Calumet Marsh Bird Monitoring 2015-2016
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| 1 Calumet Marsh Bird Monitoring 2015-2016 Calumet Marsh Bird Monitoring 2015-2016 Prepared by Caleb Putnam, Walter Marcisz, and Nat Miller Calumet marsh bird monitors: Roberta Asher, Peter Avis, Thomas Barnes, Erin Grey, Libby Keyes, Paul Labus, Linda Magyar, Walter Marcisz, Nat Miller, Jessica Rico, Axel Rutter, Caleb Putnam, Teri Radke, Dan Spencer, Byron Tsang. Scientific advisors: Courtney Conway, Nicole Michel, Mike Monfils, Charles O’Leary, Doug Stotz, Gary Sullivan, Mike Ward, and Chad Wilsey. This project is funded in part under the Coastal Zone Management Act, by NOAA’s Office for Coastal Management in conjunction with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources’ Coastal Management Program. Indiana monitoring was funded by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. The Calumet wetland working group consists of: The Forest Preserves of Cook County, The Chicago Park District, Illinois Department of Natural Resources, Audubon Great Lakes, The Wetlands Initiative, The Field Museum, The Nature Conservancy, Illinois Natural His- tory Survey and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. This report was prepared by the Forest Preserve District of Cook County and Audubon Great Lakes using Federal Funds under award number NA14NOS4190081 from NOAA’s Office for Coastal Management, U.S. Department of Commerce. The statements, findings, conclusions, and recommendations are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of NOAA’s Office for Coastal Management or the U.S. Department of Commerce. Cover: American Coot. Photo: Alan Murphy CALUMET WETLANDS BIRD MONITORING Introduction The Calumet wetland working group is an informal coalition of land managers, scientists, and conservation- ists working together to restore the valuable wetlands of the Millennium Reserve in northeast Illinois. A long history of industrialization and urbanization has highly altered hydrology in the region creating threats to the long-term sustainability of wetlands and, in particu- lar, marshes, which depend on natural and dynamic water conditions. Invasive species such as common reed (Phragmites australis) and narrowleaf cattail (Typha angustifolia) further degrade marsh conditions as reflected by documented declines of the region’s marsh-dependent birds (W. Marcisz 2016). Marsh birds serve as a primary Calumet marsh complex, identified indicator of wetland quality and their based on existing hemi-marsh or charismatic nature also promotes potential hemi-marsh conditions. great public interest which serves Audubon relied on staff, partners and to raise the profile of this large col- a network of experienced volunteers laboration. This report summarizes to conduct the surveys. The surveys the result of monitoring established were conducted using the widely- in 2015 and expanded in 2016 with recognized “Standardized North the goal of documenting marsh bird American Marsh Bird Monitoring breeding populations and distri- Protocol” (Conway, 2011), developed bution to serve as a baseline for by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Survey goal-setting within the conservation as a continent-wide, standardized action planning process of the Calu- protocol for measuring breeding met wetland working group. marsh bird densities. In addition to using this protocol, surveyors also Methodology conducted territory mapping at each During 2015, Audubon Great Lakes site with the goal of counting how organized the monitoring of ten many pairs of each focal species urban wetlands in northeastern Illi- were present. Territory mapping pro- nois. In 2016 with additional funding, vides an actual count of the numbers an additional 16 sites were added (12 of each nesting species at each site, of which were in Northwest Indiana which will serve as a baseline against and four of which were in Illinois). which future restoration efforts can Together these 26 sites represent the be gauged on a site by site basis. Yellow-crowned Night-Heron. Photo: Vaughn Cottman 4 | 5 CALUMET WETLANDS BIRD MONITORING Species (Table 2). Secondary focal species both breeding range peripheral and meadow/ditches; Marsh Wrens may or may not respond to future may be absent for reasons outside occur in Phragmites monocultures The four primary focal species for hemi-marsh restoration. Three of land managers’ control. Finally, in addition to hemi-marshes). Black- this study were selected due to their of these species are colonial or we also collected data for several crowned Night-Heron requires indication of quality hemi-marsh semi-colonial nesters not suited for additional incidental focal species suitable nesting trees (or occa- habitat. They regularly occur in territory mapping and dependent (Table 3), without producing terri- sionally tall Phragmites or cattail the region, are in the core of their on stochastic processes out of land tory maps. Some of these species stands) for its rookeries, but even breeding ranges, and respond to im- managers’ control (e.g. the presence breed