July 2007 Volume 38, No.2
THE OSPREY ______NATURE JOURNAL OF NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR
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Cover Artwork: Bearded Seal (Erignathus barbatus) photo taken by Ken Knowles this summer (2007) in Labrador. THE OSPREY
NATURE JOURNAL OF NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR
July 2007 Volume 38, No. 2
CONTENTS
The spring migration (2007) in Saint-Pierre and Miquelon islands 31 by Roger Etcheberry Erioderma mollissimum in Newfoundland. 39 by Mac Pitcher From Tow to Eel 43 by R. John Gibson Observer Reliability in Birding 46 by Andrus Voitk Global Warming & Biodiesel: 48 by Robin Tim Day Tuck-Walters Awards 54 by Henry Mann and Bill Montevecchi Brown Trout and Rainbow Trout 56 Reviewed by Allan Stein Annual General Meeting 58 by Rita Anderson Humber Natural History Society Annual Report 59 by Lois Bateman Announcements 60
31 The spring migration (2007) in Saint-Pierre and Miquelon islands Miquelon, June 27, 2007 by Roger Etcheberry
Spring was cold and windy to the very end ! We have two new species and a second record for a European species. Some species of warblers appeared to be somewhat more numerous than in previous years.
Red-throated Loon : A pair at its now usual haunts on the north-eastern corner of the Isthmus on May 22 is the only report. Common Loon : A few here and there in March for a maximum in St. Pierre of 14 birds on March 31 (PA). The highest concentration was 15 off the west coast of Miquelon on April 12 and 40, same area, on April 21 (RE). A few to the end of the period. Red-necked Grebe : A very low year ! One in St. Pierre harbour from March 7 to 9 (PA). Two only, off Cape Miquelon, on April 22 (RE). Manx Shearwater : About 10 near Colombier island on may 11 (TV). 7 off the south coast of Langlade on May 13 (FPA). A few near Grand Colombier on May 18 (LJ) and about 15 between St. Pierre and Miquelon on May 27 (RE). Northern Gannet : One off the south-west coast of Miquelon on April 5 (LJ) was 17 days earlier than average. The next one was seen only on May 10 south of St. Pierre (TV). A few here and there since, for a maximum of about 20 off the south coast of Langlade on May 13 and a few dozens south of St. Pierre on May 18 (BL). Double-crested Cormorant : The fi rst migrants (2 birds) were seen near the village of Miquelon on April 24, 9 days earlier than average, regularly then and in increasing number (RE). There was a maximum of 8 birds in St. Pierre on April 28 (PA) and 27 on May 18 (PB). American Bittern : One was fl ushed by Denis Detcheverry near Mirande lake on April 28. Great blue Heron : All seen in St. Pierre : Two between April 11 and 14, and one only up to May 5 (m. ob.). Little blue Heron : One adult in St. Pierre on May 15 and 16 (PB/PHA/FPA) and possibly the same one in Miquelon between May 21 and 27 (RE). Glossy Ibis : Four birds were in St. Pierre between May 15 and 22 (m. ob.). Canada Goose : The fi rst migrants (4) arrived on the Isthmus on March 13 (LJ) and on average for recent years. There were 57 on March 29 (BL), 73 on April 6 and 22 in fl ight in St. Pierre the same day (PHA). The fi rst broods (2) were found on May 19, goslings being about a week old. There were at least 40 non-breeding birds on the Isthmus on May 25 (RE). Eurasian Wigeon : The over-wintering male in St. Pierre was present up to May 5 (PA). American Wigeon : One report only, two pairs on the Isthmus on May 3 (FD). American Black duck : There was a maximum of 608 birds at Grand Barachois on March 2 (RE) and 530 at Grand Barachois and 82 near the village of Miquelon for a total of 612 on March 13 (LJ). Then as the marshes thawed they were too scattered for accurate counts. LJ had a brood of 11 ducklings aged a few days on the southern part of the Isthmus on May 20. Mallard : One female was in St. Pierre for most of the month of March (PB/PA). One female was on the Isthmus on April 29 (RE). Blue-winged Teal : Seen only in St. Pierre : One male on March 1 then a pair on May 14 (PB). A few birds were seen regularly from May 14 to 28 for a maximum of 3 birds, 2 males and one female (m. ob.). Northern Pintail : One female over-wintered in St. Pierre. The fi rst migrant, a male, appeared near 32 Grand Barachois on April 3 (LJ). There were two pairs, also on the Isthmus on March 12. Regularly then in relatively low number. There was a brood of 8 ducklings in St. Pierre on May 25 (BL) and a brood of nine the next day (PHA). There was a brood of 10 ducklings, aged a few days on May 31 on the Isthmus (RE). G A R G A N E Y : One male was present in St. Pierre between May 24 and 31, fi rst spotted by LJ it was photographed by PB on May 25. This is of course a new species for us, photos could be seen at : http://www.spmaviavis.com/discus/messages/15/1223.html?1180267852 . On May 31 it was in company with a female blue-winged (LJ). Green-winged Teal : Two females over-wintered in St. Pierre and were seen up to April 6 (PA). The fi rst male was seen there on April 7 (BL/PA). The fi rst ones in Miquelon were a pair near the village on April 13 (RE). Seen here and there regularly then, in rather low numbers (m. ob.). Ring-necked Duck : Nine males and one female were in St. Pierre on April 22 (LJ), and the fi rst on the Isthmus : 2 males and one female, were present on April 29 (RE). A few here and there up to May 31 (m. ob.). Greater Scaup : Once again about 100 birds over-wintered in the salt pond near the village of Miquelon (RE/BL/LJ) and moved to freshwater as soon as it thawed. There was a maximum of 114 on a pond of the east coast on March 24 (RE). Numbers started to dwindle around mid-April with a few still around, often in pairs throughout the rest of the season. Lesser Scaup : The male over-wintering in St. Pierre was last seen on May 9 (PB). King Eider : One male was seen off the harbour of Miquelon on April 7 (fi de LJ). and one was found on a picture of a small raft off St. Pierre on April 19 (PB). Common Eider : For the month of March, there were about 5000 birds off the east coast of the Isthmus on March 2 (BL) and about 600 off St. Pierre on March 20 (BL). In April there were a maximum of 1300 off St. Pierre on April 4 and about 2000 off the Isthmus, and about 2500 off the west coast of Miquelon and a maximum of 800 off the east coast on April 13. Much less in May : About 350 on May 1 and about 130 on May 19 of the west coast of Miquelon (RE) and about 50 of Miquelon harbour on May 6 (RE). Harlequin Duck : Seen only near St. Pierre. regularly between March 20 and May 21 for a maximum of 42 birds on March 25 (BL) and one only on May 21 (PB). White-winged Scoter : Numerous as usual off the east coast of the Isthmus as seen on March 2 (BL) and on April 6 (RE). Long-tailed Duck : As noted in recent years it appears on the low side ! There was a maximum of about 50 birds off the south-west coast of Miquelon on March 2 (RE) and about 30, same area, on March 30 (BL). Last reported about 15, again same area, on April 21 (RE). Buffl ehead : a female was with the Scaups near the village of Miquelon on March 1, 2 and 13 (RE/BL). Common Goldeneye : Over-wintering in Grand Barachois as usual. We had about 150 birds there on March 2 (BL/RE). Last seen a pair on the Isthmus on April 29 (RE). Average departing date is May 6. Red-breasted Merganser : Common as usual around the islands. About 100 birds were at Grand Barachois on March 2 (BL) and 105 on the salt pond near the village on March 13 (LJ). Usually rather rare in St. Pierre, it was reported 18 times between March 2 and may 21 (m. ob.) for a maximum of 8 birds on March 20 (BL). Ruddy Duck : One pair was well described to PB by M. Brouillou in St. Pierre on May 5 or 6. This is the fi rst known spring occurrence. There are 4 records between 1960 and 1996, 3 of them in September and one in October. Osprey : This is the fi rst year since 1986 (from computer data, I didn’t check years from 1974 to 1985) that the species was not reported in spring ! … Bald Eagle : Regularly seen throughout the season. 4 immature and 2 adults were feeding on a dead seal on the southern part of the Isthmus on March 27 (RE). The nest newly discovered last year on western 33 Langlade had one young aged a few days and one egg on May 9 (LJ). The nest on Cape Miquelon had one young aged a few days on May 21 (LJ) and the one in St. Pierre had 2 young aged about 2 weeks on May 31 (LJ). The two nests on south-western and eastern Langlade were not checked so far. Northern Harrier : The fi rs male was spotted by BL in St. Pierre on April 28. One bird was in St. Pierre on May 4 (FPA) and one male was near Mirande lake in Miquelon on May 5 (RE). A few seen in the three islands up to the end of the period (m. ob.). Sharp-shinned Hawk : One in St. Pierre on March 9 (FPA),(FPA), April 26 and May 20 (PHA). Northern Goshawk : One was seen in Cape Miquelon on April 21 (FD). The pair is nesting once again near the east coast of Miquelon, very near a trail and is once again very aggressive ! … Rough-legged Hawk : One was seen near the town of St. Pierre on April 5 (P(PA).A). There was one light and one dark phase above Colombier island on April 6 (RE). One was seen near Grand Barachois on April 21 (BL). American Kestrel : One in St. Pierre on May 28 (BL). I had one near the village of Miquelon, probably in May. Merlin : 1 near the village of Miquelon on April 24 (FD). A few, regularly then throughout the season (m. ob.). Peregrine Falcon : 10 reports, between March 13 and May 13, on the Isthmus, in St-Pierre and Western Miquelon (LJ/BL/FPA), one bird at a time. American Coot : Two birds successfully over-wintered in St. Pierre for the fi rst time, as far as we know. They were last seen on April 15 (PB/RE/DL/PA). One was on the Isthmus on May 19 and 27 (RE). Black-bellied Plover : One in winter dress was in Miquelon on May 28 and 31 (RE), and one in St. Pierre on May 30 (BL). Golden Plover sp. : One bird was heard in fl ight and too briefl y seen for a positive identifi cation in St. Pierre on May 21 (BL). Semipalmated Plover : One in St. Pierre on May 7 (PB) was two days earlier than average. Only 3 other reports for St. Pierre (PB). I heard one or two birds in Miquelon on May 30. Piping Plover : One bird only was seen south of the Gully of Grand Barachois between April 29 and May 22 (RE/LJ). Two pairs were located by LJ on the Northern side of the Gully of Grand Barachois on May 22. Killdeer : None seen in Miquelon. One bird seen in St. Pierre on May 8; 11, 21 and 25 (PB/LJ) Common GREENSHANK : One in St. Pierre spotted again by LJ on a rock of the same pond where he saw one 4 years ago. It was in company with a Greater Yellowlegs. This is our second record. See picture at : http://www.spmaviavis.com/discus/messages/15/1184.html?1181434688 Greater Yellowlegs : The fi rst one was in St. Pierre on April 23 (PHA), 2 days earlier than average. The fi rst ones on the Isthmus were spotted 3 days later (RE). Well reported throughout the season in relatively low numbers (m. ob.). Spotted Sandpiper : The fi rst one was seen near Mirande lake by LJ on May 18, one day later than average; a few regularly then. Four birds were in St. Pierre and about 7 on a small island near St. Pierre on May 28 (PA). Sanderling : A few were over-wintering as usual, all seen near Grand Barachois, 9 were there March 2 (RE) and 10 on March 16 (LJ). Three there on April 29 (RE). 12, of which 2 were in breeding plumage on May 20 (LJ). Finally 14, two days later (LJ). Least Sandpiper : One briefl y seen and heard near the village of Miquelon on May 30 ! (RE). Purple Sandpiper : 10 reports between March 2 and May 22 for a maximum of 87 near Grand Barachois on March 16 (LJ) and a maximum of 20 and 30 in St. Pierre on April 10 and 13 respectively (PB/PA/PB/LJ). Dunlin : Two were seen at Grand Barachois by LJ on March 16 and May 22. Stilt Sandpiper : One in St. Pierre, seen and photographed by LJ on April 29 is only our 4th record. 