Bald Eagle Numbers Soar in Nebraska

The number of Bald Eagle nesting within Nebraska had a dramatic increase in 2016. There were 158 active nests recorded, compared to 118 in 2015, according to a report recently issued by the nongame wildlife program of the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission. Records on nesting activity and locales have been kept for at least a decade, with agency surveys and a compilation of contributed information methodology being used by agency staff since 2012.

In north-central Nebraska, these eagles nested in Brown county (two sites), Keya Paha county (two sites), Cherry county (at ten localities), as well as Grant and Hooker counties which each had one known nest. There were no known nests in Thomas or Sheridan counties.

In addition to surveys by the state agency, information was also provided by federal agency staff, non-governmental groups and public power districts. Numerous individuals also contributed useful information. Carolyn Semin contributed details on a new nest in the south Kilgore vicinity. Information for Cherry county was also provided by staff of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Park Service. Special thanks was given to "Dr. Joseph Gubanyi and his biology students for monitoring several nests in eastern Nebraska and to a Niobrara High School science class for monitoring nests in northeast Nebraska," the report said.

An active nest can be used for many years, with more sticks piled on annually, so nests often become quite large and thus very obvious to observers.

This raptor starts nesting in late winter, so pairs are currently establishing their home territory and repairing or preparing their nest. It takes many weeks to incubate a clutch of eggs and then nourish the young to an age when they fledge and fly away from their nest haven.

Nests in Cherry county notably occur along the Niobrara River and in the lake country of the eastern and central portion of the county. There may be nests near lakes in the southwest portion of the county, but are likely not realized due to the lack of bird-watching activity in the area. An especially nice, repeatedly successful nest is in the Niobrara valley, atop a fine tree just a short distance south of the heart city. In the interior sandhills, nests occur by lakes that have a large tree that can support the mass of sticks of a nest. In the eastern extent of the region, the species occurs along many of the primary rivers.

The first modern-era nest of this eagle apparently occurred in 1991 in eastern Nebraska, according to the report. The number of known nests has continued to increase each subsequent year. The Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) was removed from the federal list of threatened or endangered species in 2007, and from a corresponding Nebraska list in 2008.

Breeding Season Survey Results Issued for Niobrara Scenic River

Several common breeding season species present in the Niobrara River valley during 2015 were denoted by bird surveys underway to monitor bird occurrence and distribution.

The Mourning Dove, House Wren, Field Sparrow, American Crow, Spotted Towhee, Chipping Sparrow and Yellow-breasted Chat were among the “most common species” present, according to a “resource brief” issued mid-December for the Niobrara National Scenic River. The surveys during mid-May to mid-June are among many done by the Northern Great Plains Network Inventory and Monitoring Program, of the National Park Service. The Bird Conservancy of the Rockies, based in Colorado, provides training and oversight for the people doing the surveys.

The Niobrara River valley is notable for its confluence of several ecosystems where several species of birds are known to hybridize. There was no information issued in the briefs for 2014 and 2015 in regards to avian hybridization.

Overall, there were 78 species noted at the 13 grids along the scenic river eastward of Fort Niobrara NWR.

Results from a similar 2014 effort, denoted 77 species during counts on five days in June, and three days in July.

During the two years of summer surveys, there have been 89 species noted. There were 25 species of concern denoted, the 2015 resource brief, with this classification based upon state and national designations.

Considering the Dickcissel, there were 62 observations in 2015, compared to 161 in 2014. More Grasshopper Sparrows were seen in 2015, than in 2014, comparing 110 to 79, respectively. For the Yellow-breasted Chat, there were 105 detections in 2015, compared to 67 in 2014. The only towhee species recorded, was the numerous Spotted Towhee, according to a list of observations indicated by the published brief. There was a decline in the detections of the Common Yellowthroat, comparing 30 in 2015 to 58 in 2014.

There were very few orioles amidst the survey sites, with only one each of the Baltimore and Bullocks’s Oriole observed in 2015, with five of the Baltimore species noted in 2014. These two species are especially notable for hybridization, based upon historic studies.

Black-headed Grosbeak numbers declined to 5 in 2015, a decrease from 14 in 2014. No Rose-breasted Grosbeaks were seen during any of the surveys in the past two years. This is another species known for the occurrence of hybrids.

Survey efforts are a long-term means to monitor bird distribution and occurrence along the Niobrara River, as well as other locales in the northern Great Plains.

