Placentia Bay birding

[darroch....@gmail.com]

A group of us spent the past week doing bird surveys on islands in Placentia Bay with the goal of trying to get a sense of bird community composition on islands lacking Red Squirrels. We were originally planning to do this on islands in Bay of Exploits but we were driven elsewhere by the late pack ice. Team included Pierre Ryan, Regina Wells, Gabrielle Robineau-Charette, Brenda Kelly, Noah Korne and myself. Lots of interesting observations of common birds (too many to report here). For me it was eye opening to spend time on the Merasheen archipelago, which is free of two of our most destructive and pervasive introduced species (moose and squirrels) yet has caribou so gave me a window into how ecosystems on Newfoundland might have looked in past.|This was most obvious in terms of the more challenging walking due to the tangly vegetation and lack of moose trails, but you also saw things like enormous wild raisin, Canada Yew and Mountain Holly as well as the fact that the black spruce still have cones from last fall, which are often all harvested by squirrels in fall elsewhere. Caribou trails were appreciated for travel but are somewhat different in natre from moose trails. Snowshoe hares are on all the islands.

We spent 3 days on the Measheen archipelago, including visits to King Island, North Tilt Islands, South Tilt Island, Merasheen Island, and various others. We also spent one day /night on Woody Island and Sound Island (latter has moose with lots of veg damage due to high moose numbers; and both have squirrels in seemingly low numbers). Some bird highlights in no particular order:
- Bird communities solidly northern boreal. Piles of Yellow-bellied Flycatchers, Fox Sparrows, and Northern Waterthrush throughout the Merasheen archipelago. Also lots of Swamp Sparrows but the flashier warblers were rare (Wilson's etc.).
- winter wrens were common everywhere.
- Red Crossbills at Best's Harbour (6) and Merasheen (2); made me wonder if this island group is a refuge for them from squirrel competition for cones.
- Gray-cheeked Thrushes seen on several island including cluster in Best's Harbour / Tacks Beach that included at least 7 singing males and maybe several more.
- Great Horned Owl calling at Woody Island.
- Goshawk nest with 2 large chicks on King Island.

Darroch and others

[Jared Clarke]

Really interesting reports, Darroch - thanks for sharing. I've often wondered what the birding and bird distribution was like on some of these islands. Having grown up visiting islands in Notre Dame Bay, I had my very first "birding" experiences there as a kid, identifying common birds with a copy of the Golden Guide found on my cousin's coffee table in Exploits Island. I don't get out out there much in recent years, but would love to be able to explore there now with my more experienced (i.e. older) senses. I can't even remember confidently if Red Squirrel is present on Exploits Island, but since the Bay of Exploits isn't an ice-free one, it's very possible they are.

Jared

[darroch....@gmail.com]

This is actually a really opportune response Jared - we are trying to get a handle on possible impacts of squirrels on Gray-cheeked Thrushes and other songbirds in Newfoundland and the islands all around our coast may offer an inadvertent experiment for us. The idea is that we would survey islands with / without squirrels to compare bird communities. With that in mind we'd appreciate any information people can provide us with that may help us start to look at this question. At the most basic level we'd appreciate hearing whether or not any islands you visit have squirrels, as part of the challenge will be finding a good sample of squirrel / squirrel free islands. However any info people can share about sightings of Gray-cheeked Thrushes on islands would be very valuable. Finally if anyone is really keen we have a survey protocol we could share that involves doing a point count (i.e. silently recording all birds seen and heard for 6 minutes) then playing recordings of thrush and squirrel calls to try and elicit a response for thrushes / squirrels that have remained silent up to that point. We can send you an instruction sheet, data sheet, and MP3 file of the recordings if you want to take part, just let me know (email: darroch....@pc.gc.ca).

Thanks!
Darroch

[Dave Brown]

"Winter Wrens, were common everywhere". Surprises me!! Winter Wrens are very rare on the Avalon (eastern Avalon at least). A Winter Wren singing in the last few days in Lamanche is vert notable. I wonder if Winter Wrens are found on the Western Avalon in suitable habitat,or in some areas on the isthmus?

Dave Brown

[David Shepherd]

Julie and I heard Winter Wren singing in Chance Cove PP in the breeding season, a number of year ago (or as I would call it - Wren - not even Common Wren, Bruce!)

DS
JKC

[Dave Brown]

The only place I've ever known Winter Wrens to be common are some areas in the Codroy Valley. I'm not even sure we found many or any on surveys along the Burgeo Rd in areas that did appear to be suitable.

Very interesting!!

Dave Brown

[Nick Soper]

My experience is the Gray-cheeked Thush and Winter Wren are prize finds in central but I had both these birds on Exploits Island. That was at least 20 years ago and I haven't been lucky enough to bird there since.

