Barred Owl along Salmon Lake Road

Fieldwork has kicked into full gear as the action-packed month of June is just a week away. Our Louisiana Waterthrush surveys are nearing completion for the 2012 season. Soon I will be racking up the mileage while scouring the barrens for Prairie Warblers and other goodies in the southeast section of the park. It’s such a wonderful contrast to transition from damp mature forests to the hot and dry expanses of bedrock, poverty grass and junipers. Yesterday I found this Barred Owl in a wooded swamp about 40m from where my truck was parked on Salmon Lake Road. Barred Owls are easily the most common owl species in the area. Great Horned Owls are comparatively rare in the hardwood forests but are found with some regularity in mature mixed coniferous zones. Owl populations would be an excellent subject FBS in the future.

Violets in Arab Gorge

Louisiana Waterthrushes have been very scarce this spring, even more so than last year. The species was recorded at seven sites in 2010, our first year, but only evident at two sites so far in 2012. Fortunately, they are paired and probably nesting at the two sites. The steep sided stream corridors seem so empty without their voices.

Nesting Black-throated Green Warbler

Many species are well into their nesting cycles. While observing the Barred Owl I tracked a female Black-throated Green Warbler, which had just finished bathing in the swamp. After a bit of preening and some flitting it plunked itself into a fork at the main trunk of a young Yellow Birch. Raising binoculars to the spot revealed a surprisingly deep and bulky nest. The earliest nest record for this species in Ontario is June 5 so a nest with eggs on May 24 is quite early. This particular record is also somewhat unusual in its location in a deciduous tree species within purely deciduous forest. In Frontenac Provincial Park the Black-throated Green is more typically found in woodland with tall Eastern White Pine and/or Eastern Hemlock. However, a quick search of our point count data revealed that they are present, albeit in low numbers, within hardwood stands as well.

Female incubating

Below is a photo of habitat suitable for Golden-winged Warblers. This was taken just southwest of Westport, ON where there are many small, family-run farms with low-intensity agricultural practices. The presence of dense shrub cover at edges of property lines provides appropriate conditions for Golden-wings, which were designated as Threatened by COSEWIC in 2006. A total of six male Golden-winged Warblers were located yesterday morning with relatively little effort. The Frontenac Arch and the southern shield ecotone are important regions for the protection of this species. In these areas, the rugged terrain and shallow till have been effective deterrents to large scale/intensive agriculture, so far…..

Golden-winged Warbler habitat near Westport, ON

Golden-winged Warbler at MABO, 2011

Northeastern Frontenac Prov. Park – (Google Maps)

Land O’ Lakes indeed! Frontenac Provincial Park lies at the southern tip of the great Canadian Shield with its astounding proliferation of lakes, wetlands and rivers. The map clipping above provides a glimpse of the difficult terrain here and also the number and distribution of lakes. The landscape is rich and beautiful but often very harsh too. The park has an impressive history – of miners, farmers and loggers who endured extreme hardship eking out a life here. The route I took this morning passes by abandoned homesteads and mines as well as the old log roll way at Hardwood Bay on Devil Lake. A century ago the land was mostly cleared and the air would have been filled with the sounds of men and women working the land. Decades of regeneration later, the area provides mature oaks, maples and hickories for troubled bird species, Cerulean Warblers and Red-headed Woodpeckers.

Very pleased to find that the Red-headed Woodpeckers have returned! Hopefully this means that they were successful rearing young last summer. I watched the pair fending off Common Grackles from a nest site and also observed the pair copulate twice. I’ll make a point to return to locate the nest later on in the season and hopefully get some footage of the young being fed at the nest.

RHWO Habitat in Frontenac Provincial Park

Swamp Woodland near Gibson Lake

Blair Shanty near Hardwood Bay

Male Cerulean Warbler – Frontenac Provincial Park, May 2012

Toothwort (Frontenac Provincial Park)

West Virginia White (Pieris virginiensis)

Great to be back in Frontenac this week! My first memorable observation of the season was of two black bears encountered along Devil Lake Road on an early morning commute – interesting start. This week I began revisiting stream and swamp woodland sites for Louisiana Waterthrush (Parkesia motacilla). This will be our third and final season of inventory and monitoring for this species of concern. In spring 2010 and 2011 we emphasized the maximization of coverage for potentially viable breeding sites in the study area. We have a handful of hitherto unexplored locations to check this year but most of our available time in May will be dedicated to historically occupied sites to procure assessments of breeding status in 2012.