Bird monitoring objectives, according to survey protocols, are:

• “to integrate existing bird monitoring efforts in the region to provide better information on distribution and abundance of all breeding birds, especially for high priority species;
  
• “to provide basic habitat association date for most bird species to address habitat management issues;
  
• “to provide long-term status and trend data for all regularly occurring breeding species” … “with a target of detecting a minimum rate of population change” …
  
• “to maintain a high-quality database of that is accessible to all of our collaborators as well as to the public on the worldwide web, in the form of raw and summarized data, and;
  
• “to generate decision support tools that help guide conservation efforts and provide a better measure of conservation success.”
  

Although the survey locations were along the river, there were no records of either the Least Tern or Piping Plover.

Neither the 2014 nor 2015 brief included any details on habitats were the surveys were done.

Federal funds pay the expenses associated with these surveys, intended to “detect biologically significant changes in population parameters over time,” including evaluation of population size and birds as indicators of ecosystem conditions.

Surveys will continue in 2016.

Wood Duck Extravaganza at Carter Lake

It was a summer morning when the temperature was not oppressive, the humidity was slight and an intention boiled over when the extravaganza of Wood Ducks were noted about Carter Lake. As the sun touched the horizon, a departure was made from the hills of old Dundee, with an easterly direction accomplished a bicycle pedal at a time, with some appreciated coasting places.

The survey of the morning started at the southeast portion of the lake about Bird Isle, and continued along the way around the lake and its aquatic places.

The results were stupendous, with the largest count of Wood Ducks for this habitat ever recorded within the past decade.

A count of 111 Wood Ducks is nearly twenty more than any recent, previous count. The tally was obviously a result of the many birds being raised this season. At the lake, there are different groups of these ducks, some small and special, with others older and nearly ready to survive on their own. Each of them were a result of the successful breeding in the tree cavities associated with the lakes' habitat.

It was exciting to watch some small ducklings scitter across the water-lily pads on the eastern side of the lake. Mother duck swan along, while her young knew what to look for among the habitat. Other observations along the way, provided these additional perspectives:

• a female and five small ducklings;
• two females accompanying 11 young;
• a female attentive to 11 ducklings
• two females with nine young;
• a female with six young;
• a female with 11 ducklings; and,
• a female with four ducklings.

The overall count from the morning survey surpassed a previous high count from mid-June 2012. Various recent counts during July were significant at the time, but with many fewer Wood Ducks observed.

There was only one intrusive motor-boat on the lake, with was really insignificant. Most of the family bunches were in the eastern third of the lake, or near to the shore, with only one family group in the western section of the lake, where boat traffic occurs to a greater extent.

There were also a bunch of young Mallard ducks, with at least four family groups seen.

It was a good year for the colorful and expressive ducks of Carter Lake, and the offspring raised upon its adjacent park lands.

Other notables during the morning visit were the loitering group of snow geese and the gathering of Purple Martins about their apartment complex.

Purple Martins at their west residences.

Group of snow geese at Horseshoe Pool, Levi Carter Park.

In the background of this picture, there is also a Great Blue Heron.

Wildlife Conservation Society Continues Arctic Bird Research and Conservation

The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), with funding support from a variety of sources, continued and expanded its research in 2010 to provide scientific details of the Arctic region and its resources.

During late-May to early-July, more than a dozen WCS field biologists investigated reproductive biology of all bird species nesting on study plots they established. According to Joe Liebezeit, the Arctic Alaska Field Coordinator for the group, "We continued our work at the same site in the Prudhoe Bay oilfields where we’ve worked since 2003, and at a second new site to the west, in a remote region of the Arctic near the Ikpikpuk River in the National Petroleum Reserve - Alaska."

The focus at both sites is to get a better understanding of how successfully birds are able to reproduce and thereby better understand population trends of key species, Liebezeit said. They focused their research on shorebirds including the Semipalmated Sandpiper, Red Phalarope, and Red-necked Phalarope. Other species were also given attention, including the Bar-tailed Godwit.

The Ikpikpuk River study site is within the a National Petroleum Reserve – Alaska, the largest piece of public land in the U.S.A. Funding for research here was provided by the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Liz Claiborne/Art Ortenberg Foundation.

Liebezeit and his cohorts noted high densities of shorebirds and other tundra birds at the Ikpikpuk study area. Their investigations at both sites include finding and monitoring nests, evaluating reproductive success and documenting other particulars of the natural history of the birds present.

Ikpikpuk Field Camp, 2010. Images courtesy of Joe Liebezeit, WCS.

Banding a Semipalmated Sandpiper.

Two new aspects of the WCS research this season included the use of remote cameras to identify nest predators that will often eat the eggs and young at active nests, and color-banding adult shorebirds to better understand adult survivorship.

