Hi! This report summarizes the observations from three camps staffed from 15 July to 26 August 2014 on the southwestern coast of James Bay. Surveys are conducted under the direction of Christian Friis of the Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS) and Mark Peck of the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) and their partners the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (OMNR), Bird Studies Canada, Nature Canada and Moose Cree First Nation. Maximum daily counts and dates for each species are reported below for Longridge (51.798942 N, -80.69204 W), Little Piskwamish (51.683427 N, -80.565783 W) and North Point (51.7027 N, -80.567 W). Surveys were conducted from July 15 - Aug 13 at Longridge, July 15 - August 26 at Piskwamish and July 30 - August 26 at North Point. Longridge crew: Ryan Burrell, Tove Christensen, Lizzie Grayshon, Dayna Leclair, Tim Lucas, Amie MacDonald, Chad Peterson, Ron Ridout, Michael Runtz, Don Sutherland, Bill Thompson, Adam Timpf, Ross Wood (crew leader) Little Piskwamish crew: Allie Anderson, Susie Cameron, Janice Chard, Tove Christensen, Jeff Costa, Tobin Day, Hellen Fu, Mark Gagnon, Marilyn Hughie, Jean Iron, Darrell Isaac, Jeffrey Isaac, Brendan Kelly, Peter Kennerley, James Kennerley, Doug McRae, Stéphane Menu, Mark Peck (crew leader), Lisa Pollock (crew leader), Emily Rondel, Greg Stuart, Kat Sutherland, Eleanor Zurbrigg North Point crew: Zoe Barrett-Wood, Barbara Charlton, Mark Dodds, Christian Friis (crew leader), Kyle Marsh, Janine McManus, Doug McRae (crew leader), Dylan White HIGHEST DAILY COUNTS: Total numbers of shorebird peaked on August 11 at all sites with 13,625 birds observed at Longridge, 45,255 at Piskwamish and 15,000 at North Point. Black-bellied Plover Longridge: 358 adults on Aug. 11. Piskwamish: 150 adults on Aug. 11. North Point: 144 adults on Aug. 9. American Golden-Plover Longridge: 9 adults on Aug. 11. Piskwamish: 4 adults on Aug. 11. North Point: 1 adult observed on a few dates. Semipalmated Plover Longridge: 226 on Aug. 11. First juvenile observed on Aug. 6. Piskwamish: 140 on Aug. 11 (1/3 migrating). First juvenile observed Aug. 1. North Point: 125 on Aug. 2. First juvenile observed Aug. 10. Killdeer Longridge: 24 on July 31 and 3 young on July 15 and July 20. Piskwamish: 12 on Aug. 11 and 3 juveniles on Aug. 6. North Point: 1 adult observed on several dates. Spotted Sandpiper Longridge: 6 on July 25 (3 observed on several dates). Piskwamish: 2 juveniles observed on several dates. North Point: 1 juvenile on Aug. 11. Solitary Sandpiper Longridge: 4 on Aug. 8. Piskwamish: 4 on Aug. 4. North Point: 1 juvenile on Aug. 10. Greater Yellowlegs Longridge: 226 adults and juveniles on July 31. Piskwamish: 380 on Aug. 11. First juvenile observed July 31. North Point: 480 on Aug. 4. First juvenile observed July 31. Lesser Yellowlegs Longridge: 328 on Aug. 6. By the end of the period they were 90%+ juveniles. Piskwamish: 325 on Aug. 11 (mostly juveniles). By end of period all juveniles. North Point: 312 on Aug. 6. First juvenile July 31. Whimbrel Longridge: 60 adults on Aug. 3. Piskwamish: 46 adults on Aug. 21. North Point: 55 adults on Aug. 11 migrating flocks. Hudsonian Godwit Longridge: 458 molting adults on Aug 8. No juveniles sighted during the period. Piskwamish: 388 adults on July 17 and 300 on Aug. 11. First juvenile Aug. 11. North Point: 709 adults on Aug. 11 (groups migrating). First juvenile Aug. 17. Marbled Godwit Longridge: 1 on July 27 and July 31. Piskwamish: 2 juveniles on Aug. 8 and 3 juveniles on Aug. 10. North Point: 4 on Aug. 10. Ruddy Turnstone Longridge: 562 on Aug. 10. First juvenile was observed on Aug. 9. Piskwamish: 185 adults on Aug. 9. First juvenile was observed on Aug. 15. North Point: 90 on Aug. 24 (75 on Aug. 6 and 71 on Aug. 16). First juvenile on Aug. 