34 Wilson’s Snipe : The fi rst one was seen in St. Pierre by PHA on April 21, right on average ! The fi rst ones were heard in Miquelon, near Mirande lake on April 27. Fairly common thereafter ! a nest near Mirande lake had 3 eggs on May 24 and 4 on May 31st (RE). Pomarine Jaeger : One at sea a few miles north of Colombier island on May 27 (RE). Black-headed Gull : All seen in St. Pierre : well reported throughout the season, for a maximum of 6 birds on March 31 (PA) and 5 birds on April 5, 22 and 29. There were still 5 birds by the end of the period (PHA). Mew Gull : One bird was present in St. Pierre from April 1st to April 18 (PB/P(PB/PA/RE/DL).A/RE/DL). Should it be called a Common Gull ? See pictures at: http://www.spmaviavis.com/discus/messages/15/ 150.html?1176917926 Ring-billed Gull : The fi rst migrant adult was seen in St. Pierre on March 25 (PA) A week earlier than average. One was on the southern part of the Isthmus on March 27. They were numerous on the Isthmus and elsewhere from April 11 on (m. ob.). Iceland Gull : Common in March and early April, mostly in St. Pierre harbour as usual. A few were still present, mostly immature, up to the end of the period (PA/PB). Lesser Black-backed Gull : One in St. Pierre between March 10 and May 6 (PA). Glaucous Gull : One in or near St. Pierre harbour on March 6 and 10 and April 29 (PA). One immature near the village of Miquelon on April 20 (RE). Black-legged Kittiwake : A few were near the breeding cliffs of Cape Miquelon on March 4 and about 300, same area, on March 12 (BL). They were numerous but not abundant, same area again, on April 22 (RE). Common Tern : 25 were reported from St. Pierre on May 26 (BL) and more than 30 on May 27 (PA). The species has been nesting there in recent years. Arctic/Common Terns : A few hundreds were on the Isthmus on May 19 (LJ/RE), one day later than average. About 30 were on an islet on Mirande lake on May 31 (RE). Razorbill : About 200 were near or on Colombier island on April 13 (TV) and about the same number on April 21 (BL). Black Guillemot : The fi rst breeding plumaged bird was reported by PB in St. Pierre harbour on March 25 while a few had the same plumage on April 1 (RE/DL). About 200 were reported from Southern Langlade on May 13 (FPA). Atlantic Puffi n : Several hundreds were reported around Colombier island on April 21 and on May 6 (RE). Mourning Dove : 3 were at SA’s feeder throughout the season. 3 were at PB’s feeder on March 1 and one was at or around PHA’s feeder on May 5, 9, 10 and 24. Short-eared Owl : One was on the Isthmus on March 29 and one in St. Pierre on May 15 (BL). Boreal Owl : One of the nesting boxes in St. Pierre was occupied by April 12 and another one on April 26 (LJ). There was one adult and one young at one of the boxes by May 28 (DG) while the other one had 4 eggs and no adults around and was presumed abandoned (DG). Chimney Swift : 7 reports, between May 12 and 29 involving 1 to 3 birds, all in St. Pierre (TV/PHA/ FPA-/SA/PA). Belted Kingfi sher : One in St. Pierre on April 9 was about 3 weeks earlier than average, but on the same date as last year. There was 46 reports in the three islands between April 25 and the end of the period (m. ob.), for a maximum of 3 birds at a time in St. Pierre where one pair was copulating on May 27 (PB). The species is of course a confi rmed breeder at Langlade and in Miquelon but not in St-Pierre yet. Black-backed Woodpecker : One near the east coast of Miquelon on May 5 (FD) and a female, same general area on May 24 (RE). Northern Flicker : One in St. Pierre on March 10 (FPA) was probably an over-winterer ! One at Langlade on April 13 was somewhat early (BL). Seen regularly in the three islands from April 24 on (m. 35 ob.) Eastern Phoebe : One was in St. Pierre on May 11 (PHA). Eastern Kingbird : Five reports, all in St. Pierre, between May 22 and May 31, one bird at a time (PHA/PB). Northern Shrike : One in the village of Miquelon captured a Snow Bunting at FD’s feeder on March 3. One, about 2 km from the village on March 6 was possibly the same bird (RE). Blue-headed Vireo : One in St. Pierre On May 10, and 1 the next day, (PB) was 12 days earlier than average. There was also one in St. Pierre on May 22 and 27 (PB). The fi rst one seen in Miquelon was on May 31 (RE). Blue Jay : I guess it could be called a resident now. Some birds over-wintered again this year, at least 3 near Cape Miquelon and up to 4 in St-Pierre (BL/LJ/DG/SA). Common Raven : One nest in Cape Miquelon had 6 eggs on April 15 and feathered young on May 18 (RE). Another nest in Cape Miquelon was also occupied while another one was not (since 2005). There was a nest at Langlade with one young on May 13 (FPA). Horned Lark : A few birds over-wintered in Miquelon and the Isthmus as usual. The fi rst migrants (2) were seen in St. Pierre not earlier than April 10 (LJ). One was carrying nesting material in Miquelon on April 24 (RE). Two young were found in St. Pierre on May 23 (TV). Tree Swallow : One in St. Pierre on April 29 was 8 days earlier than average. Only a few birds were seen and well reported up to May 25 (m. ob.). About 25 were in St. Pierre on May 27 and about 35 to 40 from May 27 to 29 (PA/DL/FPA/LJ). A few were near the village of Miquelon on May 30 (RE). Bank Swallow : One was on the Isthmus on May 20 (LJ) and at least two in St. Pierre on May 27 (PA); Two on May 29 also in St. Pierre (LJ). A few with Barns and Trees near the village of Miquelon on May 30 (RE). Barn Swallow : 11 reports between May 11 and 31, few birds at a time, in St-Pierre only up to May 16, and also in Miquelon On May 19, 23, 29 and 30 (RE). Black-capped Chickadee : The species had almost totally disappeared from the islands except for one bird seen in St. Pierre in previous years. Now according to observations this spring, in St. Pierre again, it seems that there are possibly 3 or 4 birds, hopefully males and females that will stay and reproduce ! …. (PHA/SA/PB). Boreal Chickadee : Common, about as usual. (m.ob.). Red-breasted Nuthatch : One to two birds were seen in St. Pierre between April 12 and May 13 (PHA/ PB). LJ had one at Langlade on May 19 (LJ). There was one in Miquelon on May 24 (RE). Brown Creeper : Two birds, were not together, near the east coast of Miquelon on April 25 (FD) and one was in Cape Miquelon on May 23 (JCH). Winter Wren : Quite rare last year, it seems more present this year. The fi rst one was singing in Miquelon on May 5, and regularly then. LJ had 2, possibly 3 males singing in Cape Miquelon on May 21. One was singing in St. Pierre on May 16 and 27 (PB) and 28 (LJ). Golden-crowned Kinglet : Rare or underreported ! One in St. Pierre on May 22 (PA) ! … Ruby-crowned Kinglet : One in St. Pierre on April 22 (LJ) was 4 days earlier than average. The fi rst one in Miquelon was seen in the village on April 25. Regularly then in pretty good numbers (m. ob.). Gray-cheeked Thrush : One in St. Pierre on May 11 (DG) seems somewhat early for the species ! One was in the town of St. Pierre on May 27 (PA). One was calling and singing near Mirande lake on May 28 (RE). Swainson’s Thrush : 6 reports between May 27 and 31, few birds at a time, in St-Pierre. One only near the east coast of Miquelon on May 30 (RE). Hermit Thrush : This is now the commonest species in the islands. This statement seems to be confi rmed by the 23 reports between April 26 and May 28 in the three islands (m. ob.). Few birds a time except about 10 birds in St. Pierre on May 8 (LJ) and about 10 on May 16 (PB). 36 American Robin : A few birds in Miquelon on March 28 and 29 were apparently migrants (FD/RE). In St. Pierre the fi rst one was reported on March 30 (FPA). Common thereafter in relatively low numbers. They were termed very numerous on May 7 in St. Pierre (PB/PHA). On nest had 4 eggs on May 21 in St. Pierre (PB). One was carrying nesting material in Miquelon on May 28 (RE). Gray Catbird : One in St. Pierre on May 27 (LJ) and one on eastern Langlade the next day (FD). Northern Mockingbird : One on southern Miquelon reported by David Detcheverry on May 28 (fi de RE). Bohemian Waxwing : About 15 in St. Pierre on March 6 (PB). About 10 near the east coast of Miquelon on April 1 were photographed by Charles Mahé (fi de RE). Three were seen by Denis Detcheverry near Mirande lake on May 8 (fi de RE). Cedar Waxwing : One in the village of Miquelon on May 30 (FD). Tennessee Warbler : One seen and photographed by LJ in St. Pierre on May 28. The species has been quite rare in recent years. Northern Parula : One in St. Pierre on May 13 and 16 (LJ/PB/PHA). One in a different area on May 27 (PB). Yellow Warbler : One near the feeder on May 21 (SA) was 2 days later than average. The next one was seen on May 27 and regularly then in rather low numbers in the three islands (PB/PHA/LJ/PA/FD). Magnolia Warbler : The fi rst ones were seen in both Miquelon and St. Pierre on May 27 (PB/SA/RE) 2 days later than average. Regularly thereafter here and there to the end of the period (DG/PB/PHA/PA/ LJ). Cape May Warbler : One in St. Pierre on May 27 (PHA). Yellowrumped Warbler : The fi rst two were seen in St. Pierre on April 29 (PHA), right on average. Common and rather abundant in St. Pierre throughout the season (m. ob.). Fairly common in Miquelon although in lower numbers. 16 feeding on a fi eld, May 21 and none in the nearby woods gives a good idea of the temperature ! … Black-throated Green Warbler : One in St. Pierre on May 13 (PB) was the earliest ever. The best date on record was May 14 (2004) and average is May 22. Seven other reports mostly in St. Pierre, few birds at a time to May 28 (PB/PA/FPA). One was near Mirande lake in Miquelon on May 27 (RE). Blackburnian Warbler : One male was seen and photographed by PB (www.patrickboez.com) on May 24. Palm Warbler : One in St. Pierre on April 25 (LJ) was 8 days earlier than average. The next ones were seen regularly from May 2 to May 30 (m. ob.) in fairly good numbers in the three islands. Bay-breasted Warbler : One only in St. Pierre on May 22 (PA). Blackpoll Warbler : One in St. Pierre on May 11 (PB) was a week earlier than average. Fairly common then and well reported throughout the season (m. ob.). Black and White Warbler : One at Langlade on May 9 was 8 days earlier than average. Seen regularly and well reported, in better numbers than in recent years in the 3 islands, to the end of the period (m. ob.). American Redstart : One in St. Pierre on May 26 (DG/PB) was right on average ! Regularly seen then to the end of the season in better numbers than in recent years to the extent that it was noticed by several non-birders. Northern Waterthrush : The fi rst ones were seen in St. Pierre on May 16 (PB) one day later than average. Fairly common then in the three islands in relatively low numbers (m. ob.). Common Yellowthroat : One male in the village of Miquelon on May 20 (FD) was right on average. One was also singing in Cap Miquelon (LJ) the next day, as well as near Mirande lake (RE) and in St- Pierre (PB). Then none to May 27. A few here and there apparently in low numbers to May 28 (PB/LJ/ PA). Wilson’s Warbler : One in St. Pierre on May 11 (DG) was 11 days earlier than average. Seen regularly 37 from May 16 on in relatively good numbers to the end of the season, in St. Pierre and in Miquelon (m. ob.). None reported from Langlade due probably to less observations there. American Tree Sparrow : One was at SA’s feeder on May 10. Chipping Sparrow : One near Mirande lake on April 29 and May 1 (RE) was 3 weeks earlier than average, and the earliest by 4 days. Several other observations up to May 29, one bird at a time, in the three island. Four birds at FD’s feeder on May 16 was quite unusual. CLAY-COLOURED SPARROW : A long overdue new species for us, one was seen and photographed near Mirande lake on May 23 (RE), see http://www.spmaviavis.com/discus/messages/15/ 1208.html?1179935898 . Savannah Sparrow : The fi rst 2 were seen in St. Pierre by LJ on Aril 24, 4 days earlier than average. The next day LJ had 1 bird of the Ipswich ssp. also in St. Pierre. Common thereafter, about as usual in the three islands. Fox Sparrow : One at SA’s feeder on March 31 and one around PHA’s feeder the next day were possibly migrants, although none was seen up to April 7 while LJ had 2 birds in Cape Miquelon. Common then throughout the season and in the three islands (m. ob.). Song Sparrow : A few birds over-winter regularly so its diffi cult to know which ones are migrants ! … A few here and there throughout the season , mostly in St. Pierre, a few in Miquelon (m. ob.). Lincoln’s Sparrow : The fi rst one was seen in St. Pierre on May 10 (PB), a week earlier than average. 