remains to be seen how this has affected nest success for landbirds in Frontenac County and beyond….

Blue Lakes – Visit 3 of 7

New birds banded (18 of 12 species)

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Field Sparrow – 1
Red-eyed Vireo – 1
Ovenbird – 1
Swamp Sparrow – 1
Yellow-throated Vireo – 2
Veery – 1
Downy Woodpecker – 2
Song Sparrow – 1
Rose-breasted Grosbeak – 3
American Robin – 2
Blue Jay – 1
Common Grackle – 2

Recaptures (6 of 5 species)
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Black-throated Blue Warbler – 2
Yellow-throated Vireo – 1
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker – 1
Downy Woodpecker – 1
Ovenbird – 1

Spruce Bog at RRID

After a quiet first visit on June 11th, the Rock Ridge station returned to form on June 20th as 23 birds were captured during the morning. We thought last summer was unusually wet but this season has been even more drenched with rain seeming to fall consistently on a semi-daily basis. Fortunately, we have completed all of our visits within the intended periods but only by a thin margin and with thanks to a bit of luck. The photos accompanying this update are all landscapes as Seabrooke had a Canon malfunction, which erased all of the avian portraits from the day. This week, on our way in and out of the station, we paddled past this bog/fen habitat with Black Spruce, Tamarack, Sundew and Pitcher Plants. Common Yellowthroat, Wilson’s Snipe, Swamp Sparrow and Red-winged Blackbird are a few of the species nesting within the wetland complex below the steep cliffsides of the site.

The morning started off slow with an eery dawn silence and nothing captured on the first net check. For a second I considered that winter survivorship may have been particularly poor for our resident breeders but this was instantly erased with a net round at 730am when fourteen birds were extracted – nine coming from a single net! We were also pleased to finally recapture some birds banded in 2009, three in all. The full summary of the birds captured is provided below. The list represents a good sample of the breeding birds present at the station with some notable exceptions. Scarlet Tanager, Pine Warbler, Purple Finch and Myrtle Warbler are also common but tend to stick to the high tops of conifers that line both sides of the gorge, making them difficult to catch for banding. These species will move down with fledged young in search for better feeding areas so hopefully we will band a few before the season wraps in early August.

Mixed forest along the ridge

Rock Ridge – Visit 2 of 7

New birds banded (20 of 11 species)
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Field Sparrow – 2
Black-capped Chickadee – 6
Red-eyed Vireo – 2
Hermit Thrush – 1
White-throated Sparrow – 1
Red-breasted Nuthatch – 1
Common Yellowthroat – 1
Chipping Sparrow – 1
Eastern Towhee – 2
American Robin – 2
Common Grackle – 1

Recaptures (3 of 2 species)
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Black-and-white Warbler – 1
Black-capped Chickadee – 2

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

I’ve decided to summarize recent outings to BLAK and MABO in a single post because I’ve fallen behind on a large backlog of other material to touch on soon. Last week we visited the Blue Lakes MAPS site for the second time and had a very good morning. The weather was a highlight in that it wasn’t cloudy or threatening with rain – novel of late. We also captured a nice selection of birds including another Black-throated Blue Warbler (female with brood patch) and five Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, among others. A female Red-winged Blackbird was banded during the morning, which was a first for the FBS MAPS network!

Finally, while driving out at the end of the day we were stopped by the police, who had been lying in wait for us at the end of the road. Apparently, there was some concern that we may have been marijuana growers! That’s another first for FBS….

We will be returning to Blue Lakes by June 29, 2010. Full stats for visit 2 are summarized below the agelaius.

Female Red-winged Blackbird

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Blue Lakes – Visit 2 of 7

New birds banded (15 of 8 species)

Black-throated Blue Warbler – 1
Ovenbird – 1
Veery – 1
Rose-breasted Grosbeak – 5
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker – 1
Red-winged Blackbird – 1
American Robin – 4
Common Grackle – 1

Recaptures (4 of 2 species)

Black-throated Blue Warbler – 1
Veery – 3

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Northern Waterthrush (Seabrooke Leckie)

Our first visit to Maplewood Bog in 2010 was a little bit unpleasant due to the wet and ominous weather we endured. We were pleased to give MABO a proper go for visit 2 with clear, warm and dry conditions. The birds were much more active, although Seabrooke and I agree that breeding density seems lower for most species this year. This isn’t too surprising as our 2009 results suggested low productivity for last summer and numbers were way down at most migration monitoring stations this past spring. Visit 2 was all about the Red-eyed Vireo! A total of seven were captured, which included several returns from 2009. We also recaptured two Northern Waterthrushes, which have successfully returned to MABO from their winter haunts in either the Caribbean or Central America.

In all, 28 birds were captured during the six hours of operation. Without question, Maplewood still reigns as the “birdiest” of our MAPS sites….

Full stats for this visit to MABO are provided below Seabrooke’s stunning portrait of a female Eastern Towhee.

Eastern Towhee (Seabrooke Leckie)

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Maplewood Bog – Visit 2 of 7

New birds banded (17 of 12 species)

Black-capped Chickadee – 1
Ovenbird – 1
Red-eyed Vireo – 2
Song Sparrow – 1
Veery -1
Gray Catbird – 2
Rose-breasted Grosbeak – 1
Wood Thrush – 1
Eastern Towhee – 2
American Robin – 3
Hairy Woodpecker – 1
Blue Jay – 1

Recaptures (11 of 6 species)

Black-capped Chickadee – 1
Red-eyed Vireo – 5
Gray Catbird – 1
Rose-breasted Grosbeak – 1
Blue Jay – 1
Northern Waterthrush – 2