11. Red Knot Longridge: 1,850 on Aug. 11, including the first juvenile of the year. Most of these birds continued south as the high tide moved in, including a flock of 1000 birds. Piskwamish: 2,100 adults on July 26 and 2,000 on Aug. 11/12. First 3 juveniles on Aug. 8. By the end of the survey period flocks contained approximately 20% juveniles. Approximately 560 knots still present at end of survey period. North Point: 999 on Aug. 11 (many migrating). First juvenile on Aug. 5. By the end of the survey period only had total observations of 3-9 juveniles. Sanderling Longridge: 135 molting adults on July 23. Piskwamish: 74 adults on July 23. North Point: 414 on Aug. 8. First noted juvenile Aug. 21. Semipalmated Sandpiper Longridge: 2,626 on Aug. 11. By Aug. 12 the number of juveniles had increased to about 50%. Piskwamish: 10,000 on Aug. 11 (many juveniles). First juvenile noted July 24. Approximately 700 birds still present at end of survey period. North Point: 6,465 on Aug. 12 (75% juveniles). First juvenile Aug. 5. Approximately 500 birds still present at end of survey period. Western Sandpiper Longridge: 1 adult observed on July 23. Least Sandpiper Longridge: 363 juveniles on Aug. 8. First juvenile July 19 (100% juveniles by Aug. 8). Piskwamish: 250 juveniles on Aug. 11. First 2 juveniles on July 24 (100% juveniles by Aug. 5). North Point: 544 juveniles on Aug. 11 (100% juveniles by July 31). White-rumped Sandpiper Longridge: 6,635 adults on Aug. 11. Piskwamish: approximately 30,000 adults on Aug. 11. No juveniles observed. North Point: 6,229 adults on Aug. 15. First 2 juveniles on Aug. 11. Baird's Sandpiper Longridge: 2 adults on Aug. 4 and 2 juveniles on Aug. 11. North Point: 1 juvenile on Aug. 18 and 2 juveniles on Aug. 24. Pectoral Sandpiper Longridge: 258 adults on July 31. Piskwamish: 300 adults on Aug. 11 and 5 juveniles on Aug. 12 North Point: 279 adults on Aug. 2 and 1 juvenile on Aug. 24 Dunlin Longridge: 155 molting adults on Aug. 13 Piskwamish: 1,200 molting adults on Aug. 11. Some adults almost completely molted by the end of the survey period. North Point: 1,397 molting adults on Aug. 11. First juvenile noted Aug. 25. Stilt Sandpiper Longridge: 2 adults on July 19 and 1 adult on July 21. North Point: 3 on July 31 and 2 on Aug 1/2. Short-billed Dowitcher Longridge: 7 on Aug. 4. Piskwamish: 8 on Aug. 15 and 3 juveniles on July 31. North Point: 6 (2 juveniles) on Aug. 4. Wilson's Snipe Longridge: 64 on Aug. 7. Piskwamish: 80 on Aug. 11. North Point: 26 on Aug. 11. Wilson's Phalarope Longridge: 4 on July 31. Piskwamish: 1 juvenile observed on several dates. North Point: 5 on Aug. 11 and 4 juveniles on Aug. 21. Red-necked Phalarope: Piskwamish: 4 juveniles on Aug. 7. North Point: 1 juvenile on Aug. 11 and Aug 14. A total of 172 bird species were recorded at all three sites (137 species at Longridge, 136 species at Piskwamish and 135 species at North Point). Other Birds: Non-shorebird highlights include 3 Black Guillemots, 2 Mute Swans, Yellow Rail, Arctic Tern, Parasitic Jaeger, Pied-billed Grebe, Great Horned Owl, Northern Saw-whet Owl, Common Nighthawk, Clay-colored Sparrow, juvenile Northern Shrike, and a female yellow-headed blackbird. Mammals: Porcupine, Red Squirrel, Red-backed Vole, Meadow Vole, Beluga, Gray Wolf, Red Fox, Black Bear, Ermine, Striped Skunk, River Otter, White-tailed Deer, Moose, Caribou and an unidentified seal. Reptiles/Amphibians: American Toad, Boreal chorus frog, wood frog, spring peeper, and Garter snake. Butterflies/moths: Azure, C. Ringlet, Northern Crescent, White Admiral, Viceroy, Monarch, Cabbage White, Atlantis Fritillary, Orange Sulphur and Bronzed Copper and Catocala spp. (orange underwings). Dragonflies: Lake Darner, Lake Emerald, Zigzag Darner, Four-spotted Skimmer, Cherry-faced Meadowhawk, Black Meadowhawk, Sedge Darner, Forcepate Emerald, Northern Spreadwing, Emerald Spreadwing, Canada Darner, Variable Darner and Sedge Sprite. