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Hello Pa
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Thanks to Wayne and Randy for the comments. I sometimes
write down a few observations about new clearcuts on the survey form,
but I agree that there should be a better way to record habitat
changes. Certainly I see a lot on this route.
Suzanne and I have always done the Tangier Owl Survey in
April, and it's usually the first of the three surveys that we do
together. In the last ten years the dates have ranged from 1 April
to 20 April. The high Saw-whet counts were on 2 April 2010 (10), 8
April 2011 (7), and 6 April 2012 (9) Those dates are all close
together, so perhaps there is a correlation between timing and
abundance, though we have also had low numbers on early dates in the
past. Both 2010 and 2012 were winters with very little snow, and so
we had earlier, drier springs. Perhaps that is also relevant. If
this route weren't so far away I would be tempted to run it a second
time a couple of weeks later, to see if we got comparable results.
Cheers,
Patricia L. Chalmers
Halifax
At 01:03 AM 09/04/2012, you wrote:
>Hello Pat et al.
>
> You raise an interesting question about the relationship between
> Saw-whet Owls and clear-cutting. Certainly it is possible that
> regeneration areas are better for them, although to prove or
> disprove that, we would likely need better records of habitat
> change along the routes than our existing protocols provide. I
> suspect that the number of Saw-whets may also vary with the date of
> the survey, as it is a migratory species whose phenology in Nova
> Scotia is not too well known. For example, it may be that early in
> the period, we are hearing migrants still on their way north, or
> birds attempting to establish territories or attract mates, while
> later we hear only those with established territories. I recall
> one survey that Dennis Fast and I did in Manitoba where we had
> about 25-30 - five times the maximum Saw-whets that we had before
> or after. I can only assume that we must have hit a migration wave
> that year. Over the six-week survey period, many factors change,
> and I would encourage Greg to do a week-by-week analysis of the
> total numbers per species to see to what extent that is a factor in
> the results.
>
>Wayne P. Neily
>Tremont, Kings Co., Nova Scotia
>
>
>"Hast thou named all the birds without a gun?
>Loved the wood-rose, and left it on its stalk?" - Ralph Waldo
>Emerson, 1847 [Poems: Forbearance]
>
>
>
> > Date: Sun, 8 Apr 2012 16:36:00 -0300
> > To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
> > From: plchalmers@ns.sympatico.ca
> > Subject: [NatureNS] Owl Survey, Tangier
> >
> >
> > Friday night, with Suzanne Borkowski's help, I surveyed my Nocturnal
> > Owl route on the Tangier to Mooseland / Moose River Gold Mines Road,
> > on the Eastern Shore. We had been watching the weather and Good
> > Friday looked like the only possible chance for this weekend. We saw
> > very few birds on the drive down in the afternoon, either on land or
> > on the water. We had hoped to see our first Great Blue Heron or
> > Osprey of the year, but didn't find either. However we didn't have
> > the time to do much searching so probably overlooked some. When we
> > got to Tangier we were pleased to see a lot of birds in Pope's
> > Harbour; a flock of about 10 Horned Grebes, in patchy breeding
> > plumage, was a treat. There was a lively group of about 20
> > Red-breasted Mergansers chasing one another around, and a pair of
> > Surf Scoters. Red-winged Blackbirds and Grackles were calling nearby.
> >
> > The route goes inland through largely coniferous forests with lots
> > of rocky lakes and black spruce/tamarack bogs. Northern Fibre's
> > woodchip plant is in Sheet Harbour, and there is a lot of active
> > forestry here, including biomass harvesting. Every year we notice
> > new clearcuts. After scouting out our route we had supper in Sheet
> > Harbour and returned to Tangier to begin the survey half an hour
> > after sunset. The winds had dropped to less than 10k, as predicted,
> > and it was clear and dry. American Woodcock were peenting and
> > winnowing overhead at our first stop, and panicky Robins were
> > calling. A little while later the moon rose full. Late in the
> > evening, when it was absolutely still, we heard a pair of Loons
> > duetting from Bear Lake. Nonetheless I was struck by how quiet it
> > was for most of our stops; most of the ditches were dry and there was
> > no sound of running water. Perhaps because it was drier than usual,
> > or perhaps it was just a bit too cool (+2/+3), no Spring Peepers or
> > Wood Frogs were calling. I have yet to hear either this year.
> >
> > However some owls were certainly announcing their presence. At the
> > first stop we heard two Northern Saw-whets calling as soon as we got
> > out of the car, and we found seven more in the course of the
> > evening. There was at least one NSWO at eight of the ten stops, for
> > nine in all. We also heard two Great Horned Owls. Most unusually,
> > we did not hear a single Barred Owl. This is the tenth year that
> > Suzanne and I have run this route, and during that time we have had a
> > low of three owls, and a high of 16. Our ten-year average is 8.6, so
> > this year's 11 was on the high side. This is the third year in a row
> > that we have had a large number of Northern Saw-whets, in fact more
> > of them than any other owl. I can see that in some ways,
> > clear-cutting produces habitat more favourable to them than to the
> > larger owls. Comments, anyone?
