Hi folks,

Here is the link to download the 2015 edition of the Snow Bunting Report :

https://www.dropbox.com/s/g11k587fp3scrmx/SNBU%20Newsletter%202015_FINALversion.pdf?dl=0

A very special thanks goes out to all of those who contributed articles for this issue.

Wishing you a happy reading,

Marie-Pier

 

ONTARIO

 (December 27^th)

We still have no SNBU winter flocks near our site, not surprising with the warm temperatures and no snow.  The closest observations I have heard of a flock of about 50 birds in the Ravenshoe Rd. area approximately 20 km away.  Another report in the same area was of a “large” flock. We’re looking forward to hearing how Quebec, Temiskaming and others are doing.

 Theresa, King City, ON

UNITED STATES

(December 27^th)

We continue to have unseasonably warm temperatures and no snow, so no Snow buntings have been sighted at any of the sites we hoped to work at this year. Hopefully this will change in January! Best,

Vicki Piaskowski, Hartland, WI

 QUÉBEC

(December 28th)

Everything was going smoothly until the white stuff melted…

Mirabel

From Dec 16 to Dec 23, 108 SNBU and 1 LALO were banded. Some days were better than others but the peak was on Dec 23 with 36 SNBU banded. Unfortunately, that’s when the rain started and after a few days of rain, the fields were bare again.

Some interesting recaps at Mirabel included:

 -2421-91860, banded on Jan 23, 2013 in Arthur, ON

-SNBU banded at St-Roch on Dec 13 2014 and caught at Mirabel 10 days later (30km)

-3 SNBU banded last winter at Mirabel were recaught

-1 SNBU banded in Jan 2013 and that was recaught in Jan 2014 was recaught again, 3^rd consecutive year in the area, or passing through the area.

Mirabel Season total: 187 SNBU, 1 LALO

St-Roch

St-Roch has been our most productive site this year, even with a similar effort to the other sites (about 1,5h each day). Since this site is more to the east, we think the birds find this one first, refuel and don’t need to stop at Mirabel, only 30 km west. Looking back at the March migration last year, the opposite was also true. From March 22 to 31, 572 SNBU were banded at Mirabel while St-Roch only did 68 SNBU with similar effort. Interesting!

Back to this year, from Dec 14 to 23, 341 SNBU and 4 LALO were banded. Besides 3 days, all the other were in the 40 to 50 birds banded range, peaking on Dec 23 with 60 SNBU, again just before the rain started. The field in which we work is now flooded and we’re not sure how we’re going to handle that, hopefully a lot of snow is on the way!

Some interesting recaps at St-Roch included:

 -2411-99683, banded on Jan 8 2014 in Port Rowan, ON

-1 SNBU banded in Mirabel on Dec 18 was recaught only two days later in St-Roch (30km going back east)

-1 SNBU banded in Coteau-du-lac on Dec 12 was recaught ten days later in St-Roch (70km going back east)

St-Roch Season total: 481 SNBU, 4 LALO

Coteau-du-Lac

Another really diverse two weeks for Coteau-du-lac with 90 SNBU, 9 HOLA, 5 LALO and 1 SOSP. Flocks have been from various size but it was getting better towards the end, with 38 SNBU banded on Dec 22. Some Song Sparrows have been visiting the bait site, even escaping from the traps until finally one was caught this week. Unfortunately there again the snow all melted and the flock is gone. Not only is this site very good for HOLA and LALO, it also has the highest female percentage this year by a wide margin with 38%.

Coteau-du-lac Season total: 119 SNBU, 24 HOLA, 12 LALO and 1 SOSP.

So this brings our Southern Quebec Teams to a total of 787 SNBU banded. Everything is at a standstill now, we need snow!

Simon Duval, Migration Research Foundation

(December 28th)

In the highlands of Sainte-Luce near Rimouski, the last 2 weeks have been exciting. The bait site area turns out to be an even better spot for snow buntings than I had imagined.

Several large flocks (sometimes up to a thousand birds, with quite a few LALO) remained in the area. They have been wavering -over and around-, -over, around and over again- the traps, uncertain and timid. It just makes me go crazy to have these hundreds of birds around and not catch anything! I think more snow is needed for things to get busy. I am thinking to give some kind of other trapping method a try next year (woosh-net?), at least for December. Yet I did band the two first birds on December 21st: 1 SNBU and 1 LALO, so that was nice.

With the rain and warm weather, same story here as in Montreal area for now though: fields are bare and everybody is gone…

                                                             *********************

May you or other people you might know be interested in participating in a snow bunting census project, please have a look at the following website:

www.plectrophanedesneiges.wordpress.com

The data collected will be used to assess the influence of snow depth on snow bunting’s abundance, as part of my research project. You can download the field protocol on the website to have more information on the project.

And one last thing to check out is the new facebook page for the CSBN that Simon Duval has created! Thanks to this initiative, more people will be able to find us on the web and learn about our activities!

www.facebook.com/SNBUnetwork

*** We’ll do another post in two weeks from now, please send me the news you would like to share by January 10th

Happy new year to all! May your lives filled with joy and your traps with buntings!