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: The Western James Bay Shorebird Survey is a cooperative effort of the Canadian Wildlife Service, Royal Ontario Museum , Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (OMNR), Bird Studies Canada, Nature Canada and Moose Cree First Nation. Survey camps are rented from the Moose Cree First Nation. The OMNR provides accommodations in the staff house while crews are in Moosonee. Thanks to Rod Brook, Sarah Hagey and Kim Bennett of OMNR for logistical support. This project would not be possible without the many long days of dedicated volunteer effort. This project was funded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act program, which supports work to conserve Neotropical migratory birds in the United States, Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean. Thanks to Ron Pittaway and Jean Iron for their reports on the project this year and years past. Regards, Christian Christian A. Friis Canadian Wildlife Service Environment Canada 4905 Dufferin St. Toronto ON M3H 5T4 christian.friis@ec.gc.ca Telephone 416.739.4908 Mobile 647.882.6097 Facsimile 416.739.5845 Government of Canada Website www.ec.gc.ca/mbc-com Christian A. Friis Service canadien de la faune Environnement Canada 4905, rue Dufferin Toronto ON M3H 5T4 christian.friis@ec.gc.ca Téléphone 416.739.4908 Cellulaire 647.882.6097 Télécopieur 416.739.5845 Gouvernement du Canada Site Web www.ec.gc.ca/mbc-com -----Original Message----- From: Shorebird Discussion Group [mailto:SHOREBIRDS@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of Jean Iron Sent: Monday, August 11, 2014 14:21 To: SHOREBIRDS@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU Subject: [SHOREBIRDS] James Bay Shorebirds - Little Piskwamish Report #2 This is Jean Iron's second report for the period 4 - 10 August 2014 from Little Piskwamish Point on the southwestern coast of James Bay in Ontario, Canada. See map link #2 below. Surveys are conducted under the direction of Christian Friis of the Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS) and Mark Peck of the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) and their partners the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (OMNR), Bird Studies Canada, Nature Canada and Moose Cree First Nation. The Little Piskwamish crew comprises Mark Peck (crew leader), James Kennerley from UK, Brendan Kelly from NL, Jean Iron, Eleanor Zurbrigg, Doug McRae, Lisa Pollock and Hellen Fu. Darrell Isaac and Jeffrey Isaac from Moose Factory First Nation arrived on August 4 to assist with the survey. Two other crews are based at North Point and Longridge Point. JAMES BAY: Ontario's coastline of James Bay measures about 560 kilometres or 350 miles. The west coast is extremely flat and intersected by several large rivers and many streams. The southern coast is characterized by long narrow promontories, wide tidal flats, shoals, sandy bays, extensive brackish marshes and pools. It's a shorebird paradise of great conservation concern. SHOREBIRD MIGRATION CHRONOLOGY: Most (not all) southbound shorebirds migrate in three waves: adult females first, adult males second, juveniles last. SHOREBIRD OBSERVATIONS: The maximum counts and dates for each species are reported below. Reports pertain to Little Piskwamish at Lat 51.655515 N, Lon -80.57167 W. THREE HIGHEST TOTAL DAILY COUNTS: 18635 shorebirds on July 31, 15530 on Aug 3 and 13812 on Aug 4. Black-bellied Plover: 57 molting adults on Aug 6. Semipalmated Plover: 60 adults on Aug 6, 1 juvenile on 9th. Killdeer: 4 adults and 3 juveniles on Aug 6. Spotted Sandpiper: first juvenile on Aug 5 and 2 juveniles on 8th. Solitary Sandpiper: 4 adults on Aug 4 and 2 juveniles on 