Neck tagged Canada Goose from Greenland!

Tagged Canada Goose, Hadley Cove, Hadley, MA, Mar 23, 2013

Tagged Canada Goose, Hadley Cove, Hadley, MA, Mar 23, 2013

As mentioned in an earlier post from March 23 I found a neck tagged Canada Goose at Hadley Cove:(http://quabbinbirdingandbeyond.blogspot.com/2013/03/greater-white-fronted-goose-or-geese.html
 I have just gotten back some detailed information about this individual from researchers in Denmark.  The bird (a male) was originally tagged in west Greenland on July 17, 2008!  Very cool.  It has been seen a few other times over the last several years (list included at bottom of post).  With all the recent Greater White fronted Geese around I guess it is not completely unexpected that a Canada Goose joined them in their trip down from Greenland.  It is very interesting to me to track the journeys that certain individual birds take over the course of their lifetimes.  I have seen (and reported) several tagged geese over the years but this one is the farthest travelling individual I have yet found.  This is the first time I have gotten back a personal e-mail (with quite a bit of detail) from a researcher on a tagged bird I have found.  I have included the e-mail below:

Thank you very sincerely for your reports of the Canada Geese marked with the yellow collar GJA From just south of Hatfield, Hampshire County, Mass.on 23 March 2013 for which we are extremely grateful! I am very happy to tell you that this Canada Geese was marked by our banding team in Greenland and that we are extremely excited about the news! GJA was caught as part of a project to mark Greenland White-fronted and Canada Geese in west Greenland in the summer of 2008 and was recaptured nearby on another lake in summer 2009!
GJA was caught and banded on a lake simply known as Lake T to the banding team (very few lakes in this area have Greenlandic names) which is at 67°07'58"N 50°34'02"W in an area known as Isunngua, immediately north of the airport at Kangerlussuaq in west Greenland. This has been a study area for our investigations on and off over many years. It was an adult male when caught, part of a flock of 42 non-breeding adults trapped on 17th July 2008. It was retrapped the following year on Lake U (67°08'04"N 50°34'26"W) on 18th July 2009.

I have taken the liberty of attaching two files below for your information - one containing the listing with your observation along with others from this year so far and a pdf file containing a short paper describing our earlier findings (this file need Adobe Reader to open - let me know if you cannot open this). If you would like a little more information about the project last summer, you can find this at:http://greenland10.wikispaces.com/ with an update from this year via the link on the bottom of the list in the Word document.You may also be interested to read of other sightings of these geese from North Maine (including photographs) athttp://northernmainebirds.blogspot.com/

Needless to say, if you hear of any other reports of ringed or collared Canada Geese (especially those beginning with G since these are ours) please do not hesitate to report them to us here - needless to state, we would be extremely interested to know whether any other collars turn up in this area.
Do not hesitate to get in touch if you would like further information!

All very best wishes and enormous thanks again for taking the trouble to report these birds!
T

Tony Fox
Research Professor

Department of Wildlife Ecology and Biodiversity
National Environmental Research Institute
University of Aarhus
Kalø
Grenåvej 14
DK-8410 Rønde
Denmark

Below I have also included the various sightings of this particular goose since it was initially captured back in 2009.  Interesting in that the bird travelled quite a bit further south this winter.  Keep your eyes out over the next few weeks for neck tagged geese (especially tags that start with "G"). 

GJA caught Isunngua, west Greenland, July 2008

 

GJA         18.07.2009              Lake U, Isunngua, West Greenland                                                          RESIGHT                                GWGS

GJA         12.04.2010              Beaudet Reservoir, Victoriaville, Quebec, Canada 46°04’N 71°58’W      RESIGHT                                CR

GJA         21.04.2010              Beaudet Reservoir, Victoriaville, Quebec, Canada 46°04’N 71°58’W      RESIGHT                                CR

GJA         21.05.2010              Near Lake P, Isunngua, West Greenland                                                  RESIGHT                                HTH

GJA         19.03.2012              Bassin de Chambly, Saint-Mathias-sur-Richelieu, near Montreal,

Canada, 45°27'40.1”N 73°16'23.6” W                                     RESIGHT                                RBE

GJA         31.07.2012              Lakes Q and R, Isunngua, West Greenland                                                              RESIGHT                                HTH

GJA         23.03.2013              Hadley Cove, Hatfield, Hampshire County, Massachusetts, USA

42°19’49.95”N 72°35’17.92”W                                                              RESIGHT                                LT

Thanks to the researchers for providing all this detailed information on this bird I have included in this post.