11 other reports in the three islands, one to few individuals at a time up to May 28 (PB/LJ/FPA/PHA). Swamp Sparrow : One in St. Pierre on May 12 (PHA) was 4 days later than average. Regular then, not very well reported although it appears rather common, about as usual (RE). White-throated Sparrow : One in St. Pierre (PHA) and two in Miquelon (FD) on April 24 were fi ve days earlier than average. Fairly common then throughout the season (m. ob.). White-crowned Sparrow : One at Langlade on May 10 (LJ) was a week earlier than average. 13 other reports, mostly in St. Pierre up to the end of the season (m. ob.). Golden-crowned Sparrow : The bird that arrived at SA’s feeder last December spent the winter there and was last seen on May 4. It was very elusive and few people managed to see it. Apart for the owner of the feeder only PB managed to take some pictures, see : http://www.spmaviavis.com/discus/messages/ 15/1005.html?1169137518. Dark-eyed Junco : Good numbers were at feeder throughout the season. Snow Bunting : Between 30 and 50 were regularly at FD feeder throughout the winter, up to early March. Last report : about 30 birds near the village of Miquelon on March 4 (BL). Rose-breasted Grosbeak : Mostly seen in St. Pierre, one April 27 (PHA) was almost 3 weeks earlier than average. 11 other reports up to May 29 (PHA/TV/SA), one bird at a time except two on May 22 and 23 (PHA). One male was near the village of Miquelon between May 15 and 22 (RE). Blue Grosbeak : One male was photographed near Mirande lake on May 21, see picture at : http:// www.spmaviavis.com/discus/messages/85/679.html?1179772219 Indigo Bunting : One male was reported in St. Pierre on May 8, 11-13 and 27 (PHA/SA). One was in the village of Miquelon On May 29 and 30 (FD); possibly the same bird was photographed, same area, on May 30 by Marjorie Gaspard. Red-winged Blackbird : Two males were in St. Pierre on April 24 (DG) One female was at FD’s feeder on May 13 and a pair the next day and until May 21 in Miquelon. One female was near PHA’s feeder in St. Pierre on May 25 and 31. Rusty Blackbird : Two at FD’s feeder in Miquelon on April 25. One near Mirande lake on May 8 (RE). Common Grackle : Few birds over-wintered ! 22 birds at DG’s feeder on April 28 to 30 were probably migrants as were 48 in the northern part of the town of St. Pierre on May 5 (LJ). 30 were in the village of Miquelon on May 8 while FD had between 5 and 16 birds at his feeder between April 26 and May 13. Baltimore Oriole : One male was well described to LJ in the town of St. Pierre on May 10. 38 Pine Grosbeak : Rather rare in St. Pierre, one was near PHA’s feeder on April 26 and May 8. Several birds were singing in the woods near Mirande lake throughout the spring, those seen were all immature males. Purple Finch : Seen mostly around feeders throughout the season , few birds at a time, for a maximum of 9 in Miquelon on May 5 (FD) and about 20, also on May 5 in the town of St. Pierre (LJ). Pine Siskin : Rather scarce, One only was at FD’s feeder throughout the season. The same is to be said for PB, PHA and FPA. American Goldfi nch : Fairly common, about as usual in St. Pierre, mostly around feeders ! On March 1, PB had at least 40 birds. It appears to be resident also in Miquelon now, FD had between 2 and 7 regularly at his feeder throughout the season. Evening Grosbeak : One at SA’s feeder in St. Pierre on May 1. One between May 12 and 22 near the village of Miquelon (RE). Contributors : Frédéric & Patricia Allen-Mahé (FPA); Sylvie Allen-Mahé (SA);); Pascal Asselin (PA); Patrick Boez (PB); Frédéric Disnard (FD); Dominique Gouverne : (DG) ; Patrick Hacala (PHA); Jacky and Christine Hébert (JCH); Laurent Jackman (LJ); Danielle Lebollocq (DL); Bruno Letournel (BL) Thierry Vogenstahl (TV). Miquelon, June 27, 2007 Roger Etcheberry 39 Erioderma mollissimum in Newfoundland. by Mac Pitcher
Background: On October 6, 2006, while with a party visiting a site of the Boreal Felt Lichen (Erioderma pedicellatum) west of Ninth Fox Pond in the vicinity of the under-construction Hall’s Gullies forest access road, north of the proposed Ripple Pond Reserve, Wildlife Division botanist Claudia Hanel encountered two individual specimens on a single Balsam Fir of a lichen that superfi cially closely resembles the Boreal Felt Lichen (photo #1).
This lichen was examined by two others in the party, Tom Neilly and Robert Cameron, both of Nova Scotia, who determined that the species was Erioderma mollissimum, basing their identifi cation on similar material recently found in Nova Scotia by Tom Neilly. This fi nd marks the fi rst encounter of this species on Newfoundland Island, although it was speculated by Wolfgang Maass that the species may occur in southeastern Newfoundland on the basis of its similar climate to the Eastern Shore of Nova Scotia, Photo #1 by Claudia Hanel October 6, 2006 where the species had previously been found (Maass 1983).
During a subsequent visit to the Hall’s Gullies Road site on March 2, 2007, Mac Pitcher found and photographed another occurrence of this species (photo #2) and examined one other that had been found on November 22, 2006 by Eugene Conway (photo #3) subsequent to the original fi nd.
Both of these occurrences were also on Balsam Fir. Several other suspect thalli were examined, with most being assigned to species pedicellatum after closer examination.
Nomenclature: Erioderma mollissimum was fi rst described in 1920, as Lobaria mollissima, by G. Sampaio from material collected in Portugal. In a subsequent review in 1926, DuRietz assigned the current Latin binomial. Literally the name translates to “most graceful felt lichen”, or “Graceful Felt Photo #2 by Mac Pitcher March 2 2007 Lichen”. Per Magnus Jørgensen, considered the leading authority on the lichen family Pannariaceae, in which the genus Erioderma is placed, considers that there are two morphotypes found in North America: a southern type found in 1962 in Tennessee, and a smaller, less well-developed alpine/northern type found at high elevations in the Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina in the U.S. and also in Balsam Fir forests in Atlantic Canada (Jørgensen 2000). 40
Taxonomy: Currently, the taxonomic status of the species is accepted by the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS 2007), and based on the available literature from the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (Goward et al. 1998), is also accepted by that agency. However, Jørgensen (2000) notes that all northern and alpine type specimens examined to date have smaller, thinner, less hairy lobes and more punctiform soralia. He attributes this to either poor development (due to climate?) or possibly represent a different (undescribed) taxon. He laments that the material he has examined has Photo #3 by Eugene Conway November 22, 2006 been so poorly developed or so scarce that it has been impossible to arrive at a fi nal decision. He reiterates this claim in recent correspondence in relation to the recently found Newfoundland thalli. This author provided Jørgensen, by way of Dr. Tor Tønsberg, with a photograph from Claudia Hanel, and he expressed this sentiment in a response to C. Hanel. It is apparent that suitable northern material must be collected and provided for thorough analysis to conclusively determine whether we have Erioderma mollissimum or a previously undescribed rare species of Erioderma.
Conservation Status: The Nature serve website ranks this species as G4G5 on the Nature Conservancy ranking system, indicating a secure global status (NatureServe 2007). COSEWIC suggests it may be an endangered species in Canada (Goward et al. 1998). Nature Serve recognizes the species as S1 on the Nature Conservancy ranking system in New Brunswick. A Nature Conservancy ranking of 1 is defi ned as “critically imperiled because of extreme rarity (5 or fewer extant occurrences or very few remaining individuals) or because of some factor(s) making it vulnerable to extirpation or extinction”. More recently, a tender has been called by COSEWIC for the preparation of a status report for this species. On Newfoundland Island, with a present extant known population of four individuals, this species would also qualify as S1.
Threats: Goward et al. (1998) list logging and acid rain as threats to this species. Logging directly destroys existing thalli by the harvest of trees bearing the species. Further, logging inhibits future populations by habitat loss. Forest harvesting adjacent to existing populations of Erioderma pedicellatum has been implicated as a mortality factor for that species by desiccation of existing thalli from increased wind and sun exposure. The photobiont of this genus is a cyanobacterium (Scytonema). These cyanobacteria employ nitrogenaze enzymes which enable them to fi x atmospheric nitrogen. Since SO2 inhibits the nitrogenaze activity in cyanolichens, acid precipitation therefore results in thallus mortality (Maass 1980, quoting Denison et al. 1976).
Appearance: As previously noted, the species closely resembles the more common Boreal Felt Lichen (Erioderma pedicellatum), and is usually found in association with this species in Balsam Fir forests. The major distinguishing feature between the two is the lack of the diagnostic reddish-brown fungal 41 reproductive bodies (apothecia) which are usually present on mature Erioderma pedicellatum thalli. These apothecia solely act to disperse spores from the fungal component of the lichen only, and by themselves are incapable of propagating new individual lichens. E. mollissimum instead has granular soredia on its upper surface. These vegetative propagules contain both the fungal hyphae and the cyanobacterium (Scytonema) and are therefore capable of vegetatively producing new individuals of this species. On occasion, individual Erioderma thalli are encountered that are not fertile, and possess neither apothecia or soredia. Identifi cation to the species level of these individuals is more problematic and likely cannot be conclusively established in the fi eld. Jørgensen (2000) suggests that this species may easily be confused with Peltigera collina, Nephroma parile or Sticta weigelii, a tropical species absent from Newfoundland. This author is familiar with the fi rst two reported look-alikes and doubts that any confusion of these species is possible to a careful observer. Additionally, both look-alike species occur primarily among bryophytes growing on mature and overmature Yellow Birch in eastern Newfoundland, while E. mollissimum has been encountered here only on Balsam Fir, and in the company of the liverwort Frullania asagrayana Photo #4 Erioderma mollissimum ssp. tamarisciae, which is the usual bryophyte associate of by R Haugan - Madiera 1988 Erioderma pedicellatum.
