While the breeding season may be progressing well here in southern Ontario, atlassers may be interested to learn that this has not been the case elsewhere in the province. In the far north along Ontario's Hudson Bay coast, for example, it may be one of the latest spring thaws in recent memory, comparable to the frigid June and early summer of 1992.
According to MNR Waterfowl Biologist Ken Abraham, initial surveys suggest that the number of breeding pairs of both the Southern James Bay and Mississippi Valley populations of Canada Goose may be down by as much as 25% and ground searches have turned up far fewer nests than is usual for date. A full day of searching on the tundra near Burntpoint Creek east of Winisk resulted in the discovery of only 10 nests, when 50 is more typical. Further up the Hudson Bay coast, just short of the Manitoba boundary in the vicinity of the Pen Islands, the situation is the same or worse: very few Canadas and the Snow Goose colony is in a holding pattern. Lyle Walton, MNR's Northeast Region Waterfowl Population Specialist, reported that as of late last week the birds hadn't yet initiated nesting and were just standing around; not surprising as the ground was still 60-85% snow-covered! Further up the coast at Churchill, MB, the situation has been described as "a mess". Most lakes and ponds there are still ice and snow-covered and locally breeding shorebirds only arrived around June 9th. Back down around Burntpoint Creek, MNR's Andrew Jano reported that despite the late spring all or most of the species have arrived, but at least as of late last week hadn't yet initiated nesting. All the usual suspects were there: Whimbrel, Hudsonian Godwit, American Pipit, Smith's and Lapland Longspur, White-crowned and Lincoln's Sparrow, redpolls, and Yellow Warbler were all there and singing. Pacific Loons were already present on some ponds, but no sign yet of locally breeding Red-throateds. Perhaps most indicative of the late spring were the Willow Ptarmigan, many or most still with substantial amounts of their winter-white plumage. Atlas crews that have already headed north to Winisk, the vicinity of the Brant River and Cape Henrietta-Maria may be in for a bit of a surprise. Parkas, hats, mitts and long woolen underwear will certainly be in order. But things change quickly. Andrew Jano reported that 2C temps and a bitter north wind the day they arrived at Burntpoint gave way to two or three successive days of calm, clear blue skies and 15C shirtsleeve-weather. Sheets of meltwater flowed over the frozen tundra making hip waders a necessity. One benefit of the late spring will surely be the initial absence of bugs, but atlassers will also witness the start of the breeding season with the aerial display of a half dozen or more shorebird species, wailing loons of three species, and all the other subarctic specialties which breed along Ontario's tundra strip. Not all the crews have departed, however, the team of six headed for the Pen Islands has opted to hold off and will head for their camp 5 or 6km inland from the coast a week later than originally planned. Given the reports of the MNR biologists and the luxury of some degree of flexibility, they have decided not to rush things and will instead depart a week today for two weeks of atlassing at Ontario's north-westernmost point. To get some idea of how late the season is, visit the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmomospheric Administration's Snow and Ice Products page (http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/PS/SNOW/) to view satellite analysis of the latest snow and ice conditions on Ontario's Hudson Bay coast. To watch the progress of the spring melt, click on the 31-day animation. Don Sutherland Peterborough, ON