Info on the neck tagged Canada Geese

Canada Goose with neck tag "18MA", Connecticut River below Coolidge Bridge, Northampton, MA, Jan 27, 2013

I just got back the details from the USGS on the neck banded Canada Geese I saw a few days ago below the Coolidge Bridge in Northampton.  The two yellow neck tags labeled “34MA” and “18MA” belong to geese that were tagged in Massachusetts.  The bird with tag “34MA” is a female banded in Springfield on July 5, 2005 and hatched in 2004 or earlier.  It was tagged by the Massachusetts Division of Fish and Wildlife.  The goose with tag “18MA” is also a female and was banded in Colrain on July 7, 2005 and the bird hatched in 2005.  As always, interesting to see the information on any tagged/marked birds I have come across.

Meanwhile around here the first day of February started off windy and cold and stayed windy all day.  I stopped briefly at a location overlooking the Connecticut River below the Coolidge Bridge again to check on waterfowl.  With the warm temperatures and rain all the ice was gone and the concentrations of waterfowl were no longer around.  There were a few hundred Canada Geese, a few dozen Mallards, a few Black Ducks and a single female Northern Pintail. 

As far as I know there was only a brief flyby sighting of the Gyrfalcon today despite the efforts of many.  I'm sure there will be lots of people looking for it this weekend.  Hopefully their efforts will be met with success.

More on tagged Sanderlings on Plymouth Beach

Sanderling with leg tag, Plymouth Beach, Plymouth, MA, Aug 23, 2012

As I mentioned in my post about my trip down to Plymouth in late August we came across several leg tagged Sanderlings and I have now gotten some information back concerning the birds observed that day.  There were a total of nine separate individuals seen and below is the information on each of these.  I have included the original location and date of capture as well as other dates and locations of sightings of the birds.

Tag #      Original capture site/date                           Other sighting location/date     

J0P         Villas Beaches, NJ   5/11/11                          none previous

JX8         Cooks Beach-North, NJ  6/3/09                    Plymouth Beach, MA  8/11/12

C7Y        Kimbles Beach, NJ  5/28/12                          none previous

N0X        Villas Beaches, NJ   5/11/11                         none previous

N3U       Villas Beaches, NJ   5/19/11                          Topsail Beach, NC   9/17/11

1KJ         Villas Beaches, NJ   5/27/09                          Cooks Beach South, NJ   5/15/10

           (recaptured Kimbles Beach, NJ 5/26/12)                   Kimbles Beach, NJ   6/2/10

                                                                                         Plymouth Beach, MA   8/13/12

4PY         Sunray Beach Preserve, NJ  5/27/10          Stone Harbor Point, NJ  4/21/11

                                                                                          Stone Harbor Point, NJ   4/30/12

YH5        Mispillion Harbor, DE  5/15/11                    Reeds Beach, NJ  5/26/11

                                                                                          Mispillion Harbor, DE   5/28/11

                                                                                          Port Mahon, DE   5/20/12

                                                                                          Plymouth Beach, MA   8/3/12

NU8         Villas Beaches, NJ   6/1/10                          Plymouth Beach, MA   8/3/12    

                                                                                          Plymouth Beach, MA   8/13/12

 