5th. Greater Yellowlegs: 270 on Aug 6, 75% juveniles on 9th. Unlike most shorebirds, some Greaters undergo both body and wing molt at James Bay before continuing migration. Lesser Yellowlegs: 137 on Aug 6. Almost all now are juveniles. Whimbrel: 9 on Aug 3. Hudsonian Godwit: 167 molting adults on Aug 4. One red flag OEM from Chile on Aug 5. Another with red flag JK from Chile on Aug 9. Most adult Hudsonian Godwits molt body feathers while at James Bay before departing in late Aug and early Sept with most going nonstop to South America. Marbled Godwit: 1 juvenile on Aug 7 and 2 juveniles on 8th. The estimated disjunct James Bay population is 2000 birds. Most adults depart in late July. The wintering grounds of James Bay birds were unknown until recently. Birds fitted with satellite transmitters on Akimiski Island in 2007 and 2008 went southwest to winter along the Gulf of California (Sea of Cortez) in Mexico. Previously it was thought that James Bay godwits wintered on the south Atlantic Coast of the United States, which is much closer to James Bay. Ruddy Turnstone: 23 on Aug 6. RED KNOT: Highest daily count was 1670 adults on Aug 6. First 3 juvenile knots on Aug 8. Flag re-sightings are currently about 1400 so Mark Peck is very happy. Knot numbers this year are similar to most previous summers. Mark estimates that about 5000 adult knots are using Little Piskwamish this summer making it one of the most important southbound sites for the endangered rufa subspecies in North America. One knot with a white flag ALH was banded on the Mingan Archipelago on the north shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence in Quebec. Mingan is the other major southbound staging area for knots in Eastern Canada, but there is virtually no mixing of birds between there and James Bay. The knots are fat and in excellent condition. They will soon fly nonstop to South America. Knots that fail to gain adequate weight suffer reduced survival. Sanderling: 4 molting adults on Aug 4. Semipalmated Sandpiper: 7000 on Aug 4. Very few juveniles to date but increasing. Both adults and juveniles are being fitted with nano-tags. This peep has declined very significantly in recent years. See SHOREBIRD CONSERVATION NOTE below. Least Sandpiper: 170 on 7th. Almost all were juveniles. The switchover from adults to juveniles was rapid. White-rumped Sandpiper: 5900 molting and fattening adults on Aug 6. Pectoral Sandpiper: 100 on Aug 8. Dunlin: Dunlin 800 adults on Aug 8. Thousands of Dunlins (subspecies hudsonia) stage in James Bay. Adults undergo a complete (wings/tail/body) prebasic molt and juveniles undergo a partial (body) preformative molt before both age classes resume migration about mid-September and later. This is the reason that North American Dunlins are very rare south of the subarctic until much later than most other shorebirds. Stilt Sandpiper: 1 juvenile on 9 Aug. Short-billed Sandpiper: 1 juvenile 9 Aug. Wilson's Phalarope: 1 juvenile on Aug 6 and 9th. Small numbers breed in the vast prairie-like marshes of James Bay. Red-necked Phalarope: 4 juveniles on Aug 7. OTHER BIRDS: Canada Goose, 460 flying over on Aug 5. American Wigeon, 5 on Aug 4. American Black Duck, 98 on Aug 6. Mallard, 82 on Aug 8. Northern Pintail, 105 on Aug 7. Green-winged Teal, 56 on Aug 6. Ring-necked Duck, 1 on Aug 6. Scaup species, 6 on Aug 1. Common Goldeneye, 18 on Aug 6. Hooded Merganser, 5 on Aug 9. Common Merganser, 2 on Aug 4. Red-breasted Merganser, 1 on Aug 7. Black Scoter, large raft of 4000 mostly molting males on Aug 5. Common Loon, 6 on Aug 6. Pied-billed Grebe, 1 juvenile on Aug 6. American White Pelican, 16 on Aug 4. American Bittern, 2 on Aug 6. Great Blue Heron, 1 juvenile. Osprey, 4 on Aug 6. Bald Eagle, a few adults and immatures in area. Northern Goshawk, 2 adults on Aug 5. Merlin, 3 on Aug 