Marie-Pier

MANITOBA

 (November 10th)

SNBU began trickling through south-central Manitoba Oct. 9.  Most reports are of groups of 2-20, with one report of 40, one of 69, and two of 200: the first Oct.18 on the west shore of Lake Winnipeg at Riverton Sandy Bar IBA; the second Oct. 25 just sw of Winnipeg. (Same flock??).  As in previous years, they appear to travel mainly between the lakes, favouring the shorelines.  But this could be a bias in reporting.  Not one seen here (2 1/2 miles west of Camp Morton) yet this year, but a few individuals reported at the lakeshore.

All the best, Bill Maciejko, Camp Morton Manitoba

ONTARIO

(November 11th)

Hello all!  It is nice to “meet” you Marie-Pier!

We have had two sightings of SNBU at Kerns so far this season.  We had a blustery Halloween day and along with the ghosts and goblins blew in a flock of about 300 SNBU.  I took some time to watch the flock with my bins and saw several LALO in the flock as well.   On Sunday Nov. 9th, another snowy day, I went to school to grab some materials and sure enough the Flock was back! Today school was cancelled for a snow day…..so I think the birds may be here to stay.  The kids will start baiting the fields soon. The kids are super excited! Joanne Goddard, Timiskaming Shores

(November 10th)

Hello Fellow SNBU banders, Here in Essex County we have a new challenge for this coming winter’s SNBU season, namely the loss of our East Harrow banding location.Our host was hit by the love bug and moved out of her rental house on farm property that had been our SNBU banding home for the past few seasons.We have a lead on a replacement location and hope to announce that we will be continuing our winter efforts going forward.Stay tuned for the next exciting installment.

PS: The Raptor Watch at Holiday Beach has heard SNBU’s flying over…can snow be far behind ? Bob Hall-Brooks, Essex County

(November 12th)

Good morning to all,

I saw my first Snow Bunting of the season on October 22nd, just a kilometer up the road from my house on Sheridan Rapids Road, in Lanark, Ontario.Yesterday, I spotted a flock of about 12 Snow Buntings in an open gravel pit, about 3 kilometers from my house, on Iron Mine Road. That is the 3rd year in a row that I have spotted Buntings at that same spot, around the same time of year. I watched them for several minutes, as they were hopping about on a bit gravel mound. I’m not sure why they pick that spot; perhaps it resembles their nesting grounds on Baffin Island, or it’s a like a benchmark or a point of reference when they first arrive in the area?

I haven’t seen any on my property yet, but the white millet is on the ground and you’ll be the first to know when they show up!

Have a good day, Lise Balthazar, Lanark, Ontario

 (November 10th)

Saw a lovely flock of about 50 Snow Buntings near Port Elgin on the Bruce today. I am already getting “the itch”………….. David Lamble, Fergus

NEWFOUNDLAND

(November 10th)

Not much to report here from Newfoundland, though there have been some reports of SNBUs in eastern Newfoundland and one report from western Newfoundland over the past 2 weeks. Best, Darroch Whitaker, Rocky Harbour

 QUÉBEC

 (November 11th)

I have not spotted big flocks in my area yet, but a few groups of 10-100 individuals are often observed in nearby fields. I have not started baiting yet, but should start to do so soon. As soon as the ground remains covered with snow, I will start trapping. Benoit Gendreau – Berthier-sur-Mer, QC

(November 13th)

And here in Rimouski area, Qc, I saw the first few lone SNBU’s travelers back on around October 23rd. Small flocks of migrating SNBU’s have been a common sight along the shores of the St-Lawrence in the last couple weeks as well. I have started baiting a site this week right by the river in Ste-Luce and 2 buntings were feeding on the corn patch today. I will start baiting another site this week end. We had kind of a snow storm last week end and more snow falling this week. It has melted now but it’s a matter of days before snow falls again and stays for good… And with it, the snow buntings… Marie-Pier

 

 

Late last June and into July, in Iqaluit, David Hussell, Ricky Dunn and I banded Snow Buntings that had nests. We put on a regular aluminum band, a light blue plastic band (on the left leg) and a geolocator. The latter fits on the bird’s back with a harness – like a little backpack. The geolocator records where the bird is – latitude and longitude – each day. This will give us an idea its migration routes, both south and north, and its wintering area. Very little is know about Snow Buntings that breed in the Canadian Arctic. Christie Macdonald used geolocators to follow some nesting buntings from Southampton Island. This is the second population of Canadian birds that we will get some data on (assuming that the gizmo was working).

This bird, a female, was originally caught on July 10th, 2013. David noted in his email that they have also found another banded bird with a geolocator, a male. They will be trying to catch it over the next few days. It will be exciting to see the routes these eastern Arctic birds took and to see where they spent the Winter!

[Note: we will be banding tomorrow morning at Ruthven.]
Rick