Hi folks,
We work for Environment Canada, and monitor both populations and contaminants in herring gulls. Last spring, we surveyed the Canadian side of the Detroit River, looking for herring gull nests, and incidentally any other colonial waterbirds. The last official survey, in 2007, showed large populations of ring bill gull nests: 18 467 at Turkey Island and 10 748 nests at Fighting Island. Although there was no official survey done in 2011, the populations of ring bill gull nests were very similar - over 10 000 nests at each of these islands in 2011. The last number of years there have been an average of 10-15 nests of herring gulls at Fighting Island, but black crown night herons averaged about 50-60 nests at Turkey Island. This last spring (a single survey in mid April), we did not find a single breeding colonial waterbird (gull, heron, etc) on the Canadian side of the Detroit River. We saw numerous colonial waterbirds, but no evidence of nesting. All these birds appear to have gone elsewhere to breed. Has anyone observed any colonial waterbird, particularly herring gulls, breeding on the Canadian side of the Detroit River in 2012? Any recent observations of breeding herring gulls in U.S. waters of the river would also be appreciated. If so, could you let either myself ([email protected]) or Dave Moore ([email protected]) know? Or, alternatively, if you were aware of a long term colony that used to exist, but recently disappeared? Thanks for any information, Cheers, Shane _____________________________________________ Shane de Solla Ecotoxicologist Wildlife Toxicology Research Section | Recherche en toxicologie de la faune Ecotoxicology and Wildlife Health Division | Division de l'écotoxicologie et de la santé de la faune Wildlife and Landscape Science Directorate | Direction des sciences de la faune et du paysage Science and Technology Branch | Direction générale des sciences et de la technologie Environment Canada | Environnement Canada 867 Lakeshore Road Burlington, Ontario L7R 4A6 [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> Telephone | Téléphone 905-336-4686 Government of Canada | Gouvernement du Canada Website | Site Web www.ec.gc.ca Opinions expressed are those of the author and do not represent those of his employer. _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to [email protected] For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
