Breeding Bird Studies – Page 7 – Frontenac Bird Studies

June 11, 2010June 11, 2010 danderbyshire Breeding Bird Studies, M.A.P.S

MAPS Visit 1 – Maplewood Bog (2010)

Wood Thrush recaptured (banded on July 25, 2009)

The inclemency of late has made scheduling our first round of MAPS visits a challenge. Our first morning at Maplewood Bog (MABO) in 2010 began with some trepidation over the forecast of 40% chance of showers. It wasn’t raining when we arrived but the vegetation was dripping wet, which made net setup feel like a 5 a.m swim through the woods and meadows. There were only a few brief periods of drizzle during the morning until the final round when a torrential downpour occurred. We were able to get a full six hours of coverage but the final round was more than a little uncomfortable!

4688457425_9f91008772 — Wood Lily - Lilium philadelphicum (Seabrooke Leckie)

Fortunately, despite the weather, the birds were numerous and active. The highlight of the morning was the recapture of eight birds banded last summer at the site, which included three Veery and two Wood Thrush. These two are dominant species at MABO and both migrate to and from Latin America on an annual basis. The Veerys that we recaptured on this day may winter as far south as the Amazon basin, some 7,000 km south of MABO! This is one of the great marvels and joys of participating in the MAPS program, it vividly connects you to the remarkable life cycles of individual birds and bird communities. For example, we know this Veery (2431-64408) was an ASY male on June 14, 2009 with a wing length of 101mm and a weight of 30.8g. We also knew the age and wear of its feather tracts, breeding condition, its territory location and the onset of its prebasic moult. We re-caught this word traveler on June 10, 2010. He was found in the same net as last year and is likely paired with 2431-64405 – a female that we suspect reared these young with a different male in June, 2009!

4688457113_04272cd629_o — Bog in the wet woods (Seabrooke Leckie)

We were too drenched and busy to take many photos of birds during the visit but we did capture a respectable 21 birds of 12 species. Cerulean Warbler and Black-throated Blue Warbler were notables detected but not captured. A full summary of the capture results is presented below.

Maplewood Bog – Visit 1 of 7

New birds banded (13 of 11 species)
.
Common Yellowthroat – 2
Ovenbird – 1
Swamp Sparrow – 2
Rose-breasted Grosbeak – 1
Great Crested Flycatcher – 1
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker – 1
American Robin – 1
Northern Waterthrush- 1
Red-eyed Vireo – 1
Veery – 1
Gray Catbird – 1

Recaptures (8 of 4 species)

Common Yellowthroat – 2
Wood Thrush – 2
Veery – 3
Red-eyed Vireo – 1

June 8, 2010June 8, 2010 danderbyshire Breeding Bird Studies, M.A.P.S

MAPS Visit 1 – Blue Lakes

Our roster of Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship (MAPS) stations has grown in 2010! Our new site called Blue Lakes is the northernmost of the three and is about nineteen kilometres north of Maplewood Bog. The site fills a key gap for us both spatially and in species coverage. Finding this site was quite an exercise that involved several weeks of map study and reconnaissance. I found lots of other sites that had potential but there was always a negative factor or two with them. Access, terrain, edge conditions and species mix were key considerations that were finally met when the Blue Lakes site was discovered about two weeks ago. A satellite view of the “AXIS” network is included below. Each of the three stations provides coverage of an area up to a four kilometre radius of the station centre, which means that we are now generating productivity statistics for 150 square kilometres of the Frontenac region – very exciting.

coverage — FBS MAPS network (Google Earth)

4683356520_098f14cbb7 — Lake edge at banding station (Leckie)

This is the view from the banding station, which is situated on a scrubby peninsula that bisects a horseshoe-shaped lake full of emergent vegetation, amphibians and a small heronry as well.

4683357400_fa04b9cd41 — Net 9 in mature deciduous (Leckie)

The Blue Lakes is probably the most varied of the three stations in terms of habitat. A circuit of the ten net lanes passes through rocky scrub edge along the shores of small lakes, mature deciduous forest, deciduous swamp thickets, areas of young balsam fir/shrub thicket and grass/lichen outcrops. Also distinct here is the presence of a dense understorey – not represented at our Rock Ridge or Maplewood Bog sites further south.

4682726493_deb079ba41 — Net 5 in fir swamp (Leckie)

Balsam Fir occurs throughout the area but is quite dense along a wet draw through mixed age forest with an uneven canopy. The conifers attract species such as Hermit Thrush and Magnolia Warbler, among others. The firs and the odd spruce here and there add a nice northern feel, which becomes more noticeable as you approach Highway 7 from the south. The Blue Lakes site is at the edge of the Boreal Hardwood Transition zone.

4682725111_9e94c2659b — rocky clearing (Leckie)

These clearings are our main modes of traversing the site. They provide stable footing and a relatively flat, unobstructed path through the station. Field Sparrow and Sweetfern are dominant species in the rocky clearings where evidence of a rock flipping Black Bear was also found.

4682725659_a84bd44d34 — Net 1 in edge scrub (Leckie)

This is the important edge habitat that will (hopefully) attract large numbers of dispersing young and adult birds in the latter half of the breeding season. Both of the edge nets on the peninsula performed very well today, which was very pleasing.