primarily north of the Calu- then rookeries may not be occupied proved habitat conditions (Table 1). of suitable rookery trees). American met and others are generalists not for stochastic reasons. However, Secondary focal species are less reli- Bittern is a strong indicator of marsh requiring hemi-marsh (Blue-winged since these species use hemi-marsh able indicators of hemi-marsh due habitat quality but breeds primar- Teal nests in upland meadows adja- habitat during all or part of their life to either being range peripheral or ily north of the Calumet. Black Tern cent to marshes; Sora and Virginia cycles, they are included. Figures 1-4 extirpated colonial nesting species and Yellow-headed Blackbird are Rail occur in both marsh and wet show the four primary focal species. Table 1. Primary Focal Species. Good Moderate Poor Species hemi-marsh hemi-marsh hemi-marsh indicator indicator indicator Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps) ü Common Gallinule (Gallinula chloropus) ü King Rail (Rallus elegans) ü Least Bittern (Ixobrychus exilis) ü Fig. 1. Pied-billed Grebe. Photo: Nick Chill (used under Flickr Creative Table 2. Secondary Focal Species. Commons). Breeding Extirpated Good Moderate Poor Species range colonial hemi-marsh hemi-marsh hemi-marsh peripheral breeder indicator indicator indicator Snowy Egret (Egretta thula) ü ü Yellow-crowned Night-Heron (Nyctanassa violacea) ü ü Little Blue Heron (Egretta caerulea) ü ü Fig. 2. Common Gallinule. Yellow-headed Blackbird Photo: Caleb Putnam. (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus) ü ü ü Black Tern (Chlidonias niger) ü ü ü American Bittern (Botaurus lentiginosus) ü ü Table 3. Incidental Focal Species. Breeding Good Moderate Poor Wetland Species range hemi-marsh hemi-marsh hemi-marsh generalist peripheral indicator indicator indicator Fig. 3. Least Bittern. American Coot Photo: Caleb Putnam. (Fulica americana) ü ü Blue-winged Teal (Anas discors) ü ü Black-crowned Night-Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) ü Marsh Wren (Cistothorus palustris) ü ü Sora (Porzana carolina) ü ü Virginia Rail ü ü Fig. 4. King Rail. (Rallus limicola) Photo: Andy Jones. 6 | 7 Data Collection therein. Points were distributed at primary focal species was broad- a spacing of one point per 200m cast, with periods of silent listening Following the Standardized North grid cell, at an accessible location before and after the recordings. All American Marsh Bird Monitoring within the marsh. Kayaks were used visual and audio responses were Protocol (Conway 2011), participants to survey seven of the sites, as no recorded on the datasheet. After conducted three regular point land-based access was available to each survey, the observer sketched counts at each assigned point three most of the points. Each point was the boundaries of each territory times each season (first during visited for 14 minutes in sequence on a satellite imagery map based May 1-15, then again May 16-31, and starting 30 minutes prior to sunrise on their interpretation of territory finally June 1-15). The number of and finishing at the latest three locations. Photos of our monitors points varied from two to thirteen hours post-sunrise. At each point, working in the Calumet are shown in depending on the size of the site a pre-recorded playback including Figures 4-6. and the amount of marsh habitat vocalizations of each of the four Fig. 4. A rainy day for training - NIRMI Stewardship liaisons Axel Dutton (center), Libby Keyes, and Linda Magyar (right) at Wolf Lake with Thomas Barnes and Nat Miller of Audubon Great Lakes (left). Photo: Peter Avis (NIRMI). Fig. 5. NIRMI Stewardship Liaison Axel Dutton surveying birds at Kennedy to Fig. 6. NIRMI Stewardship Liaison Libby Keyes conducting a bird survey at Cline West. Photo: Peter Avis (NIRMI). Kennedy to Cline West. Photo: Peter Avis (NIRMI). CALUMET WETLANDS BIRD MONITORING Table 4. Sites included in Calumet wetlands bird surveys from 2015-2016. *Gibson Woods was not surveyed during 2016, due to access problems. # Kayak Surveyed Surveyed Site points survey 2015 2016 Eggers Grove 6 ü ü ü Burnham Prairie 11 û ü ü Hegewisch Marsh 8 û ü ü 126th St. Marsh 3 û ü ü Heron Pond 5 û ü ü Park 564 (Big Marsh) 13 ü ü ü 136th St. marsh 3 û ü ü Powderhorn 7 û ü ü Park 565 (Indian Ridge North) 5 ü ü ü Park 565 (Indian Ridge South) 4 û ü ü Park 562 (Van Vlissengen) 7 û û ü Park 576 (Whitford Pond) 8 û û ü Calumet Conservation Area 2 7 û û ü Lake Calumet Conservation Area 11 ü û ü Hyde Lake 8 û û ü Roxana Marsh 6 ü û ü Strawberry Island 10 ü û ü DuPont 5 û û ü Ivanhoe 11 û û ü Pine Station Nature Preserve 6 û û ü Clark and Pine 11 û û ü Tolleston Ridges & Gibson Woods* 6 û û ü Kennedy To Cline East 6 û û ü Kennedy To Cline West 10 û û ü Wolf Lake Pool 6 7 û û ü Wolf Lake Pool 5 7 û û ü Wolf Lake Management Unit 9 2 û û ü Sand Ridge Nature Center 2 û û ü Conway density estimates future, but do not directly measure trends for each species, and to closely This yields a reliable minimum territory breeding birds, since all detections are measure breeding occupancy, rather count for each site for each year.