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Subject:

OT Arctic Breeding Conditions

From:

Bob Mumford

Reply-To:

Date:

Sat, 27 Jun 2009 07:21:26 EDT

A week or so ago, someone posted a piece on the heavy snow and late spring  
at Churchill and its effects on breeding.  Here is another report I thought 
 would be of interest to Maryland birders copied from TexBirds.
 
Bob Mumford
Darnestown
 
Subject: Arctic Breeding Conditions in 2009

Yesterday we saw an  adult Lesser Yellowlegs near Toronto and on Wednesday 
there was an adult Least  Sandpiper in Hamilton at the west end of Lake 
Ontario. These are the first "fall  migrant" shorebirds in southern Ontario and 
they are right on  schedule.

Several people asked us to comment about recent reports of a  "Disastrous 
breeding season in the Arctic". The Arctic is huge; it is 3500 km  from 
southern James Bay (subarctic) to northern Ellesmere Island. Most  shorebirds 
have large breeding ranges and even in late years many birds breed  
successfully and rarely does the entire Arctic experience the same climatic  
conditions. We checked with northern researchers and summarized their comments  below. 
Shorebird nesting in 2009 is poor in some regions but normal to good  
elsewhere.

Ontario: Ken Abraham reports that conditions in the Hudson Bay  Lowlands 
were about 10 days late from Attawapiskat south on James Bay, including  
Akimiski Island, with Canada Geese and Snow Geese hatching in mid June, more  
like the 1990s average than the 2000s average and within the overall norms.  
Other species on Akimiski Island were correspondingly late. His guess is that  
for those species that require shorter time there will be some reduction 
but not  huge. Perhaps the predation effect will be somewhat greater if 
alternate species  are less available. Because coastal snow, ice and water 
inundation conditions  were similar from Cape Henrietta Maria to the Manitoba 
border, Ken expects that  for Canada Geese nesting within 40-60 km from the 
coast, a much reduced effort  and productivity will be the norm. Snow Geese at 
Cape Henrietta Maria were  greatly down and the suggestion of a 90% reduction 
seems to fit what they saw on  their survey. However, beyond 40-60 km 
inland, he thinks conditions will be  different. Mark Peck said that species 
nesting away from the Hudson Bay Coast in  boreal bogs and fens such as 
yellowlegs should not be severely impacted because  much of the freeze took place 
near the coast.

Manitoba: The situation is  worse in northern Manitoba at Churchill where 
temperatures were well below  normal until recently and the snow cover melted 
late. However, Erica Nol reports  that birds have started to nest, just 
very late, and it won't be a complete bust  for shorebirds if there are enough 
bare spots. Whimbrels and Hudsonian Godwits  are nesting, but overall 
nesting success should be below average for most  shorebirds in northern Manitoba.

Nunavut: Snow melt was up to three weeks  late in mainland Nunavut north of 
Manitoba. Recent temperatures have been close  to normal. ?Much of Baffin 
Island is now snow free and conditions there and on  Bylot Island are about 
normal. High Arctic breeders should have a good breeding  year.

Northwest Territories: Vicky Johnston suspects it will be a poor  breeding 
year in parts of the Western Arctic. Spring was roughly three weeks  late in 
Yellowknife on Great Slave Lake based on leaf-out. The Mackenzie Valley  
and Delta warmed early but then cooled off again. The Delta flooded slowly and 
 the water receded slowly, so some prime shorebird breeding areas were 
subject to  heavy predation.

Yukon: Cameron Eckert reports a late spring, but once  the heat came, 
everything shifted into high gear.

Alaska: Declan Troy  reports from the North Slope that the snow on the 
tundra is long gone. It was  much warmer earlier in the month and his guess is 
that the breeding season has  been early there.

We will be recording the arrivals and numbers of adult  and juvenile 
shorebirds in southern Ontario and may post  updates.
?
Acknowledgements: We thank Ken Abraham, Bruce Di Labio, Cameron  Eckert, 
Michel Gosselin, Vicky Johnston, Erica Nol, Mark Peck, Ken Ross, Don  
Sutherland, and Declan Troy.

Ron Pittaway and Jean Iron


Brad  A. Andres, Ph.D.
National Coordinator, U.S. Shorebird Conservation  Plan
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
PO Box 25486, DFC
Denver, CO  ?80225-0486 USA
courier address:
755 Parfet St., Suite 496B
Lakewood,  CO 80215
303/275-2324 (ph)
303/275-2384  (fax)
<http://www.fws.gov/shorebirdplan/> =



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