We banded a Yellow-throated Vireo (YTVI) that was captured in net 1 on first check! This fellow has been singing from the oaks above the net lane for at least two weeks. This is the first capture of a YTVI for the MAPS program. They are a Frontenac Arch specialty of sorts, quite common in deciduous forest with clearings, so it was great to finally band one!

4683357504_800c59483c — Black-throated Blue Warbler (Seabrooke Leckie)

Black-throated Blue Warblers are a dominant species at Blue Lakes, largely due to the dense undergrowth found in the forests. Seabrooke and I estimated that between 5-7 territorial males are present in the core area of about 8 hectares. It is unclear as to whether these males are mated as no females were observed or captured today. The capture and banding of this second-year male was also a first for our MAPS program. Black-throated Blues are wonderful birds and we can look forward to their buzzy tones for years to come!

4683357720_3af7049b07 — Hermit Thrush (S.Leckie)

The other dominant species at Blue Lakes are Veery and Chestnut-sided Warbler but a very diverse community of breeding birds was evident this morning. Singles of Hermit Thrush, Scarlet Tanager and Warbling Vireo (1st banded by FBS) were banded along with several Common Grackles and a lone Red-winged Blackbird (1st banded by FBS).

I’ve only just barely scratched the surface of all that was enjoyed and discovered today. Visits to Rock Ridge and Maplewood Bog are imminent and the 3 A.M wake-up calls beckon me to cut this summary a bit short. We will have six more mornings of banding at Blue Lakes this summer and we are looking forward to each of them – a great study site indeed.

Here are the stats…

Blue Lakes – Visit 1 of 7

New birds banded (24 of 14 species)

Common Yellowthroat – 1
Veery- 4
Rose-breasted Grosbeak – 3
American Robin – 1
American Redstart – 1
Chestnut-sided Warbler – 3
Black-throated Blue Warbler – 1
Warbling Vireo – 1
Ovenbird – 2
Yellow-throated Vireo – 1
Scarlet Tanager – 1
Hermit Thrush – 1
Red-winged Blackbird – 1
Common Grackle – 3

June 7, 2010June 7, 2010 danderbyshire Breeding Bird Studies, Nest Monitoring

Ovenbird on the nest

June 4, 2010June 4, 2010 danderbyshire Breeding Bird Studies, Nest Monitoring

Yellow-billed Cuckoo nest progress

The Yellow-billed Cuckoo nest that was first described in this post from a few days ago now has two scraggly nestlings. Despite the mid-morning heat, an adult was incubating them when I arrived. These nestlings are about 4-5 days old, which indicates that hatching began shortly after my last visit on May 30. Bendire’s description of the young from 1895:

“The young when first hatched are repulsive, black, and greasy-looking creatures, nearly naked, and the sprouting quills only add to their general ugliness”

These younglings may not be the most aesthetically pleasing bird babies that I’ve ever seen but I like ’em. They made amusing hissing and spitting sounds, which seemed to fit their general appearance and the character of their parents. There were three eggs on May 30 so I’m not sure what became of the third. Amazingly, these nestlings will resemble full blown Yellow-billed Cuckoos in just a day or two, which means this will likely be the last check on this particular nest.

June 2, 2010June 2, 2010 danderbyshire Breeding Bird Studies, Nest Monitoring

Gulls, Ravens and a Wood Thrush statue

Surprisingly, neither Herring Gull (Larus argentatus) or Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis) are listed as species having bred in Frontenac Provincial Park. This may be an unintended omission in my source material as suitable habitat exists on many of the larger perimeter and interior lakes. Both species were found tending nests this morning on a small rocky island with a few large eastern white pines. There were enough nesting pairs to label this a colony. I only had time for a quick paddle by this morning but will return soon to accurately census the colony. I must remember to bring some sort of decoy to avoid getting hit by marauding Herring Gulls. I’m not too keen on the idea of capsizing the canoe in a cold lake that is 73 metres deep!

The raven is a personal favourite of mine. Steeped in lore amongst cultures around the globe, they are perhaps the most intelligent of all bird species and their remarkable behaviours can be witnessed throughout the year. A group of recently fledged Common Ravens (Corvus corax) were discovered in a stand of pine on the west side of Clearwater Lake last week. There was no sign of a nest in the treetops but there was a steep cliff on the opposite side of the lake, which may have supported a nesting pair. The youngsters were quite entertaining to watch and they allowed my approach for some decent photos and a better view. In between bouts of raucous calls and chatter to its siblings, this one concentrated on deftly breaking off and strutting around with twigs.

This one seemed the youngest of the three. Here you can clearly see the fleshy gape at the base of the bill, a characteristic of nestlings and their hyper extended maws. Also, this juvenile has the gray eye colour of a very young raven, which will turn chestnut brown as the bird ages.

Finally, an image of one of several Wood Thrush nests in progress this spring. I snapped this photo of the nest with the adult on security detail. For several minutes It perched motionless and just stared at me. It had a certain look in its eyes that seemed to say ‘can I help with you with something?’. I quietly left it to its important work.
.