WVW on trillium

These West Virginia Whites (Pieris virginiensis) have been faithful companions on my travels to mature forested ravines and swamps in the region. Once considered a Species at Risk, they remain quite rare, known to occur in only about 50 sites in Ontario. They are common in Frontenac Provincial Park on warm days in April and May. West Virginia Whites are threatened by habitat loss and the invasive Garlic Mustard (Alliaria petiolata), which is a close relative of their host plant, the Toothwart (Dentaria diphylla). Adults will lay their eggs on Garlic Mustard but the hatched larvae will not feed on the invasive plant and perish.

Cerulean Warbler (trust me!)

The birding was excellent this week thanks to the recent warm front. Cerulean Warblers were particularly numerous. Eleven males were counted en route to one of our Louisiana Waterthrush sites. Over the years I’ve amassed an impressive collection of hopelessly blurry photos of Ceruleans or the perches they left behind. This is the best I’ve managed to come up with so far – sadly. It was pleasing to find that Louisiana Waterthrushes have returned to the breeding site we first described in 2010! A pair has been detected here for three consecutive years, which makes this site in Frontenac Prov. Park one of just a few annual breeding locations in the region. High fidelity to these sites make them important “footholds” at the range limit where contraction and expansion can be marked. These Frontenac louies are true pioneers!

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Scarlet Tanager

Migration Research Foundation is excited to announce that fieldwork for the Frontenac Bird Studies program will recommence in early May 2012! Here is the lineup of activities for the spring and summer field season.

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Prairie Warblers

This year will find us back in familiar territory, the expansive granitic rock barrens in Frontenac Provincial Park. Swept by intense fires in the 1930s, the barrens have been a refuge for several bird species in decline such as, Common Nighthawk, Prairie Warbler, Field Sparrow and Eastern Towhee, to name a few. Our efforts in 2011 were successful – male Prairie Warblers were located and colour-banded and nests were found. It wasn’t exactly easy, though. The late spring, extreme heat, abundant biting flies and hundreds of kilometers walked made for a challenging month of June (there’s a reason these barrens are explored by few!). Fortunately, the experience will make our studies substantially more efficient and productive for our return this year. Prairie Warblers are exceptionally rare in Canada and Frontenac remains a significant stronghold for the Ontario population clinging to life along the southern edge of the shield.

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M.A.P.S

In addition to our work in the barrens, we are looking forward to our fourth year of Monitoring Avian Productivity & Survivorship (MAPS). Our data indicate a short-term but marked reduction in forest bird abundance, perhaps owing to late spring and/or summer weather anomalies in recent years. A thorough analysis of demographic rates will be conducted following the 2013 season. Here is a snapshot of one of “our” thrushes from the Maplewood Bog (MABO) station in South Frontenac, ON:

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Rare Species Inventory and Monitoring

For a third spring in-a-row we will survey high potential breeding locations for Louisiana Waterthrush within the study area.  Additionally, targeted area searches will be conducted in Frontenac Provincial Park for other rare/sensitive bird species and habitats such as Golden-winged Warbler and Red-headed Woodpecker. This exercise is part of an annual initiative to inventory and map distribution and abundance of breeding avifauna within the study area, particularly the park itself. This year our efforts will be focused on meadow/shrubland and wetland environments.

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The Frontenac Biothon fundraiser returns for another blitz in 2012! This year our biothon team will be racking up the species in Frontenac Provincial Park for 24 hours on June 9-10. Thanks to everyone who supported the biothon in 2011! We hope you will consider sponsoring one of our biothon participants this year. Visit our biothon page for more information or to make a donation.

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FBS Online

As always, you can follow our progress throughout the spring/summer field season via our blog, twitter and Facebook.