> >
> > Patricia L. Chalmers
> > Halifax
> >
> >
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Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
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<body>
<x-tab> </x-tab>Thanks to
Wayne and Randy for the comments. I sometimes write down a few
observations about new clearcuts on the survey form, but I agree that
there should be a better way to record habitat changes. Certainly I
see a lot on this route. <br><br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>Suzanne
and I have always done the Tangier Owl Survey in April, and it's usually
the first of the three surveys that we do together. In the last ten
years the dates have ranged from 1 April to 20 April. The high
Saw-whet counts were on 2 April 2010 (10), 8 April 2011 (7), and 6 April
2012 (9) Those dates are all close together, so perhaps there is a
correlation between timing and abundance, though we have also had low
numbers on early dates in the past. Both 2010 and 2012 were winters
with very little snow, and so we had earlier, drier springs.
Perhaps that is also relevant. If this route weren't so far away I
would be tempted to run it a second time a couple of weeks later, to see
if we got comparable results.<br><br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>Cheers,<br>
<br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>Patricia
L. Chalmers<br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>Halifax<br>
<br>
<x-tab> </x-tab><br>
At 01:03 AM 09/04/2012, you wrote:<br>
<blockquote type=3Dcite class=3Dcite cite=3D"">Hello Pat <i>et al.<br>
</i><br>
You raise an interesting question about the relationship
between Saw-whet Owls and clear-cutting. Certainly it is possible
that regeneration areas are better for them, although to prove or
disprove that, we would likely need better records of habitat
change along the routes than our existing protocols provide. I
suspect that the number of Saw-whets may also vary with the date of the
survey, as it is a migratory species whose phenology in Nova Scotia is
not too well known. For example, it may be that early in the
period, we are hearing migrants still on their way north, or birds
attempting to establish territories or attract mates, while later we hear
only those with established territories. I recall one survey that
Dennis Fast and I did in Manitoba where we had about 25-30 - five times
the maximum Saw-whets that we had before or after. I can only
assume that we must have hit a migration wave that year. Over the
six-week survey period, many factors change, and I would encourage Greg
to do a week-by-week analysis of the total numbers per species to see to
what extent that is a factor in the results.<br><br>
Wayne P. Neily<br>
Tremont, Kings Co., Nova Scotia<br><br>
<br>
"Hast thou named all the birds without a gun? <br>
Loved the wood-rose, and left it on its stalk?" - Ralph Waldo
Emerson, 1847 [Poems: Forbearance] <br><br>
<br><br>
> Date: Sun, 8 Apr 2012 16:36:00 -0300<br>
> To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca<br>
> From: plchalmers@ns.sympatico.ca<br>
> Subject: [NatureNS] Owl Survey, Tangier<br>
> <br>
> <br>
> Friday night, with Suzanne Borkowski's help, I surveyed my Nocturnal
<br>
> Owl route on the Tangier to Mooseland / Moose River Gold Mines Road,
<br>
> on the Eastern Shore. We had been watching the weather and Good
<br>
> Friday looked like the only possible chance for this weekend. We saw
<br>
> very few birds on the drive down in the afternoon, either on land or
<br>
> on the water. We had hoped to see our first Great Blue Heron or
<br>
> Osprey of the year, but didn't find either. However we didn't have
<br>
> the time to do much searching so probably overlooked some. When we
<br>
> got to Tangier we were pleased to see a lot of birds in Pope's <br>
> Harbour; a flock of about 10 Horned Grebes, in patchy breeding <br>
> plumage, was a treat. There was a lively group of about 20 <br>
> Red-breasted Mergansers chasing one another around, and a pair of
<br>
> Surf Scoters. Red-winged Blackbirds and Grackles were calling
nearby.<br>
> <br>
> The route goes inland through largely coniferous forests with lots
<br>
> of rocky lakes and black spruce/tamarack bogs. Northern Fibre's
<br>
> woodchip plant is in Sheet Harbour, and there is a lot of active
<br>
> forestry here, including biomass harvesting. Every year we notice
<br>
> new clearcuts. After scouting out our route we had supper in Sheet
<br>
> Harbour and returned to Tangier to begin the survey half an hour
<br>
> after sunset. The winds had dropped to less than 10k, as predicted,
<br>
> and it was clear and dry. American Woodcock were peenting and <br>
> winnowing overhead at our first stop, and panicky Robins were <br>
> calling. A little while later the moon rose full. Late in the <br>
> evening, when it was absolutely still, we heard a pair of Loons
<br>
> duetting from Bear Lake. Nonetheless I was struck by how quiet it
<br>
> was for most of our stops; most of the ditches were dry and there
was <br>
> no sound of running water. Perhaps because it was drier than usual,
<br>
> or perhaps it was just a bit too cool (+2/+3), no Spring Peepers or
<br>
> Wood Frogs were calling. I have yet to hear either this year.<br>
> <br>
> However some owls were certainly announcing their presence. At the
<br>
> first stop we heard two Northern Saw-whets calling as soon as we got
<br>
> out of the car, and we found seven more in the course of the <br>
> evening. There was at least one NSWO at eight of the ten stops, for
<br>
> nine in all. We also heard two Great Horned Owls. Most unusually,
<br>
> we did not hear a single Barred Owl. This is the tenth year that
<br>
> Suzanne and I have run this route, and during that time we have had
a <br>
> low of three owls, and a high of 16. Our ten-year average is 8.6, so
<br>
> this year's 11 was on the high side. This is the third year in a row
<br>
> that we have had a large number of Northern Saw-whets, in fact more
<br>
> of them than any other owl. I can see that in some ways, <br>
> clear-cutting produces habitat more favourable to them than to the
<br>
> larger owls. Comments, anyone?<br>
> <br>
> Patricia L. Chalmers<br>
> Halifax<br>
> <br>
> </blockquote></body>
</html>
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