Hi, Further to Paul Mathew's recent post. I found the bird around 3:30-3:45 near the north west part of the west loop trail of Patricia. I found the bird in a tight clump of scrub with 2 Yellow Warblers and an American Redstart. The prothonotary was singing intermittently but staying relatively close to the ground. The scrub here is very thick and does contain lots of poison ivy.
Chris Traynor Ottawa 6137219197 Directions: From downtown Ottawa. Take the Western Parkway west to Island Park Drive. Turn south on Island Park and take the first left turn (east). This is Clearview. Take the first left (north) which is Patricia. Pull over and walk in the gate on the west side of the road. Follow the trails in a north westerly direction for where I heard and saw it. the houses Paul refers to border the heavy scrub south of the trail that runs off Patricia. From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Tue May 29 17:25:18 2007 Return-Path: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Delivered-To: [email protected] Received: from tomts20-srv.bellnexxia.net (tomts20.bellnexxia.net [209.226.175.74]) by king.hwcn.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id D994663487 for <[email protected]>; Tue, 29 May 2007 17:25:17 -0400 (EDT) Received: from jean-bapu1sw48i.sympatico.ca ([69.158.110.36]) by tomts20-srv.bellnexxia.netESMTP <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> for <[email protected]>; Tue, 29 May 2007 17:25:18 -0400 Message-Id: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Message-Id: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 7.0.1.0 Date: Tue, 29 May 2007 17:25:56 -0400 To: [email protected] From: Jean Iron <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed Subject: [Ontbirds]Red Knot - Extinction Question X-BeenThere: [email protected] X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list X-List-Received-Date: Tue, 29 May 2007 21:25:18 -0000 We posted this message to the SHOREBIRDS and BIRDCHAT listservs earlier today. We're posting it to ONTBIRDS because it is about work being done by the Royal Ontario Museum. It is a reply to a subscriber to SHOREBIRDS who asked, "I'm wondering if Baker et al. (2004) have backed off their silly extinction by 2010 claim for rufa Red Knot yet? NJ Audubon certainly is still using it in their campaign to halt Horseshoe Crab harvesting in Delaware Bay." We asked Mark Peck of the ROM, one of the co-authors with Baker, to comment. Mark is part of an international team studying Red Knots on the breeding grounds in the Canadian Arctic, at staging areas such as New Jersey, and on the wintering grounds in Florida and South America. See Mark's response below. Ron Pittaway and Jean Iron Minden and Toronto ON Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Mark said, "Just got back early Saturday morning from New Jersey. Red Knot numbers were low in New Jersey but were pretty good in Delaware. They are still no where close to what they were in the 1980s. As for our paper (Baker et al. 2004), the results were based on models using historical data and recent noted declines in Red Knots, specifically 1998-2001. The models/paper indicated the population is predicted to approach extremely low numbers by 2010 when the probability of extinction will be correspondingly higher than it is today. It never said they will be extinct. As we all know models depend on the information they are given and are by no means guaranteed. Numbers in the last year seem to have leveled off somewhat and I agree that it is unlikely the rufa population will be gone by 2010. This does not mean that we should not be concerned or we should consider the paper or the results silly. The fact is Red Knots have gone through a tremendous decline in the last 25 years. The decline is real and the problems are not over. We are still not clear about all of the causes and to make matters worse the horseshoe crab moratorium is near its end in New Jersey and may not be reinstated. I agree that it is unlikely that Red Knots will be gone from the eastern United States by 2010. However, I also believe the writer is missing the point of the paper by failing to look at the big picture. The paper points to a serious decline and very serious problems with the rufa subspecies. If the model is wrong and the population hangs on until 2015 or 2020 and we do nothing, we have still failed. Our paper is published in a respected refereed journal and should be considered a warning bell based on data. Those data may not be perfect and people may be misinterpreting the results, but the fact remains that humans and rufa Red Knots have a problem. By the way, Sanderlings and Ruddy Turnstones are not doing well either." Literature Cited: Baker, Allan J., Patricia M. Gonzalez, Theunis Piersma, Lawrence J. Niles, Ines de Lima Serrano do Nascimento, Phillip W. Atkinson, Nigel A. Clark, Clive D.T. Minton, Mark K. Peck, and Geert Aarts. 2004. Rapid population declines in red knots: fitness consequences of decreased refueling rates and late arrival in Delaware Bay. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London (B). 271: 875-882. Cheers, Mark Peck Ornithology/Department of Natural History Royal Ontario Museum 100 Queen's Park Toronto ON Canada M5S 2C6 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Phone: 416-586-5523 Fax: 416-586 5553