All the birds were originally tagged at various spots along Delaware Bay with two of the birds tagged in 2009, two in 2010, four in 2011 and one in 2012.   A quick look at the data reveals some interesting bits of information such as the fidelity to specific locations on similar dates (birds seen at same location years apart).  At least two of the birds (YH5 and NU8) had been present on Plymouth Beach for almost three weeks (8/3 until 8/23).  Three of the birds had no previous sightings following initial capture until seen on 8/23/12 and two of those birds were tagged in spring 2011.  A fascinating look at the travels of these tiny shorebirds as they move between breeding and wintering grounds.  Be on the lookout for tagged shorebirds and if you find any enter the data at http://www.bandedbirds.org/

Birding Plymouth county...life bird #700



Yellow-breasted Chat, Manomet bird banding station, Aug 23, 2012

 

On Thursday I did something I do not normally do and that is take a trip out to the eastern end of the state.  I usually avoid the area as it is too busy for me typically and there are so many good spots closer to home.  However I decided to take up Ian Davies on his offer to show me around the Plymouth area checking on shorebirds and stopping by the Manomet Center for Conservation Science to check out the ongoing banding operation there.  http://www.manomet.org/

Manomet Point view, Aug 23, 2012

I left home predawn to make the two hour trip out to the coast arriving out there around 7am.  I met up with Ian and we were soon on our way for a full day of birding.  Our first stop was at Manomet Point to scan the ocean for birds including the possibility of some storm-petrels.  We scanned the ocean but came up short on any storm-petrels.  We did have at least one Northern Gannet, a few Common Loons and a variety of gulls, terns and cormorants as well as a scattering of shorebirds. 

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Manomet bird banding station, Aug 23, 2012

Yellow-breasted Chat, Manomet bird banding station, Aug 23, 2012

Removing Gray Catbird from net, Manomet bird banding station, Aug 23, 2012

Removing Alder Flycatcher from net, Manomet bird banding station, Aug 23, 2012

Tufted Titmouse, Manomet bird banding station, Aug 23, 2012

View from Manomet Center for Conservation Science, Aug 23, 2012

Downy Woodpecker, Manomet bird banding station, Aug 23, 2012

 

We then went over to check out the bird banding operation arriving there a little before 7:30.  The banding team of five was just finishing up the processing of birds from the first net run of the day at 7am.  There was a handful of Gray Catbirds (the most common species captured here) as well as a first of the season Blue-gray Gnatcatcher.  Between the hourly net runs I got to see some of the history of this long operating banding station.  The variety of rare and unusual birds caught here over years is quite remarkable and would deserve a blog post all on their own.  The various tools, bands, nets etc used in  capturing and processing the birds is quite interesting to see close up.  We joined the banders on three hourly net checks and captured a variety of other birds including several more Gray Catbirds, a Yellow-breasted Chat, Eastern Phoebe, Tufted Titmouse, Northern Cardinal and Alder Flycatcher.  The Alder Flycatcher ID was the most time consuming to make as specific measurements and other criteria was needed to ID a species that is typically identified my call.  After processing the birds from the 10am net check we headed out to our next birding stop.

 

Yellow crowned Night Heron-adult, Bluefish River, Duxbury, MA, Aug 23, 2012

Yellow crowned Night Herons (adult-right, juvenile upper left), Bluefish River, Duxbury, MA, Aug 23, 2012

Great Egret, Bluefish River, Duxbury, MA, Aug 23, 2012

We took a drive north to Duxbury to check on some Yellow-crowned Night Herons that have been seen along the Bluefish River there.  We got there and scanned quickly and found nothing besides a Green Heron, Great Blue Heron and some Greater Yellowlegs.  We then scanned the trees and found a juvenile well hidden in a tree.  We were about to head out when we stopped to scan the trees one more time and this time we found an even more hidden adult.  Amazing how well they blend in.  A few Great Egrets came into the area as we were leaving.