[brucema...@gmail.com]

Darroch

The islands in Placentia are in a marine climate of rocky hills and rugged landscapes perhaps best compared with the Cape Shore of the Avalon than any other part of Newfoundland. Having just come back from a three day trip of intensive land birding in central Newfoundland based out of Bishops Falls I was reminded of how a little change in the habitat makes a big difference in the birds the general abundance of birds present, or not. Birds sparse in central NF that we Avaloners take for granted in high abundance are Swamp Sparrows, Blackpolls and Fox Sparrows.

I think the islands of Placentia Bay have differences in habitat and climate that are more significant than the presence, or not, of squirrels and moose that might affect bird communities. This should be taken into account before coming up with the general conclusions that I think you may want to find.

And you mentioned the old cones on black spruce still being present on the trees in spring might be an indication of low squirrel impact. Again on the Avalon it is easy to find clusters of old gray cones from who knows how many years back. I was looking at this just a few days ago while noticing the excellent crop of new spruce and fir cones on the way for this year.

Good luck on your study. Interesting approach.

B Mactavish

[ILJones]

This is extremely interesting. Are any of the islands in Notre Dame Bay off Lewisporte similarly squirrel and moose free and could they be another study area for comparative purposes?

[darroch....@gmail.com]

Thanks to all for the comments here, a few thoughts that get at some of these. As I said we had actually planned to do this pilot in bay of exploits where we hoped to find an intermixed group of islands with / without squirrels. This would offer much stronger inference about any influence of squirrels on bird communities than comparing islands from different parts of Newfoundland, where all the other local / regional variables may also be coming into play. Unfortunately we got shut out of Bay of Exploits due to the pack ice and onshore winds last week, hence a last minute switch to Placentia Bay in hopes of salvaging some useful info about island bird communities after all our planning. In that regard I think we were successful, but this is only a pilot and we'd want to find a better area if we actually to move on to a more serious study. I think this maybe gets at your comment Bruce, with which I totally agree. The habitat on the Merasheen archipelago was at the far end of what I'd call "hyper-oceanic" with damp, stunted fir and scrub spruce. This was very different from even Woody Island and Sound Island on the west side of the bay, which have areas of large, productive forest.

Cones - you're right here too. I threw that out as an observation because competition with squirrels for cones has been proposed as one of the potential stressors affecting the Newfoundland Red Crossbill. In that context finding crossbills on squirrel free islands is the kind of casual observation that may warrant further investigation by people working on this species. That said I realize that sightings of this species are more regular on parts of the Avalon than elsewhere in Newfoundland

About Winter Wrens, by "common" I mean that I heard them on about 50% of my point counts and on every island we visited, which seems quite high based on my experience elsewhere in Newfoundland. The only place where I've found them to be more common is Crow Gulch in Gros Morne, where I had 7 males singing in ~1.5 km of the canyon once. It seemed to me that they really liked the overgrown bouldery talus slopes along the valley walls there, maybe because they give lots of subterranean access that the wrens seem to like (?). Not sure what exactly they might like about the Merasheen islands.

Darroch

[burton...@gmail.com]

When I read Darroch's post last night I was most interested in the Winter Wrens he heard...we didn't hear one in the Codroy this year and we are in a winter wren funk!!
Bruce....when I lived in Buchans , for decades and decades!, Swamp, Fx Sparrows and Blackpoll Warblers were plentiful.....can't imagine anything has changed in 8 years there... But maybe the elevation makes a difference?

[Howard Clase]

When I first came to Newfoundland in the late 60's and 70's winter wrens were fairly frequent on the Avalon. Always in Bowring Park and freqently singing behind our house which more or less backed onto Virginia Lake. It hadn't occurred to me before that their disappearance, like that of the Grey-cheeked Thrush could be linked to the arrival of squirrels.

[chris...@hotmail.com]

On Tuesday, 20 June 2017 17:46:31 UTC-2:30, Howard Clase wrote:
> When I first came to Newfoundland in the late 60's and 70's winter wrens were fairly frequent on the Avalon. Always in Bowring Park and freqently singing behind our house which more or less backed onto Virginia Lake. It hadn't occurred to me before that their disappearance, like that of the Grey-cheeked Thrush could be linked to the arrival of squirrels.

The Red Squirrel was introduced to Newfoundland in 1963 per government website.Anyone know why it was introduced.


Chris,

[Bhill]

Chris, sometime ago I had the same question and found it was an effort to save the threatened Newfoundland Martin by using the squirrels as sacrificial prey. Unwittingly, it also put the squirrel in direct competition with the Newfoundland crossbills. See Conservation Biology: Evolution in Action edited by Scott P. Carroll, Charles W. Fox

https://books.google.ca/books?id=r8ATDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA225&lpg=PA225&dq=red+squirrel+introduction+1963+newfoundland&source=bl&ots=-dYcvuQZz1&sig=8yytzmhQCZMt5VT3YAseeQl7ZKY&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiz_5DJ6c7UAhVF2T4KHWvIBsgQ6AEINzAD#v=onepage&q=red%20squirrel%20introduction%201963%20newfoundland&f=false

Brian

[darroch....@gmail.com]

As an aside, another birder here in Rocky Harbour commented that they had been hearing an unusual number of Winter Wrens here in Gros Morne, and now that they mention it I've probably heard a half dozen here where in most years I only hear one or two. It's not much but curious to see if numbers are a bit higher than usual across Newfoundland this year. I can't think why they would be but bird populations do fluctuate.