Distribution: This is one of three Erioderma species occurring in North America. Jørgensen speculates that the species evolved in both Africa and South America and spread northward. It is considered an amphi- Atlantic species with a more southerly distribution than that of the Boreal Felt Lichen (Maass 1983). It occurs in Europe in Portugal, Madiera (photo #4) and Tenerife and in North America in Tennessee, North Carolina and Atlantic Canada. Nature Serve (2007) lists the species as also occurring in the Netherlands, Kenya and Costa Rica.
It was fi rst reported for North America from the Great Smoky Mountains by Gunnar Degelius in 1941. Jørgensen (1972) found a fragment of a thallus in the type collection of Erioderma pedicellatum from Campobello Island, New Brunswick. A southern population was discovered in 1962 in Tennessee by B.J. Moore and revisited by Maass and Jørgensen in 1977. Maass and Hoisington found the species in the early eighties in a number of locations in Halifax County, Nova Scotia, and the species was also reported from Fundy National Park in New Brunswick. The October 2007 and subsequent fi nds at Hall’s Gullies Forest Access Road are presently the only extant occurrences for Newfoundland Island. However, Wolfgang Maass advised this author in 2006 that during the early eighties he had encountered approximately sixty occurrences of this species on Newfoundland Island and an additional two sites in southern coastal Labrador. Efforts are underway to substantiate these records and to ascertain if collected vouchers presently exist. It is anticipated that this information will be available in the proposed status report for this species. 42 A reported record for Southeast Alaska is considered by Jørgensen (2000) to be a mistaken identity with a similar looking species found in that locale. The species is also reported to be present in South America.
Habitat: This is a species found in strongly humid coastal forests. In Newfoundland to date, it has only been found on the trunks of Balsam Fir in association with the Boreal Felt Lichen. In Nova Scotia, Maass (1983) reported the species primarily on Acer rubrum, but occasionally occurring on Sorbus americana, Betula allegheniensis, Picea rubens and Abies balsamea. In the eighties, it was found, along with Coccocarpia palmicola, on mossy rocks in Fundy National Park, New Brunswick (Gowan and Brodo 1988), however this is considered to be a rare event. In the U.S., the species has been found on Acer rubrum and Sorbus americana, as well as Abies fraseri and Magnolia fraseri. Maass (1983) suggests that the North American distribution of the species coincides with the combined range of Abies balsamea and Abies fraseri.
References:
Denison, R. Ford, Caldwell, B., Bormann, B., Eldred, L., Swanberg, C. and Anderson, S. 1976. The effects of acid rain on nitrogen fi xation in western Washington coniferous forests. – U.S. Dep. Agric. For. Serv. Gen. Tech. Rep. NE-23. in Proc. 1st Int. Symp. Acid Precip. ForFor.. Ecosystem, pp. 933-949.
Gowan, Sharon P. & Irwin M. Brodo. 1988. The Lichens of Fundy National Park, New Brunswick, Canada. – The Bryologist 91:255-325.
Goward, Trevor, Irwin M. Brodo & Stephen R. Clayden. 1998. Rare Lichens of Canada. A review and provisional listing. COSEWIC.74pp.
ITIS. 2007. Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Website: www.itis.gov. accessed April 17, 2007
Jørgensen, Per Magnus. 1972. Erioderma pedicellatum (= E. boreale) in New Brunswick, Canada. – The Bryologist 75:369-371.
Jørgensen, Per Magnus. 2000. Survey of the lichen family Pannariaceae on the American continent, north of Mexico. – The Bryologist 103(4): 670-704.
Maass, Wolfgang S.G. 1980. Erioderma pedicellatum in North America: A case study of a rare and endangered lichen. - Proc. N.S. Inst. Sci. 30: 69-87.
Maass, Wolfgang S. G. 1983. New observations on Erioderma in North America. – Nord. J. Bot. 3: 567- 576. Copenhagen. ISSN 0107-055X
Nature Serve. 2007. Nature Serve Explorer. An Online Encyclopedia of Life. Website: www.natureserve.org accessed April 18, 2007. 43 From Tow to Eel by R. John Gibson
The American eel (Anguilla rrostrataostrata) has a wide distribution, ranging from 5° to 62° 18’ N latitude. This includes from southwest Greenland, down the coast of Labrador from the Hamilton Inlet – Lake Melville estuary, to the Gulf of Mexico, Panama, and the West Indies. No eels are found on the Pacifi c coast of North America, but a very similar eel (Anguilla anguilla) occurs in European waters, and may be the same species. There are several hundred species of eel, which are primarily marine fi shes, but there are about 16 species of freshwater eels, all in the genus Anguilla. In Canada the eel occurs in the fresh and salt waters of Newfoundland, the Maritime Provinces, the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the St. Lawrence River, and all Quebec and New Brunswick rivers fl owing into the St. Lawrence basin. Numbers have seriously decreased in recent years, as they have also in Europe, probably related to hydro-electric developments, culverts, and pollution, and a swim bladder nematode, introduced from Japan, in the European stocks. In Newfoundland we have seen declines in the Highlands River, St. George’s Bay, (Fig.1), and Northwest Brook Trepassey (Fig.2) (Clarke et al.2005). Freshwater eels are catadromous. That is, they spend most of their lives in freshwater, but spawn in the sea, as opposed to anadromous fi sh, which spawn in freshwater, but migrate to sea for major growth before maturing. Both the American and European eel spawn east of the Bahamas and southwest of Bermuda in the area of the Sargasso Sea. The eggs hatch into small leaf like and transparent larvae called leptocephali. These drift north, arriving off our coasts after a year. During winter the larvae metamorphose into small transparent Fig.1. Catches of eels at experimental stations in the eels, about 60 – 65 mm long, called glass eels. Highlands River, S.W Newfoundland. These enter freshwater in the spring, at about 65 – 90 mm, are pigmented at this stage, and are then called elvers. Eels of all ages migrate upriver during the summer, so that over the years generally the older eels are furthest upstream. Generally, in northern waters, the males are restricted to estuarine habitats, and seldom exceed 45 cm in length. Males are most abundant in the southeastern US. In Canada large female eels range in size from 762 mm to 1220 mm long. “Yellow eels” occur in freshwater, but when returning to sea on their spawning migration, in the autumn, they metamorphose into “silver eels”. Male eels migrate after 3 to 10 years. In Newfoundland the spawning migration of silver eels is at 9 to 18 years (mean 12.9 years) (Bouillon and Haedrich 1985). Growth is faster in areas with larger watersheds than smaller watersheds, probably related to food and space. The size of the larger females is related to faster growth rate and older age. Eels feed mainly on invertebrates, larger eels also preying on fi sh. Seasonal activity is related primarily to water Fig.2. Average catch of eels at four river stations in temperatures, and eels are active at temperatures Northwest Brook, Trepassey 44 above 10° C. - 13° C., and are torpid at lower temperatures. In the Burrishoole system in western Ireland the silver eels migrated at sizes between 40 cm and 100 cm, and ages of 8 to 57 years, with mean age of 31.8 years (males 21.7 years) (Poole and Reynolds 1998).
Eels occur in the St. John’s watersheds, but my story is related to an adventure some years ago, in mid- July, on Gull Pond. This Gull Pond is the one on the north side of Thorburn Road, between Windsor Lake and Healy’s Pond. I have a canoe with a rig so that you can row it, and my daughter and I launched the canoe on the west side of the pond to go fi shing, for brown trout (Salmo trutta), which are abundant in the pond. Unfortunately, near a rocky reef near the centre of the pond one of the rowlocks popped out and was lost, dropping into the water. It was quite windy, and since I only had the two oars, one rowlock, and no paddles, navigation failed, and we were gradually blown over to the north shore. To avoid a nasty shipwreck on the rocks I leaped out, and we had to drag and tow the canoe around the shore back to our launching beach on the western shore. The eely part of the tale is that I went back the next day to try and fi nd the rowlock, by ‘snorkeling’ with fi ns and mask. It was sunny, and about 3 p.m. The water was warm after two weeks of exceptionally warm weather. I didn’t fi nd the rowlock, but I did have other luck. I found a fi shing lure, and attached to this was the line going into the distance. When I followed this up, I got to the rod, intact with reel (I still use it!). I also saw about four brown trout, some three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus), and numerous big eels, greater than 60 cm, and looking about 1 m long, although sizes are enlarged underwater (Fig.3). They were in a depth of about 3.75 m (I measured this the following day). They were over a mud bottom with sparse weeds. Holes were common in the mud, of about 3 to 10 cm in diameter, leading into burrows. One large eel had about 30 cm of its anterior end protruding from a burrow, and disappeared into the burrow as I approached (Fig.4). I went back the following day, and swam from about 6 p.m. to about 6.30 p.m. The sky was cloudy, although it had been sunny all day. The water temperature was 22° C. I saw three large eels swimming above the bottom, and three different ones protruding from burrows. Burrows were usually alone, but often in groups, of half to one dozen, probably 20 to 30 cm apart. There are no crayfi sh, or other large burrowing animals, so it is likely the burrows were made by eels. I don’t think this burrowing behaviour of eels into mud has been reported before. Eels are known to migrate many miles upriver, including around waterfalls, and these eels would have had to negotiate a severe falls at St. Philips (Conception Bay) and migrate about 3 km up Broad Cove Brook.
Some years ago (1981) I had a similar interesting observation of eels in the Highlands River. One of our local assistants told me that a short distance upstream from the estuary, below our fi sh counting fence, there was a deep pool where people swam in the summer, and it was locally called “the eel hole”. He said the reason for the name was that the pool was full of eels, and that they hung out of crevices in the rocks “like spaghetti”. I didn’t really believe him, but one late afternoon, on June 25th, I went to the pool with my mask and snorkel to have a look, and he was right! It had been hot and sunny all day and the water temperature was 20° C. Eels were numerous and were foraging. Some were very big, and appeared close to a metre in length. Several were seen in groups of half a dozen or so peering out of crevices. Also elvers were migrating at the time. I had another chance to swim in the “eel hole” on July 8th, and this time I took my underwater camera to record the wonderful sight. There was not an eel to be seen! The water was cooler (17° C.), and due to recent rains was higher and more murky than during the previous observation, although underwater visibility was still good. The eels had either moved or were under cover. I suppose when people go for a swim in the “eel hole” the water is warm, and the eels active, so that is when they are seen.
Eels are reported to be mainly nocturnal and benthic. However, this is not always the case. As a boy I used to successfully fi sh for eels with a worm during the day. Also I have frequently seen elvers and small eels migrating during the day, sometimes over wet vertical surfaces. In the days when I worked on the 45 Northwest Miramichi in New Brunswick I was one day underwater observing shiners (NotropisNotropis cornutus) spawning over the gravel thrown up by the nest of a fallfi sh Semotilus( corporalis). It was a lovely sunny day, and an eel was grubbing around in the gravel. I suspected it was up to no good, so I went back to the cabin for a net, and scooped up the eel. Its stomach was full of shiner eggs. Also once on the way down to the southern shore on a sunny summer’s day a number of us stopped to have a look off the dock in the Renews estuary by the (unfortunately no longer extant) fi sh plant. (The reason for the stop being that someone had told me that it was a good place to fi sh for sea trout, and I wanted to check that out). Floating on the water surface were bits of cod liver, and indeed trout were rising for these bits, but most surprisingly, there was also a big eel, swimming at the surface, in Fig.3. An eel above mud bottom, in Gull Pond. broad daylight, also eating the liver – showing how opportunistic the species can be.
Eels really are an amazing fi sh, living as well in habitats with running water and rocky substrate as in zones with no current and muddy bottom, and making the most remarkable migrations. They no doubt do compete for food with some fi sh, and the larger ones do prey on small fi sh, and it has been pointed out that they export energy resources from the river system when they migrate to sea. However, immigrating elvers import resources, and eels provide prey of otters and various birds. There is a small commercial fi shery for eels in Newfoundland, and in Europe eels are an important fi shery. The recent decline in American and European eel is therefore of concern.