Blue-winged Teal, Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary, Marshfield, MA, Aug 23, 2012





Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary, Marshfield, MA, Aug 23, 2012

After the Bluefish River we headed even further north to Daniel Webster Wildlife Sanctuary in Marshfield. We wanted to try and catch up with some lingering Purple Martins but they seem to have all left for the season. A brief walk to a few of the blinds produced a group of three Blue-winged Teal, a flyover Osprey carrying a fish, several Eastern Phoebe’s and a variety of other expected birds. By this time it was early afternoon so we headed back to Ian’s house to get a different vehicle to head out to Plymouth Beach.

Snowy Egrets, Damon's Point Road, Marshfield, MA, Aug 24, 2012

Bald Eagle, Damon's Point Road, Marshfield, MA, Aug 24, 2012

Our final stop on our trip north was up to Damon's Point Road in Marshfield.  We had some fairly decent groups of shorebirds here with the vast majority being Semipalmated Plovers and Semipalmated Sandpipers plus a handful of Greater Yellowlegs. The marshes had small groups of waders in them including Great Egret, Snowy Egret and Great Blue Heron. A juvenile Bald Eagle came in and flew off to the west just before we headed out. There was also hundreds of swallows (mainly Tree with a few Barn Swallows) feeding over the marsh.

Piping Plover, Plymouth Beach, Plymouth, MA, Aug 23, 2012

White-rumped Sandpiper with Sanderling, Semipalmated Plover and Semipalmated Sandpipers, Plymouth Beach, Plymouth, MA, Aug 23, 2012

Sanderling with tag "C7Y", Plymouth Beach, Plymouth, MA, Aug 23, 2012

 

Common Tern, Plymouth Beach, Plymouth, MA, Aug 23, 2012

Whimbrel (center), Plymouth Beach, Plymouth, MA, Aug 23, 2012

Sanderling flock, Plymouth Beach, Plymouth, MA, Aug 23, 2012

We ended the day by being at Plymouth Beach for high tide to check on what shorebirds and terns were around.  We arrived around 1:45 or so and drove up to the end of Plymouth Beach.   We walked out onto the beach and immediately had groups of shorebirds numbering into the hundreds.  The most prevalent species were Semipalmated Plover, Semipalmated Sandpipers, Sanderlings and Short-billed Dowitchers.  There were also a number of Black bellied Plovers around with some in near breeding plumage.  Other species of shorebirds included Whimbrel, Red Knot, Dunlin, Piping Plover, Ruddy Turnstone, White-rumped Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper plus a possible Western Sandpiper.  The terns were also present near the tip of the beach with the vast majority being Common Terns with a lesser number of Roseate, Black, Least and Forester’s Terns.  Overall the sight of thousands of shorebirds and terns was very impressive but was actually much reduced from what is normally present according to Ian.  Another note of interest was the number of leg tagged Sanderlings present (I will add more details on these in a future post as I get more info).   There were also hundreds of gulls around including Great Black backed, Ring-billed, Herring and Laughing Gulls.  We stayed there until a little after four when Ian had to leave due to a prior commitment and I made the drive back west.  Overall it was a great day of birding and I managed to reach a milestone in birding on this trip as I found my 700th species when we caught up with some Roseate Terns at Plymouth Beach.  A thank you to Ian and others at the Manomet bird banding station for a fun day of birding 'out east'.

Arizona Part 1 -Tucson area, Mt Lemmon, Saguaro NP

Gambel's Quail, Tucson, AZ, April 7, 2012

I just returned from a week long trip out to Arizona spending time around Tucson.  Yet another successful and interesting trip out west.  The total for the trip included a total of 155 species of birds, 17 new species in Arizona (total now at 205 for the state) and two life birds: Black-capped Gnatcatcher and Flammulated Owl.

Fighting Hooded Orioles, Tucson, AZ, April 7, 2012

Hooded Oriole, Tucson, AZ, April 7, 2012

Red-tailed Hawk, Tucson, AZ, April 7, 2012

Mourning Dove, Tucson, AZ, April 7, 2012

After arriving midday I spent the day around our house rental finding several birds right at the house.  Nothing too unusual but the vocal and active Hooded Oriole provided some great entertainment.