6. Yellow Rail, 3 on Aug 8. Sora, 2 on Aug 5. Sandhill Crane, 28 on Aug 7. Bonaparte's Gull, 631 mostly molting adults, juveniles increasing. Little Gull, 2 molting adults on Aug 10, 1 molting to second winter plumage on Aug 7 and 8. Great Horned Owl, 1 heard on Aug 7 and 8th. Long-eared Owl, 1 heard on Aug 5 and 6th. Common Raven, 22 on Aug 5. American Crow, 5 on Aug 6. Black-capped Chickadee, 4 on Aug 3. Boreal Chickadee, 3 on Aug 8. Horned Lark, 1 on Aug 7 and 8th. Tree Swallow, 66 on Aug 4. Alder Flycatcher, 8 on Aug 4. Nashville Warbler, 1 on Aug 4. Tennessee Warbler, 3 on Aug 4. Yellow-rumped Warbler, 80 on Aug 6. Palm Warbler, 1 on Aug 4. American Redstart, 1 on Aug 9. Common Yellowthroat, 4 on Aug 3. Wilson's Warbler, 4 on Aug 6. Northern Waterthrush, 7 on Aug 4. Yellow Warbler, 12 on Aug 4. Savannah Sparrow, 65 on Aug 7. Le Conte's, 3 on Aug 4 - 7th. Nelson's Sparrow (daily) with 4 on Aug 8. Fox Sparrow, 1 on Aug 4. Song Sparrow, 40 on Aug 6. Lincoln's Sparrow, 10 on Aug 4. Swamp Sparrow, 13 on Aug 6. Dark-eyed Junco, 2 on Aug 9. Red-winged Blackbird, 200 on Aug 8. Rusty Blackbird, 1 on Aug 6. White-winged Crossbill, 145 on Aug 1, 105 on Aug 4, 80 on 8th. Common Redpoll, 3 juveniles on Aug 6. Pine Siskin, 2 on Aug 5. SHOREBIRD CONSERVATION NOTE: I've copied the following email from Ken Abraham (emeritus OMNR Research Scientist) with his permission. "See the article linked below on tracking Semipalmated Sandpipers with geolocators. Note that the bird highlighted in the article spent a month (21 July to 22 August 2013) in James Bay on its southern migration and a week (2 June to 10 June 2014) in James Bay on its spring migration. The other significant (and remarkable, almost unbelievable) finding is that it flew non-stop for 6 days from James Bay to Brazil (i.e., it did not go to the Bay of Fundy) which underlines even more the importance of the James Bay coastline for feeding and energy acquisition. It's not often we get this kind of information on the conservation importance of a site before there is an imminent threat of its loss due to some development. We should make the most of this information in our quest to get the area designated as a protected area." See link. #1. http://bit.ly/1urNasi Map of survey locations. #2. http://www.jeaniron.ca/2014/JB14/map.htm Population Estimates of North American Shorebirds 2012. #3. http://www.jeaniron.ca/2013/ShorebirdPop2012.pdf Southbound Shorebirds: Some basic facts. #4. http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/articles.southboundshorebirds ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: The Western James Bay Shorebird Survey is a cooperative effort of the Canadian Wildlife Service, Royal Ontario Museum , Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (OMNR), Bird Studies Canada, Nature Canada and Moose Cree First Nation. Survey camps are rented from the Moose Cree First Nation. The OMNR provides accommodations in the staffhouse while crews are in Moosonee. Thanks to Rod Brook, Sarah Hagey and Kim Bennett of OMNR for logistical support. This project would not be possible without the many long days of dedicated volunteer effort. Jean thanks an anonymous donor for financial assistance to the program. NOTE: This is Jean's sixth consecutive year surveying southbound shorebirds on James Bay. Little Piskwamish is a new location for her. The crew will be coming out on Wednesday August 13 (weather permitting for chopper) except for Lisa Pollock who's staying with next crew and Doug McRae who's going to North Point with a new crew there. The crew hopes to get out early enough to take the train on Wednesday from Moosonee to Cochrane. Then the 8 hour drive home on Thursday. Jean will post a third report with a link to survey photos on her website within 10 days. Ron Pittaway Toronto, Ontario Canada