References:
Bouillon, D.R. and R.L. Haedrich 1985. Growth of silver eels Fig. 4. An eel in its mud burrow. Gull Pond. (Anguilla rostratarostrata) in two areas of Thanks to Kim Bell for scanning the photographs. Newfoundland. J. Northw. Atl. Fish. Sci. 6: 96-100. Clarke, K. D., R. J. Gibson, D. A. Scruton, D. G. Reddin and M. F. O’Connell. 2005. The American eel in Newfoundland and Labrador: Trends in abundance and biological status. Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat, National Peer Review Meeting: Review of information for the American eel (Anguilla rostrata) prior to assessment by COSEWIC, Quebec City, October 11-12, 2005. Poole, W.R. and J.D. Reynolds. 1998. Variability in growth rate in European eel Anguilla anguilla (L.) in a western Irish catchment. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, 98B (3): 141-145. 46 Observer Reliability in Birding
by Andrus Voitk
Three participants, traveling in one car on the way to the Humber Natural History Society’s annual Codroy Birding Week-end, saw an adult bird and three chicks cross the highway. The participants shall be identifi ed as DR (driver), FP (front seat passenger) and RP (rear seat passenger). DR and FP had relatively little birding experience, while RP was a veteran birder for decades in Newfoundland and Labrador, as well as elsewhere. The following table shows what they reported that they observed.
DR FP RP size, indicated by somewhat larger than somewhat larger than somewhat larger than fi ngers robin robin robin shape snipe-like snipe-like snipe-like general appearance low, dowdy roundish, elegant no description offered longer than head more than twice head more than twice head bill diameter, but not twicediameter diameter colour back, wings brown shades brown shades brown shades colour breast orange brown shades didn’t see pattern top speckled, dappled striped speckled pattern breast even striped didn’t see modest (short for shorebird legs, long legs short for short legs) didn’t see gait peculiar peculiar peculiar like New Orleans 3 steps forward, one gait description funeral cakewalk back dance-like
Such interobsever difference is neither unexpected nor unusual. It is common knowledge that people absorb what is proffered differently, even when it is of vital import. For example, video studies of explanations about upcoming surgery, its risks, alternatives and other information to aid decision making, given by surgeons to patients, have revealed that as much as 70% of the information was not absorbed by the same proportion of patients. Some have no recall of vital pieces of information and some attribute to the surgeon information or opinion not given during the interview. Other examples abound. The commonest is the need for examinations in school. If all material were retained and understood equally by all, testing retention and understanding would be redundant. The accuracy of birding, which depends on observation of fi eld characteristics, often available in fl eeting glimpses, must suffer from innate observer unreliability. Although it may be argued that mistakes are less likely with species known to the observer, this very familiarity may encourage jumping to erroneous conclusions, in lieu of more critical observation. In our example, was this possibly the case with observer RP? Unfortunately, this most experienced birder was in the back seat, was last made aware of the spectacle played out on the Trans Canada Highway and thus had both the shortest time and poorest vantage point for observation. However, RP immediately recognized the shape as that of a snipe, a bird common in this area and well known to RP, and was therefore satisfi ed with that identifi cation. Had RP not known the bird, 47 would RP have sought fi eld characteristics longer, rather than enjoy the marvelous show of the mother dancing across the highway with her scurrying brood? The last two sentences suggest that the author knows the identity of the bird and that it is not a snipe. Generally, such a conclusion is impossible in the face of such divergence. Whereas “dowdy” and “elegant” may be dismissed as personal opinions, quite clearly legs cannot be both long and short, backs and wings cannot be both dappled and striped and breasts cannot be both an even orange and a striped brown. How, then, to approach this problem? Because we know that human observations are inherently unreliable, let us fi rst discard as open to error all those characteristics, where interobserver disagreement exists. Next, let us examine the remaining characteristics, those all observers agree upon (ie observations with the highest likelihood of being correct), to see whether they contain one or a set of characteristics, which are known to be exclusive to any species. In this example, all observers agree that the bill was longer than the head and that the back and wings had brown colours. Unfortunately, these characteristics are insuffi cient for identifi cation but will serve to confi rm fi t, if a species is suggested by other fi eld characteristics. All observers also agree to size and snipe-like shape. While these do not make a defi nitive identifi cation, they narrow the number of species to consider down conveniently. One diagnostic characteristic was reported by all observers: a very peculiar gait. Of all birds in that region that fi t the general size and snipe-like shape, have long bills and some brown on the back and wings, only one is famous for its peculiar gait: the American woodcock. Every bird book that describes gait, mentions that of the woodcock as peculiar and unique. All observers, on later questioning, agreed that 1) they had never seen such a gait in any bird (particularly signifi cant in the case of RP, a seasoned birder), 2) if they were writing a fi eld guide for bird identifi cation they would defi nitely feel this should be included as an identifying feature and 3) it was so unusual, that it alone would serve to identify the bird from others. As for the other bird under consideration, the common snipe, no book mentions its gait, although this bird is more often seen in exposed areas, where gait can be more readily observed. This suggests that there is nothing noteworthy about its gait. Indeed, the author has seen snipe walk and can attest that there is nothing unusual, memorable or remarkable about its gait. Is gait suffi cient basis for conclusive identifi cation? Let us answer that with some other questions. Is song? Given the right general size and shape in the right habitat, is fl ight pattern? Who would hesitate to diagnose grouse by the sound of its burst into fl ight or snipe by the sound of its fl ight? Surely unique gait is an equally valid identifi cation characteristic as any of the above, used routinely as sole identifi cation features. All other characteristics that the observers agreed on support the identifi cation. So does the habitat, typical wooded with clearings of low bush, as described for the species. Woodcock are known in the area, reported on past lists and the area is included in Sibley’s distribution map for woodcock. Adding further credence to this possibility, RB (retired biologist), stated that a friend, who lived in a log house not far from the sighting, told him of seeing a woodcock nest in the area. The only problem introduced into this discussion was by BW (biologist’s wife), who said. “They don’t live in a log house.” The house material shall be the subject of a future communication. The method described above does not always work. Clearly, if interobserver agreement does not contain a diagnostic feature, then no conclusion can be reached. Meanwhile, three birders feel very privileged to have fortuitously witnessed what must be a very rare sight: the woodcock cakewalk of a mother accompanying her three chicks across the Trans Canada Highway. The chicks were a mottled brown with subtly patterned buff breasts, not orange, and walked normally, not like their dancing mother. This, of course, is also the subject of a future communication, to follow on the heels of the one about the log/non-log house. 48 Global Warming & Biodiesel: Understanding the Changing Organic Soil or “Duff” in the Circumboreal Forest & Circumpolar Barrens, Newfoundland Canada by Robin Tim Day
Earlier Osprey Discussion This is my 5th note in The Osprey magazine concerning our most common vegetation dominated by black spruce, Kalmia angustifolia (Lambkill) and reindeer-caribou lichen (1). I condense earlier information for the general reader in a somewhat anecdotal style. If anyone would like help doing similar work in Canada or the tropics they can contact me: [email protected], 605 Gardiner Rd., RR#3 North Augusta, Ontario, K0G1R0.
Introduction By learning the geology, plants and ecology we teach ourselves to read the land as surely as we read a book or map, or learn a language, a language of landscape. The lower trunk and roots of many conifers are often buried in their own rubbish, castoffs from the living tree, needle-leaves, cones, twigs, lichen, moss, dead roots and fl akes of bark. This would be like us standing in a thick layer of our own dandruff, peeled skin and fallen hair. One of the keys to understanding the huge boreal forest and circumpolar barrens is to understand the changing organic soil layer. Foresters call it duff (2). In this article I describe the spruce- kalmia barrens and organic soil behaviour and show some options for manipulation.
The monotonous spruce and kalmia vegetation generally intergrade and compete for space. Sometimes we see no spruce trees at all on the barrens and sometimes in very thick, dark spruce forest we have to look hard for a sprig of kalmia in the scant undergrowth. Most of what we do see as we drive across Newfoundland’s Trans Canada Highway falls between these extremes. Kalmia is much less common in Labrador where Labrador Tea (Rhododendron groenlandicum) takes over the role as the main dwarf shrub (Day 1995, -98). Rhodora (Rhododendron canadense) mixes in with kalmia on wetter slopes and depressions in Newfoundland. Blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium) is a most common associate, a very important food of grouse. In Europe heather plants, nibbled by sheep, dominate in similar barrens or heathlands and this introduced plant is now spreading on parts of the Avalon Peninsula, especially near Grates Cove, Conception Bay North (Day 1995).
Dissecting it: The Shrub Layer Cut like a Layer Cake When fl ying at very low altitude or viewed from a facing hill one can see that the kalmia-lichen barrens are criss-crossed by trails with damaged and regrown lichen, where hares, moose, caribou and people have passed. The trodden lichen breaks when dry and is slow to regrow. These trails graphically show the intricate land use by these animals. Look for them.
If we cut through the the kalmia layer like cutting down through a cake we pass through the live kalmia shoots often mixed with blueberry shoots, dead stems of both, and then come to a layer of grey-white lichen, the caribou-reindeer lichen, mostly Cladonia/Cladina species. The upper part of the lichen layer is living but the lower part is partly decayed and it envelopes dead leaves dropped from shoots above. This lichen grows only in the moist spring and autumn and during wet weather in summer. Its fl ammability when dry puts the vegetation at risk. Below the lichen layer we see a layer of decaying leaves and twigs and then we are into the duff organic layer which often contains bits of charcoal from fi res long ago. The duff layer ends abruptly as the organic layer builds up like a thick carpet built over the mineral soil. 49 There is very little mixing of the two layers and this is largely due to the fact that introduced European earthworms are not active in this type of soil and do not mix the layers (3). This carpet of duff is mostly dead and it protects the mineral soil from erosive washout from rain and spring runoff. The extent and weight of duff is truly enormous, extending from coast to coast. It holds a large part of the nutrients in the system and these nutrients are bound in woody organic matter that is very slow to decay. One barren I studied within Terra Nova Park (Ochre Hill) was over 40 yrs. old and the lichen layer and duff were particularly thick. So this mostly dead layer is the major carbon and nutrient reserve, like the dead bark and dead heartwood of trees (and dead coal and peat and petroleum), a reserve of megatons, but a very static one. A warmer global climate may accelerate duff decay or increase forest fi re activity and the latter could be the major factor in the decline or oxidation of world organic soils.
What Controls Natural Duff Decay in our Region? The decay of organic material in nature is controlled by a collection of variables and in our Maritime Temperate Region the main ones relate to 1. climate: the short, cool, moist growing season, and 2. the physical & chemical nature of the duff: the acid pH, the paucity of nitrogen, the wood lignins and anti- microbial chemicals, like terpenes, hinder decay (4). Duff, and peatmoss too, are like bottled pickles and wine with their built-in chemicals and conditions (eg. lack of oxygen in peat) that slow decay. The whole thing may be described by a not so complex equation in an engineering or soils journal and I have yet to fi nd them. Getting this data can help us predict the acceleration of duff decay with global warming. Biologists and engineers can cooperate more. Perhaps the soils courses in university Geography and Geology departments can be made joint credits with Biology. This would help. All other conditions being more or less equal it is temperature that controls duff decomposition and further south of Nova Scotia these barrens peter out.