Yellow-eyed Junco, Mt Lemmon, April 8, 2012

Cassin's Vireo, Tanque Verde Wash, Tucson, AZ, April 8, 2012

Black-tailed Gnatcatcher, Saguaro NP, AZ, April 8, 2012

Black and White Warbler, Tanque Verde Wash, Tucson, AZ, April 8, 2012

Curve-billed Thrasher, Tucson, AZ, April 8, 2012

The first full day in Arizona I spent by making a pre dawn trip up to Mount Lemmon to try for some owls and nightjars.   I made it up as far as Rose Canyon and had Great Horned Owls, Whiskered Screech Owls and Common Poorwills.  I spent a little time around Rose Canyon looking for upper elevation birds before escaping the hordes of people out for their early morning Easter outings.  There was a selection of typical higher elevation birds including a leg tagged yellow-eyed Junco.  I made my way back down the mountain to Tanque Verde Wash and spent a couple hours there.  Highlights included a pair of Harris Hawks, Gray Hawks and a variety of migrant passerines including an unusual Black and White Warbler.  After mid morning I made it back to the rental house and then we headed out to explore the east unit of Saguaro National Park before it got too hot.  By midday the temperatures had reached around 90 so we headed back to find some shade.

Connecticut valley birds plus Quabbin Park

Tagged Ring-billed Gull, UMASS, Amherst, MA, April 1, 2012

Tagged Ring-billed Gull, UMASS, Amherst, MA, April 1, 2012

Wilson's Snipe, Hadley, MA, April 1, 2012

Peregrine Falcon with prey, UMASS, Amherst, MA, April 1, 2012

Spent the early part of the morning through mid morning with Ian Davies exploring areas around Hadley and Amherst and then over to Hatfield before heading home and making a stop at Quabbin Park.  The day was cool and overcast but very calm.  We started along the rail trail at Station road and tried for the Sora but all we could find today was the starling giving a great impression of a Sora.  We next headed through the fields of Hadley around South Maple St and had a few American Kestrels as well as several singing Eastern Meadowlarks plus at least four Wilson's Snipe along East Hadley Road.  We next stopped off at Hadley Cove and had 29 Green-winged Teal plus a few Black Ducks and Mallards plus a Wood Duck.  We then crossed over the Connecticut River and headed up to Great Pond in Hatfield.  There was little in the way of waterfowl here but there were at least 40 Rusty Blackbirds plus a Yellow-rumped Warbler. The fields of Hatfield, Whately and Sunderland were very quiet except for a flock of Horned Larks near Pilgrim Airport.  Lake Warner in North Hadley was also quite quiet with a Wood Duck, a Mute Swan and a couple Canada Geese.  With little activity in many spots we headed back to UMASS to try our luck at the campus pond.  Just the typical waterfowl here plus a calling Peregrine Falcon carrying a prey item of some sort.  There was also a wing tagged Ring-billed Gull present at the pond.  I'll post more on the wanderings of this individual once I hear back from the state.  There is an interesting article about the wanderings of these gulls at the following link:
http://www.mass.gov/dcr/watersupply/watershed/study/gullsmasswildlife.pdf

UPDATE:  I got the information back on the wing tagged gull pictured above.  Here is the reply I received from Dan Clark from DCR:

Captured 2/27/12 at the Walmart in Ware, MA

Captured using a rocket net baited with bread and chips

Adult female ring-billed gull

Florescent yellow wing-tags: A290

Blue leg band: 052

Federal band: 0994-21466

Released on site

Sightings:

This is the first sighting of the bird since capture, so it is particularly important.

It will be interesting to see if I come across this bird again as the year goes on.

Belted Kingfisher on weather station, Quabbin Park, MA, April 1, 2012

After dropping off Ian I headed over to Quabbin Park.  At Quabbin I had a handful of good birds including a Red-necked Grebe, three Common Loons including two in full breeding plumage and one juvenile bird plus lots of Pine Warblers singing on territory plus the Belted Kingfisher pictured above.