Wader census

[az kiwi]

When might one hope to hear some preliminary reports of the wader census? I'm interested to know of arctic birds still in NZ.

Here is a post that appeared on TEXBIRDS today about Arctic breeding conditions.

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.

Brad A. Andres, Ph.D.
National Coordinator, U.S. Shorebird Conservation Plan
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

[iain johnson]

Hi,

Not sure when the 2009 results will appear although I understand the results from the last five years have been collated and will be published shortly.

My own personal highlights included 500+ SIPOs, 250 banded dotterel, 20+ NZ Dotterel, 150+ wrybill, 150+ knot and 150+ bar-wits plus 1 RN Stint at the Kiapara Harbour survey on Saturday, and 300+ knot, 200+ wrybill, 9 turnstone, 2 curlew sandpiper, 1 RN Stint and 1 Greater Sand Plover on the South Manakau on Sunday.

[SzimiStyle]

International Wader Study Group will publish all the results in one of the next issues of its Bulletin.

Szimi