Preliminary Analysis of Spruce & Kalmia Duff Samples at the U. of New Brunswick This layer in kalmia-spruce forests and barrens can be 10 to 20 or more centimeters thick and is mostly composed of dead material as well as living roots and rhizomes. It is similar to peat which people commonly burn as fuel in Ireland and it can be studied in similar ways. I brought duff samples for analysis from Butter Pot Provincial Park, to the U. of New Brunswick, 1980. Blocks of duff were cut out of the earth like squares from a cookie tray. I actually used my mothers old bread knife to do this, the best tool for the job. I was interested in...
1. density of this material (dry weight per cubic volume) 2. water content, which fl uctuates but does not dry completelyevery summer 3. caloric content (joules), potential as solid fuel 4. biodiesel: soluble materials extractable using ether solvent (see below) 5. the percentage of the material made up by kalmia rhizomes 6. ash content (quantity of potential fertilizer & pH neutralizer)
Actual numbers are tabulated in my thesis (Day 1981) and need not be discussed here. It is enough for this discussion to say that the duff beneath kalmia is physically very similar to the duff beneath spruce trees but for the presence of rhizomes beneath kalmia. In many respects the duff layer, and peatmoss too from bogs and fens, are like cigarettes, sawdust, a stick of incense or a bowl of breakfast cereal, being mostly organic and airy, behaving physically quite differently from a much denser and heavy, compact mineral soil made up of small stones, sand, silt and clay particles. I had seen these general patterns a few years earlier after charting the small water fl uctuation in the mineral soil and the wide fl uctuation in organic duff beneath Diapensia, a plant of foggy rock barrens (Day 1978) (5). 50 Failed Duff Burning Tests at the University of Winnipeg At the the U. of Winnipeg I collected spruce duff from nearby Birds Hill Provincial Park. The duff layer was just a few centimeters thick and I could see and feel that this crumbly Winnipeg duff had less energy, that it had lost burning power, or calories, with the faster decomposition here in the warmer, southern extremity of Manitoba’s boreal forest. In the lab fume hood I ignited samples on a ceramic dish but they invariably went out after smoldering a short time. Now a match or an incense stick will do the same thing, go out, or extinguish, if placed on a ceramic plate, or a fl at board or stone. Try it and see. This puzzled me until I realized that the dish, board or stone conduct heat away from the smoldering duff or match or incense, which then extinguishes. Why does this not happen in the smoldering duff on the natural forest fl oor and barrens? Well, in nature there is no ceramic dish. This was a fl aw, or artifact, in my burning test. It is tricky to simulate natural conditions in the lab and future burning tests should have the sample sitting on a bed of duff or a similar material like fi berglass insulation. In nature the burning duff is surrounded by more dry duff or other good thermal insulators such as fragile airy ash, or air, and in nature at midday the duff is sometimes heated strongly by sunlight, and by adjacent smoldering duff. These extra sources of heat, and the insulation preventing heat loss, all contribute to the prolonged burning of natural duff. The same can be seen in a model of this behavior close at hand, a lit cigarette. It burns faster in strong sunlight or if heated by another lit cigarette nearby and it will extinguish if laid down on a hard surface that conducts heat away. Wein & McLean (1983) with other graduate students (self included), sketched a model of the way duff burns and published it. The smoldering fi re in duff moves through it like a front or wall but always follows the very dry duff and stops when it meets moist duff until this has been dried off, and then ignited. The bluish smoke is solid duff gasifi ed by heat, a cocktail of hydrocarbons plus water vapor, very much like cigarette fumes.
An Inedible Landscape can be Pushed to Greater Productivity: 4 steps Global warming is here and active. Nobody knows how good or bad things will become. In an unpredictable future we may need to use the kalmia barrens to get through a troubled period. Kalmia, spruce, lichen and bracken fern make up what is largely an inedible landscape. Moose will only eat spruce if nothing else is available. Sheep and deer will eventually die if given kalmia, while bracken fern is linked to stomach cancer in humans and cattle. This landscape can be pushed through simple manipulations to be much more biologically productive. The things standing in the way for naturalists or potential farmer-grazers is lack of training and will (inertia, passivity, nay-sayers). There is also ecological guilt or environmental angst. Many naturalists have not thought about this deeply but they instinctively or automatically think, then voice the opinion that the way things are is the way things should remain. This is wrong thinking. When Kalmia barrens are examined in detail, as one would examine the history or profi le of an archaeological site, one quickly discovers that these barrens are largely anthropogenic, the product of over cutting and frequent fi res and these barrens cluster around old European coastal settlements and the disused railway. The researchers before me, Wilton (forests of Labrador) A.W.H. Damman (forests of Newfoundland) and his student Bill Meades (shrublands or barrens) recognized this in their publications. I looked for myself and it is not diffi cult to fi nd old cut tree stumps in these barrens, and dead trees and below the duff layer more fallen tree trunks and charcoal from past decades, even centuries. There is no doubt that the kalmia barrens are often the result of past human manipulations (6). Thus I see few objections to potential farmers and foresters using the science described here, and in earlier writings, to convert kalmia barrens to a mixture of plants more edible for domestic and wild herbivores. How can this be discouraged in a province where most of the food is imported and so many people are underemployed? Astonishingly, experimental trials or tests in this direction are very limited and well buried in obscure literature. It took me years to dig bits out of in-house forestry reports. The closest practical trials that have been done is the creation of community pastures around the province and the conversion of peatlands to pasture and vegetable plots carried out by Fred Rayment (retired) of Agriculture (Agrifoods) Canada, Mount Pearl. He 51 used mechanical drainage, lime and fertilizer. I worked with him as a summer student, maybe 1977. Were I to convert kalmia barrens I’d take the following steps. You will see it is not rocket science but akin to the slash and burn farming method that has been carried out from the Boreal Forest in Sweden to the tropics. Tropical slash and burn practices are recovering from a former bad reputation as they are being followed up with nutrient conservation additives (broken pottery and charcoal), boosted with planted legumes to form a black earth or “terra preta” (Mann 2005).
Four steps for land conversion 1. Burn the area in a dry year when the duff moisture is very low. One has to wait for the year, month and weather to cooperate and government agencies may withhold permission to burn. Unburned patches will have to be re-ignited perhaps by stacking brush. The aim is not to burn all the duff. This would be extreme and rain will carry away much ash. Sometime the goal is to burn the plants but just scorch the duff like a piece of toast. This will conserve most nutrients. Sprouting kalmia can be burned with a portable backpack burner using propane or kerosene. These are easy to make and this method is preferable to using herbicides. The burning releases nutrients (ash) bound up in the organic layer and kills many inedible, poisonous kalmia shoots and their rhizomes. The burning also reduces soil acidity, or raises pH, the ash of basic pH doing this. Locals use the folk term ‘ash sweetens the soil’. Of course this has nothing to do with sugars. The blackened duff that remains after the burn is warmed earlier in the spring. Solar heat also reaches deeper into the mineral soil, encourages biological activity, soil microbes, growth of plants.
2. The Option of adding nitrogen fertilizer: Duff is very poor in nitrogen and so benefi ts from the addition of a general fertilizer (and more limestone powder). This stimulates decay of duff remaining after the burn. Smelly chicken manure is usually free for the asking. Waste fi shmeal with pulverized seashells can be used, as can free human urine. Confi ned pigs or wild boar both fertilize and mix soil layers. Supporting Lab Evidence, incubated sawdust: My students (with teacher Alan Kirby) used chicken manure in lab trials in the winter of 1995-96, College of the Atlantic, Corner Brook. We prepared large plastic buckets half-fi lled with moist softwood sawdust. This sawdust is very like duff in texture and organic makeup, in fact it is another good physical model of duff. It is also poor in nitrogen and thus very slow to decompose. We combined this sawdust with a small sample of chicken manure and the mixture became biologically active in the lab at room temperature, noticeably warm to the touch in a few days. The sawdust decayed, and lost mass or density over the winter term of 1996 as this decay, or slow combustion, proceeded. This is a typical soils lab technique, to incubate moist organic material and measure the rate of decomposition under varying conditions.
Supporting Evidence Seen in Nature: Fire Returns Ecosystem to Younger Stage, then Duff Decays and Loses Density This process of accelerated decay of duff is exactly what happens when a natural fi re passes through a forest or barren. Fire resets the ecosystem to a younger stage and for kalmia barrens this happens about once every 40 years, or earlier, after a lichen layer grows up and then fl ares in a pulse of biomass combustion. The scorched duff becomes open to the heat of the sun and fertilized with ash of basic pH (mostly calcium and silicon salts). The duff begins to decay much more rapidly, with microbial activity, and loses density and strength. I witnessed this dramatic effect at a small burned area inside Terra Nova Park. I would walk across the duff and my feet fell through the rapidly decaying crust just as feet fall through a crust over soft snow. This particular duff layer had been scorched about two summers earlier and had lost so much internal mass through decomposition that it was unable to support my 80 kilos. This is strange but true, experienced by very few naturalists. 52 3. Final Conversion Option After the burning and fertilizing, barrens can be seeded with rye or oats and planted with potatoes as was common on marginal land in Boreal Europe, Russia etc. The area could be seeded with adaptable grasses and legumes, alfalfa, clover, trefoil, etc., to encourage pasture development (golf course?). Cuttings of willow, birch, currant and alder (another fi xer of nitrogen), and transplants of raspberry and rhubarb also build fertility as they make a richer humus from the deciduous leaves. From this stage herbivores spread nutrients across the landscape in dung and urine. The United Kingdom and Iceland have extensive pasture and cultivated land but Newfoundland has lost a lot of what it had, through abandonment and neglect. Much abandoned pasture has grown back with white spruce (Picea glauca). The whole process of burning, neutralizing the pH and fertilizing the soil is as simple as step-wise gardening. What has held this back is the fact that the land has been kept out of the hands of the people and many leave the province. The provincial government controls most of the land, a modern form of feudalism. What a pity. This needs to change.
4. The Leave it Alone Option. If left alone kalmia barrens accumulate more and more dead twigs and leaves and a deeper duff layer. One positive development is the growth of a deep layer of reindeer-caribou lichen. If caribou are left unmolested (as on Fogo Islands and the southern Avalon Peninsula), protected from illegal hunting and dogs they can expand their numbers and use this bountiful winter food supply. At present large expanses of lichen barrens go ungrazed by caribou as the herds are still scarce in many parts of the island. The muskoxen of north Labrador will also use this winter food. Lichen could be collected with hand rakes like hay and stockpiled as winter feed for domestic animals, a possibility. It need not be dried. This easy trial has not been tested in Newfoundland with native or exotic herbivores: hare, goats, sheep, cattle, moose or llama.
Relevance outside our Region These studies are useful outside our region where a duff layer develops under vegetation. This can be found across much of Canada, Alaska, Korea, Hokkaido, Manchuria, Russia, Himalayas, north and alpine Europe, Patagonia, Andes, Tierra Del Fuego, Eucalyptus forests of alpine Australia and Tasmania, and even in the high mountains of east Africa, Borneo and New Guinea.