As to why squirrels were introduced to Newfoundland, I did a bit of digging on this a few years ago and it'st clear that they were first established as a result of unsanctioned introductions around Roddickton. After that they were translocated a number of times by the Wildlife Division (tcentral, southwestern and eastern Newfoundland). I did a lot of digging including searching the Wildlife Division's library and couldn't find any clear justification why this was done. Various reports suggest it was to benefit marten, to provide a new furbearing species for commercial trappers (yes, they are classified as a furbearer so you need a trapping license to harvest them and there is a small commercial harvest), and for the viewing enjoyment of Newfoundlanders. However nobody could provide me with any kind of report or environmental assessment that gave a rigorous assessment of whether or not this should have been done or why, apparently is was all very informal. That said it's a bit of a moot point as the squirrels would eventually have spread from Roddickton anyway.

Also, as an aside there were also at least two Grey Squirrels recovered on the Northern Peninsula during the 1960s apparently as a result of another unsanctioned introduction. Thankfully that species did not become established. I've never seen any justification for the introduction of eastern chipmunks though I admit I've never dug into this.

Darroch

[chris...@hotmail.com]

Thanks for the info on the Red Squirrel.I've only ever seen one chipmunk on the avalon.The summer of 2015 on the Witless Bay Line.


Chris,

[John & Ivy Gibbons]

My understanding (I believe from a conversation with the late John Lien) was that there were two introduction that took place nearly simultaneously, around 1963: The first was actually a government introduction of squirrels to island(s) in Notre Dame Bay as a test. Apparently during a hard winter the ice froze all the way out from the mainland and the squirrels came ashore. Yes, the intention was to provide another food source for martins. The second introduction was definitely in 1963. Men from Roddickton / Main Brook area were cutting pulpwood, probably in the Port Hope Simpson area, captured a few squirrels and brought them home as pets. I have good knowledge of this because my late dad was a woods foreman with Bowaters who led a group of woodcutters in the same area in 1964. The government also introduced the chipmunk and shrew.

[Bhill]

On Monday, June 19, 2017 at 8:00:22 AM UTC-2:30, darroch....@gmail.com wrote:

As a further aside chipmunks are common around the 7th T box at the Willows golf course at Holyrood, attracted no doubt by the shared (or otherwise procured) lunches of the golfers. Brian

[darroch....@gmail.com]

My understanding is that chipmunks were introduced to a few provincial parks, presumably for viewing pleasure, but don't know a lot about it. They have been hanging on and slowly spreading, but they certainly haven't thrived here like squirrels did. I know that in the early 1980s I saw them at Father Duffey's Well on Salmoneir Line, I think as a result of an introduction at the Salmoneir Nature Park. I think they were also introduced to Barachois Pond PP on the west coast, and certainly they are now common in the Humber Valley. In Gros Morne they are rare but regular in the southern half of the park and reach a limit along the northern edge of Bonne Bay (e.g. the Gros Morne Mtn trail parking lot, Norris Point) I've only had 2 sightings in Rocky Harbour, both at the same bird feeder.

For Squirrels, Yes John you're right about the introduction to Camel Island in Bay of Exploits - this is well documented in a paper they published including the spread to two other nearby islands and the mainland. In fact that history is part of the reason we originally tried to focus our iland bird surveys on that area.

Darroch

[brucema...@gmail.com]

There was a flurry of Avalon chipmunks a few years back but now very scarce again. Personal sightings are hardly every year recently but did see one on Powers Road, Goulds in early June 2017.

BM

[fwo...@gmail.com]

On Monday, June 19, 2017 at 8:00:22 AM UTC-2:30, darroch....@gmail.com wrote:

Hello,

Have been following this thread with great interest. Have enjoyed it very much. Wanted to contribute with mention that two days ago on a Bowering Park path (next to the Caribou Memorial) we observed two chipmunks wrestling in the dirt before then foraging in the leaf litter beside the path.

FW

[Howard Clase]

Chipmunks were, I think, also introduced into Butterpot Park in our early days (~1970)

[Shawn]

When myself, Emily, and Randy Wheeler, were birding around the location of the Rusty Blackbird sightings for this spring at Murphy's Pond just off Power's Road in Goulds, Randy, pointed out a Chipmunk foraging nearby.
I saw another one that had become roadkill on Windgap Road, (near Wades Farm Rd.), just yesterday.

Shawn