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Andrew Jano with Yellow-billed Cuckoo

We were deeply saddened to learn that Andrew Jano, a champion and regular supporter of Frontenac Bird Studies (FBS), passed away peacefully on February 5, 2012, at the age of 73. Andrew was passionate about birds and a dedicated proponent of conservation projects that he believed in. His yearly sponsorship and encouragement was invaluable in the development and evolution of our field programs in the Frontenac Arch. He was a terrific man and will be missed by many.

The 2012 field season will be dedicated to Andrew Jano, our dear friend.

Year three of Frontenac Bird Studies was officially completed with the draft of the final report yesterday. The document, with over 40 pages of data summaries and analysis, will be available on the Migration Research Foundation website in the coming weeks. It was a fascinating season – cold and wet then hot and dry, always buggy but so choc-full of wonder and discovery.

Thanks to all of the volunteers, donors and supporting staff from Ontario Parks for another successful year!

All the best to you and yours in 2012

Dan Derbyshire, FBS Coordinator

Undoubtedly, the 2011 edition of our program was our most action-packed and challenging to date

The third consecutive spring/summer field season came to an end with this year’s final session of the Monitoring Avian Productivity & Survivorship (MAPS) program on August 6, 2011. The three years of MAPS data point to a marked reduction in abundance of many landbird species in forest habitats of the region. The pattern is particularly evident at our Maplewood Bog station near Devil Lake, where season capture totals have dropped from 197 individuals in 2009 to just 89 in 2011. The apparent declines are concurrent at all three stations, which are spatially disjunctive and representative of a broad spectrum of landscape conditions. It is likely that the current negative trend will be short-lived and a product of natural population shifts but continued monitoring for at least two more years is needed to strengthen analysis and assess cause and effect.

In 2010 we completed basic inventories of Prairie Warbler and Louisiana Waterthrush populations in the study area, primarily in Frontenac Provincial Park. This year we repeated these exercises and expanded area coverage to begin monitoring year-to-year variation in population size and breeding status. We also began a more in-depth assessment of Prairie Warblers in the area to examine breeding status, survivorship and breeding ecology. These studies were very productive and will be fully explored in the year-end report later this year.

Weather in May was extremely wet, which created exceptionally fertile conditions for black flies and mosquitos. Endlessly attended by the biting swarms, our studies carried us by foot and by canoe over ridges and valleys, to lakes, bogs, barrens and creeks throughout the study area – over 250km in all. Many notable finds were made, which included active nests of Red-headed Woodpecker, Cerulean Warbler, Yellow-billed Cuckoo and Prairie Warbler. Also notable were records of eight at-risk bird species as well as locally significant observations of Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, Five-lined Skink, Sedge Wren, Sandhill Crane and Red-bellied Woodpecker, to name a few.

Our second annual Frontenac Biothon fundraiser was a tremendous success thanks to the generosity of our sponsors and volunteer naturalists. We searched high and low for species during a 24-hour period on June 11-12 in Frontenac Provincial Park. We surpassed our 2010 total of 441 with a final tally of 468. In the end, we raised some important funds for the project, produced an impressive array of records and had a memorable weekend to boot!

Frontenac Bird Studies exists through the support of many individuals and organizations. The Migration Research Foundation thanks the following for their contribution to FBS in 2011!

Funding

The John Hackney Foundation for the Noosphere
Ontario Parks
Frontenac Biothon sponsors

FBS MAPS Assistant

Seabrooke Leckie

Frontenac Biothon

Chris Dunn
Karina Dykstra
Steve Gillis
Seabrooke Leckie
Julia Marko Dunn

Support

Corina Brdar
Ontario Parks

Monique Charette
OMNR

Peter Dawson
Ontario Parks

Audrey Heagy
Bird Studies Canada

Bert Korporaal
Ontario Parks

Chris Robinson
Ontario Parks

Ken Shepherd

Don Sutherland
OMNR, NHIC

Sincerely,

Dan Derbyshire
Project Lead, Frontenac Bird Studies
Migration Research Foundation

Yellow-throated Vireo (S.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)