Sidebar: Biodiesel Biofuels Ecofuels The needle-leaves and bark of conifers are full of volatile hydrocarbons too and these are used by pulp and paper factories to heat their external combustion boilers. Many people do not realize that a conifer tree is more fl ammable alive than dead as alive it retains the oils, terpenes and waxes that help it burst into fl ame. A small amount of yellowish oily biodiesel was extracted from duff in the U. of New Brunswick tests mentioned above. Canada is very rich in biofuels and the challenge is often to make this material into a gas, liquid, powder, pellet or oil-powder slurry to make it more fl exible and transportable. The high energy molecules can be dissolved from the needles and bark of conifers using light solvents such as gasoline or ether then added to ecofuels or biodiesel. Industrial pressure-cooker digesters and fermentation systems of many designs are a hot topic now as world petroleum reserves runs out. ______
Footnotes: 1 Others dealt with seed banks, kalmia toxins (allelopathy), fl ammable lichens, and exploding trees. 2 The rhizome layer is also key in marsh vegetation I studied around Ottawa (Day et al. 1988). The big aquatic bulrushes, like Scirpus american, growing at the mouth of the (degraded) Manuels River, Conception Bay, are only seriously damaged when their deeply creeping rhizomes become eroded by 53 water or ice. The similar deeply creeping rhizomes of bracken fern are also diffi cult to remove from managed kalmia barrens. 3 Promoting worm activity makes more energetic-ecologic sense than using mechanical measures like rotortillers (see discussion about land conversion). It would be interesting to see how long earthworms can survive on a diet of kalmia or spruce duff, a relatively easy experiment. Ants, termites and ground squirrels, like the groundhog of south Labrador, mix soil layers in other ecosystems. Groundhogs are absent from Newfoundland, surrounded by salt water. 4 Honey and propolis, or medicinal bee resin, contain numerous anti-microbial chemicals collected from plants. 5 The big differences in the fl uctuating water content when comparing mineral and organic soils is partly an artifact of the way the water content is graphed. Don’t mislead yourself like I did. Water is often graphed as a percent of the soil dry weight, but organic vs. mineral soils differ so greatly in dry weight per volume that graphs are distorted. Available water is really key to understanding plant behaviour and total water per volume most important when considering combustion. 6 Historical information, personal observation of over cutting patterns (eg. Briggus) & unpublished provincial forest fi re maps support this statement. I am not aware of any radio carbon studies which date the development of kalmia barrens. This is neglected.
Acknowledgement: I was encouraged in the M.Sc. thesis project by Fred Pollet, a director of Federal Forestry, St. Johns, who arranged support for the summer of 1979. This article was written in the village of Arraial d’ Juda, Bahia, in coastal Brazil in the winter of 2006-7 where I made many helpful friends.
References Cited:
Day 1978. The Autecology of Diapensia lapponica in Newfoundland. B.Sc. thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Biology Department. Day 1981 R.T. The Vegetation and Organic Soil Layer in in Kalmia-Spruce Postfi re Communities. U. of New Brunswick MSc thesis. [copies at MUN etc.] Day R. T. et al. 1988. Fertility and disturbance gradients: a summary model for riverine marsh vegetation. Ecology 60: August. Day R.T. 1995 & -98. Atlas of Labrador Plants, Vols. 1 & 2. Ubiquitous Publishing. [copies at MUN etc.] Day R.T. 1995. Dr. Paul Barclay: 1977 Newfoundland Plant Collection [Heather in NFLD.] Sarracenia 5 (2):7-8. Mann, C.C. 2005. 1491: Revelations of America before Columbus. Alfred Knope and Random House. Wein R.W. & D.A. McLean. 1983. The Role of Fire in Northern Circumpolar Ecosystems. Scope 18, Chichester West Sussex, New York. 54 Tuck-Walters Awards by Henry Mann and Bill Montevecchi 2007 Tuck-Walters Award for Lois Bateman
The Humber Natural History Society held a special supper meeting on April 13, 2007 at 13 West in Corner Brook on April 13, 2007 to honour long-time member Lois Bateman, recipient of the Tuck/Walters Award. This award is presented periodically by the provincial Natural History Society of Newfoundland and Labrador to individuals “… who have made outstanding and enduring contributions to the advancement of natural history appreciation and protection in Newfoundland and Labrador, outside the parameters of their employment responsibilities.” In addition, Program Co-Chair Isabelle Schmeltzer of the local Humber Natural History Society presented Professor Bateman with a framed nature photograph by Joe Brazil. Twenty four members attended the event to applaud Ms. Bateman.
Lois Bateman of the local Humber Natural History Society is being presented with the Tuck/Walters Award by provincial committee member Henry Mann. 2007 Tuck-Walters Award for Jon Lien
Named in memory of Les Tuck and Harry Walters, the Tuck – Walters Award is the highest honor of the Newfoundland and Labrador Natural History Society. The award is bestowed on individuals who through their actions have promoted long-term appreciation and protection of our province’s natural history and environment.
The 2007 award to Dr. Jon Lien is truly well-earned and well-deserved. For 40 years, Jon has been engaging students, colleagues and the general public in his studies of animal behavior. His studies have focused on insects, farm animals and marine birds and mammals.
He is perhaps best known for his research that focused on the release of whales entrapped in fi shing gear. From the outset, Jon realized that this problem was one that both affected fi shermen and whales, and that to solve this problem he would have to work closely with fi shers. And work closely he did. 55
The standard practice before Jon engaged the problem usually involved the death of the whale and the loss of gear and fi shing time that meant substantial economic losses for fi shers. Through studying the whales, the entrapments and by devising different tools for cutting nets from whales, Jon developed and carried out procedures that freed whales while causing minimal damage to fi shing gear.
It was a success story like few others, and Jon and the Whale Research Group that he established championed this cause and freed (read saved the lives of) a very signifi cant portion the threatened North Atlantic population of Humpbacked whales.
With respect to environmental organizations, Jon created the Wilderness Society that in some respects evolved into the Newfoundland and Labrador Protected Areas Association (PAA). He has been sought after widely for his expertise in animal behavior, whale by-catch, and more general fi sheries issues.
Many of his current efforts are directed at protected areas in Newfoundland and Labrador, working closely with the PAA, as a member of its Board of Directors.
Photos by Elling Lien During the ceremony honoring Jon, many colleagues, friends and family attended, and many gave accolades. Don Steele overviewed some of Jon’s accomplishments and the impacts that they have had provincially and beyond. Denis Minty reminisced about the many inspiring interactions that he and Jon shared over the decades. Les Harris spoke of his appreciation of Jon’s work and of his friendship with both Jon and Les Tuck. Les and Jon worked together on Public Hearing and assessment of Terra Nova offshore oil development. Jim Wellman remembered Jon’s stalwart efforts with whales and fi shers, and his numerable engagements on the Fisheries Broadcast. Allan Stein pointed out the population signifi cance of the number of whales that Jon and his group had released from deathly entrapments. Melba Rabinowitz recalled the time that at her request Jon’s group set up an entire whale skeleton for children, parents and staff at the Daybreak Centre. Carolyn Walsh recounted how engaging and inspiring Jon’s animal behavior classes were, infl uencing her to pursue a career with animals.
Last year’s Tuck – Walters Award winner, Laura Jackson summed up what we all feel about Jon. She said that while the expression “one in a million” is a cliché, that indeed in the grand scheme of natural history appreciation and environmental protection, Jon Lien is indeed truly one in a million.
We agree. CONGRATULATIONS Jon. Keep up the great efforts. 56 Brown Trout and Rainbow Trout A Journey into Newfoundland Waters by Donald Hustins
Reviewed by Allan Stein
Our mud trout, also known as speckled trout, brook trout or native trout are indigenous, that is native, to our fair land. That implies, correctly, that our other trout species, brown trout and rainbow trout, are not native or indigenous but were introduced. Brown trout are, of course, Eurasian in origin and are true trout (Salmo trutta L.), closely related to Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar L.) with which they can in fact hybridize. Rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) originated west of the Rocky Mountains of Western North America. How the brown trout and rainbow trout came to our waters is the topic of Donald Hustins book. And a fascinating story it is.
Hustins is one of our better known fl y fi shers, an avid angler, so it is no surprise that the book conveys his love of the sport of angling and of his quarry. He obviously spent countless hours in the archives of libraries, newspapers, DFO, Memorial University and the Murray’s Pond Fishing and Country Club in his quest to discover the journeys of the exotic trouts to and within our province. It is perhaps an indication of a more relaxed and innocent time that the newspapers of the 1880’s continuing well into the 1990’s commonly carried reports of successful anglers and the large trout they caught were commonly displayed in the windows of Water Street and other merchants. (These practices continued until the late 1960’s or early 1970’s, at least for the May 24th weekend trout competitions with prizes for the largest native trout, brown or rainbow, heaviest quarter dozen, etc.) Many of those newspaper pictures and articles are reproduced in the second half of the book which is devoted to spread of and angling for the exotic trout.
In the latter part of the 19th Century, colonists in North America as well as South America, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, etc. introduced game species, both terrestrial and aquatic from “The Old Country” and from other parts of the newly settled countries. It was from the 1880’s through to the mid-1900’s that brown and rainbow trout were stocked principally in Eastern Newfoundland mostly near St. John’s. From ponds of this area, brown trout have been slowly expanding their range via the ocean. Sea runs occur in many of the Avalon rivers and beyond. The rainbow by contrast seems to have a much more tenuous existence, decreasing in many watersheds with time. Few Island sea-run populations are known.
According to the research done by Hustins, while the propagation and rearing of fi sh was practiced by the Romans and ancient Chinese, the fi rst real practical applications followed the discovery in the 1840’s by two Frenchmen, Remy and Gehin, of how the female trout laid her eggs and the male fertilized them. That allowed the planting of fertilized eggs and rearing of trout. Fish hatcheries soon followed. The fi rst applications known in Canada were experiments in Quebec with Atlantic salmon and brook trout in 1866.
Successful introductions of brown trout were made in Tasmania (1864), Australia (1868), USA (1883), and Canada (1890). The fi rst successful introductions to Newfoundland may have been as early as 1875, possibly even earlier, or as late as well documented successful release in 1886. Small scale releases were made into Windsor Lake in 1883 but their success is unclear. In any event, Newfoundland was ahead of Canada, perhaps of all of North America in introducing brown trout. Rainbow were fi rst introduced in 1887. It was John (Jock) Martin, while Superintendent of the St. John’s Water Works, who was the real 57 driving force behind the introductions and propagation of brown and rainbow trout. He was instrumental in the establishment of the Newfoundland Game Fish Protection Society which established its fi rst hatchery on Long Pond. Local opposition to the closure of the Long Pond to all anglers except NGFPS members led to vandalism so a new hatchery for rainbow trout was established at Murray’s Pond in 1900. Details of the process of stripping, fertilization, and hatching the eggs, followed by growing the alevins to stocking stage, transporting and then releasing them are fascinatingly described. As payment for the lease on Murray’s and the smaller Butler’s Ponds, the Society was required to supply rainbow trout eyed eggs or hatchlings to stock other waters. That requirement was quietly dropped in the 1960’s. Since then, without occasional restocking, a number of the ponds that formerly contained rainbow trout have lost the species but brown trout continue to slowly expand their area.
We, as naturalists, question the advisability of introducing exotic species which directly compete with indigenous ones. Certainly the brown trout is an “invasive exotic species” in our rivers and ponds. They apparently displace not only our native trout but also out compete the introduced rainbow. They are, however, here now and are expanding slowly around the coast. It is not clear that the introduced species replace salmon when they establish in river systems, but they certainly do provide angling sport, especially the browns late in the season when they enter rivers to spawn. Also, both the brown and rainbow trout grow to impressive size, larger and more wily than the native muds. Hustins has photos and stories of sea- run browns of 20+ pounds (9+ kg) caught in Lower Pond, Witless Bay and up to 32.75 pound (14.9 kg) from Conception Bay river estuaries. Rainbows of 3-4+ kg have been caught in local ponds and streams. I am hardly an avid angler but by way of confi rmation, while I have never caught any such monsters, I have had 4+ kg browns and 3+ kg rainbows whereas my largest mud trout were just over two kg.
For avid anglers or anyone interested in pursuing those monster brown and rainbow trout, Hustins includes locations of productive waters, some techniques and fl y pattern recommendations–unfortunately, there are no drawings or color plates of the fl y patterns. Perhaps I’ll see you on those waters!
Donald Hustins’ book is self published so copies must be obtained directly from him. I consider it well worth the $20 price. For your copy, contact: Donald Hustins 20 Linden Place, Apt. 305 St. John’s, NL A1B 2S8 (709)753-2930 [email protected] 58 Natural History Society of Newfoundland and Labrador Annual General Meeting by Rita Anderson March 15, 2007
1. President’s Report: Rita E. Anderson 2. Treasurer’s Report: Jackie Feltham 3. Nominations Committee Report: John Jacobs, Allan Stein 4. Any other business
PRESIDENT’S REPORT: Many, many thanks to all of our members and friends who have donated their time and effort to make this past year yet another good one for our Society, and to the MUN Botanical Garden for allowing us to meet in this comfortable, friendly space.
Some Highlights Indoor Program (Title - Speaker) April: The Fauna and Flora of Botswana and Namibia - Judy Blakeley & Helen Jones May: Rambling with Ramblers: Flowers and Landscapes - John Bridson June: A Leisurely Walk along the Virginia River - John Gibson Sept: Postponed Oct. Southeast Arizona and Northeast Argentina: A World Apart and Yet So Similar - Todd Boland Nov. (In conjunction with Friends of Pippy Park) The Mushrooms and Birds of Pippy Park - Faye Murrin & Anne Hughs Jan. Research Goings-On at the MUN Botanical Garden - Wilf Nicholls Feb. Nature-based Marine Tourism - Captain Jan Negrijn
Outdoor Program (Activity - Leader) May 5. Annual Long Pond Clean-up - John Gibson and members June 17. Charlie Horwood Memorial Lady Slipper Walk - Allan Stein June 28. Viewing Lundrigan’s Marsh July 8. Mistaken Point Day Trip - Allan Stein and Felicity O’Brien July 20. Manuel’s River Walk and Fossils - Felicity O’Brien Oct 21. Trout Watch and Autumn Ramble - John Gibson Nov 4. Salmonier Nature Park Behind the Scenes - Andrea Proctor Nov 11. Weather and Twig Hike in Butterpot Park - John Jacobs & Luise Hermanutz Dec 26. St. John’s (and others) Christmas Bird Count Feb 17. Winter tracking on snowshoes - Allan Stein Mar 4. Birding at the Dump - Bill Montevecchi Mar 10. Winter Ducks of St. John’s - Ken Knowles
Osprey Elizabeth Zedel has continued as Editor of the Osprey and has kept it on schedule. She always needs articles; if you have something you would like to share, please consider submitting it to the Osprey. The Osprey is now available electronically (in color); just let Carolyn Walsh know by e-mail (cwalsh@ play.psych.mun.ca) that you wish to receive it electronically. 59 Humber Natural History Society Annual Report by Lois Bateman June 5, 2007
Indoor Program 2006/2007:
June 20 Dr. Peter Turner of the Waterford Institute, Ireland Topic: Pine Martin Ecology
October 17 John McCarthy, SJ Topic: Geriatric Forests: Structure and Dynamics of Old-Growth Boreal Forests
November 14 Barbara Campbell and Jason Foster, Stewardship Biologists, EHJV. Topic: Newfoundland and Labrador’s Role in the Conservation of North American Waterfowl Habitats: EHJV.
January 23 Dr. Isabelle Schmelzer, Newfoundland and Labrador Wildlife Division. Topic: Conservation Status and Recovery Potential of the Eastern Wolverine in Labrador
February 20 Joe Brazil, Wildlife Division Title: Landscape and Nature Photography: Capturing my Visual Memory
March 27 Douglas Ballam, Program Manager, Nature Conservancy of Canada, Newfoundland and Labrador. Topic: Nature Conservancy of Canada in Newfoundland and Labrador.
April 17 Dr. Andrus Voitk, Mushroom Foray Coordinator, HNHS Topic: “Newfoundland Mushrooms – What do we know after four years and fi ve forays?”
May 2 Dr. Guy Narbonne, Professor and Research Chair in Paleontology at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. Topic: “When Life Got Big: The Mistaken Point Fossils of Newfoundland”.
June 5 Annual meeting, pot luck supper, plant exchange
Outdoor program:
Sept 15 - 17 Mushroom Foray, Avalon Peninsula Dec 30 Christmas Bird Count, Corner Brook April 14 Bird watching trip – Stephenville Crossing May 11,12 Codroy Birdathon – to raise funds for NCC purchase of Codroy hermitage property June 15 - 17 Codroy Valley Natural History Weekend 60 Announcements
New Botanical Website
Announcing a new website entitled “Botany Newfoundland and Labrador” hosted by Sir Wilfred Grenfell College (http://www.swgc.mun.ca/botany) This site, containing a variety of Newfoundland fl ora topics, is intended for the general public and for visitors to the province. Plants from various locations and habitats will be featured, the fi rst being the Burnt Cape Ecological Reserve and the community of Raleigh. Photographic profi les of the species, their surroundings, and the local community are presented along with a series of related links. The site also contains the “Rare Newfoundland Wildfl owers” series originally developed for the Humber Natural History Society, and a complete PDF fi le of the manual IntroductoryIntr“ oductory Guide to the Collection and Preservation of Plant Specimens”. The next community to be featured will be Ramea Island on the south coast.
This is a long term project which will be updated, improved upon, and added to on an ongoing basis. Photos will be added and those of poor quality replaced as better ones become available. There is also a call to naturalists for contributions which will be credited to those individuals. The site was developed by SWGC Environmental Science faculty members Henry Mann and Ed Andrews with web design involvement from two of our environmental science students, Randy Skinner and Jotham Bessey. This project is intended to provide students who are botanically and technologically inclined experience and training in website development and maintenance, Also hopes are that it will help raise public awareness about one of our key natural resources (plants) and that it will add to the development of our tourism industry. Instructions for contacting the creators are provided on the website. The Tuck/Walters Award
This award is named in memory of Dr. Leslie M. Tuck and Captain Harry Walters
Dr. Les Tuck was Newfoundland’sNewfoundland’s fi rstrst DominionDominion W ildlifeWildlife Offi Offi cer cer,, and and Harry Harry Walters Walters was was the the Director Director of ofthe the Newfoundland Rangers Force. Following Confederation with Canada, Dr. Tuck headed the Canadian Wildlife Service in the province - a position he held for more than twenty-fi ve years. In the latter part of his long and distinguished career, Dr. Tuck held the L. J. Paton Research Professorship in the Psyschology Department of Memorial University. He was instrumental in the reactivation of the Natural History Society in the 1950’s. Captain Harry Walters served for many years as the Head of the Newfoundland Wildlife Division, which he was instrumental in establishing.
Both Walters, working provincially, and Tuck, working federally, were instrumental in establishing our province’s fi rst seabird reserves (Funk Island, Cape St. Mary’s, Witless Bay, and Hare Bay) and the former Avalon Wilderness Area. Their combined efforts put natural history awareness, protection and appreciation on a solid footing in Newfoundland and Labrador. Although they were employed in resource conservation and management careers, their enthusiasm and dedication transcended their duties, and it is for these qualities that the society has chosen to honor their memory with this award.
The Tuck/Walters Award is discretionary - it does not have to be given out every year. On the other hand, it may be given to more than one recipient if the Nominating Committee feels this is appropriate. Successful candidates are individuals who have made outstanding and enduring contributions to the advancement of natural history appreciation and protection in Newfoundland and Labrador, outside the parameters of their employment responsibilities.
Tuck/Walters Award Winners
Dr. Don Barton Gregory Mitchell George Brinson Michael Nolan Bill Davis Dr. Harold Peters Dr. John Gibson Dr. Roger Tory Peterson Dr. Leslie Harris Tony Power Stephen Herder Dr. Don Steele Charlie Horwood Clyde Tuck Bernard Jackson Laura Jackson Henry Mann Lois Bateman Jon Lien
For more information or to make a nomination for the Tuck/Walters Award, contact
Dr. Bill Montevecchi, Chair Tuck/Walters Awards Committee Cognitive and Behavioral Ecology Program Memorial University of Newfoundland St. John’s, NL A1B 3X9
Telephone: 737-7673 The Natural History Society of Newfoundland and Labrador Membership Application Name: ______Date: ______Address: ______City/Town: ______Province: ______Postal Code: ______Country/State if not in Canada______E-mail address: ______Telephone - home: ______offi ce: ______fax: ______Renewing members: __ continue Osprey from last received issue __ continue Osprey with next issue
Mailing address for Society publication “The Osprey” (if different from above): ______
I would like to become more actively involved in the activities of the Society: ___ Planning outdoor activities ___ Outdoor Education Programs ___ Indoor Education Programs ___ Environmental Advocacy ___ Letter writing ___ Planning monthly meetings ___ Contributing to the Osprey ___ Other______
My interests are: (Please be specifi c, to help us with our program planning.) birds? wildfl owers? animals? marine mammals? indoor events? indoor work- shops? outdoor events? walking? interpretive walks? hiking? cross-country skiing? canoeing? cycling? back-pack camping? winter camping? Other: ______
I would like to save a tree and have my Osprey(publication of the NHS) sent to my email address YES NO (circle one) Annual membership fee enclosed: $ 25.00 My donation to the society (a tax receipt will be issued): $______Society Lapel Pins: ___ @ $3.00 each $______Society Jacket Crests: ___ @ $4.00 each $______Bird Checklists ____ $0.50, 3/$1.00 100/$25.00 $______Total to cheque/money order enclosed: $______
Please make your cheque payable to: “The Natural History Society of Newfoundland and Labrador” and send it together with this form to:
The Membership Coordinator The Natural History Society of Newfoundland and Labrador P.O. Box 1013 St. John’s, NL A1C 5M3 or Bring this form to the next regular Society meeting at The Memorial University Botanical Garden on the THIRD THURSDAY of each month from September to June. No meetings during July and August. Rarities - Only from the Natural History Society
• Getting to Know the Weeds - the Collected Writings of Charlie Horwood. Charlie was a faithful and long-serving member of the Society. He was also a thoughtful and insightful naturalist with a gift for capturing his views of the natural world, in writing. This 160 page book reproduces over fi fty of Charlie’s best short pieces. Soft cover $14.95
• Society Lapel Pins - Back by popular demand. These four-color enamel pins reproduce the Society’s “Osprey”, originally designed by John Maunder, in blue, brown and white on a gold back: Oval. Lapel Pins $3.00
• Society Jacket Crest - These crests are based on the original “half moon” design drawn by Newfoundland artist Reginald Shepherd. They feature a stylized osprey snatching a fi sh. They are embroidered in fi ve colours, and are approximately 4” wide by 1 3/4” high. Embroidered Crest $4.00
• Society Memberships - Any time is a great time to give a membership to the Natural History Society. The cost is $25.00 good for one year. It includes four issues of The Osprey, and notices to all Society functions. Membership $25.00
The Wild Things Scholarship
The Natural History Society of Newfoundland and Labrador conducts the competition for the Wild Things Scholarship. This annual $500 scholarship is sponsored by Wild Things, a nature gift shop in St. John’s, NL. It is awarded to a post-secondary student recognize their committment to the environment and natural history of the province as evidenced by their volunteer naturalist activities. Application forms can be found on our website: www.nhs.nf.ca
Past Recipients
Lynn Hartery 1992 Andrea Carew, Joel Heath 1999 Elaine Goudie 1993 Laura Wareham 2000 Helen Manning 1994 Alana Yorke 2001 Tammy Legge 1995 Diana Cardoso 2002 Michael Sharpe 1996 Juliana Coffey 2003 Craig Purchase 1997 Lesley Blake 2004 Susan Pottle 1998 Cheryl White 2006