Fifteen remote cameras, about the size of a shoebox, were used at both study areas to evaluate nest predation, Liebezeit said. When a would-be predator crosses the infrared beam while it is raiding a nest, pictures are taken enabling the predator to be identified. This is helpful in evaluating differences between the Prudhoe Bay site - which is a human-altered area with a greater preponderance of predators such as the Arctic fox, Common Raven and gulls - to the Ikpikpuk site which is a remote locality with a lesser number of human-related predators, he said.

A second new focus is placing colored bands on the legs of captured, adult shorebirds. Trapping and marking birds is an effective means of determining the survivorship of the adult birds since it enables the same bird to be identified and resighted multiple times, Liebezeit said. If marked birds are recaptured or resighted in subsequent years, a statistical analysis can be used to evaluate this feature of the bird's life cycle. This research is a cooperative effort with the Arctic Shorebird Demography Network.

Liebezeit, in association with the WCS, has been studying birds in the Arctic region since 2002. Each season, recent college graduates with a desire to gain field experience studying birds, apply for a few coveted positions to spend two months on the tundra working with an array of different birds.

"A lot of people want to go to the Arctic to study birds, and we have no problems getting help" Liebezeit said. "Our projects afford a good opportunity for young people to get research experience."

"WCS is concerned with conservation of natural resources of this region. Conditions in the Arctic are a complex situation," Liebezeit said.

"Climate change is happening faster in the Arctic than anywhere else on earth," he said, then indicating notable concerns based upon his experience, including:

• A rise in sea levels which would inundate shoreline which is important foraging habitat for a variety of species
• A drying trend on the tundra which may lessen the extent of wetlands, noting that this needs further study as wetland dependent species such as phalaropes and dowitchers may lose habitat, while a species such as the Black-bellied Plover may benefit as they prefer drier habitat
• An early indication that species more prevalent in boreal forest habitat may be moving their range further northward, which may alter the local food web. One example he noted was more red fox seem to be moving into Arctic Fox habitat.

The information obtained by this research will enable effective management and conservation of nesting birds and other wildlife in the region, Liebezeit said. The North American Program website of WCS has the latest information about their Arctic research.

"Every year I also contribute a summary of our annual findings from each of our study sites to Arctic Birds" an international project which reports details from numerous surveys of breeding birds. "This is valuable since this compilation of information is the only circumpolar synthesis of information on arctic breeding birds," Liebezeit added.

A report on the results of four years worth of studies at Teshekpuk Lake, will be published in the journal Arctic, in March 2011.

The WCS - formerly known as the New York Zoological Society - has a long history of interest in the Alaskan Arctic. Some of their first research surveys were done in the early 1900s. In the 1950s, Olaus and Marty Murie were supported by the organization for their investigations evaluating unique aspects of the area which was eventually established as the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

In the latter 1990s, the Society - with its headquarters in New York City - restarted its North America conservation initiatives, including efforts to investigate the Arctic.

Status of Snowy Plover Revealed by Threatened and Endangered Species Research

The status of the Snowy Plover - a species only recently discovered as nesting in Nebraska and the northern Plains - is better known due to research on two endangered bird species.

Ongoing studies of the endangered interior Least Terns and threatened Piping Plovers on the Missouri River and the Big Bend region of the central Platte River have only recently also documented nesting by the Snowy Plover.

A Snowy Plover nest was first noted in Nebraska on June 10th, 1998 on a sandbar at the west end of Lewis and Clark Lake, along the Missouri River, near Santee, Nebraska. It was denoted by Greg Pavelka, a Corps of Engineers project manager. This was a significant event, adding this plover to the list of breeding species, and the official date for the state's historic ornithology.

Years later, in 2008, researchers from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (VPI) documented two snowy plover nests on the constructed sandbar complex at river mile 826.5 on Lewis and Clark Lake, according to Pavelka, program manager for the least tern and piping plover monitoring conducted by the Army Corps of Engineers.

Scientists from VPI have been studying the population dynamics of the Piping Plover on the Missouri National Recreation River since 2005.

During the 2009 season, the VPI researchers under the direction of Dr. James Fraser documented ten Snowy Plover nests, Pavelka said. "Eight of these nests were successful with at least one egg hatching, one nest was lost to weather and one nest was lost predation." The VPI researchers tracked 14 snowy plover chicks.

"It was certainly very exciting to see these guys breed on Lewis and Clark Lake," said Dr. Daniel Catlin, a Research Scientist with the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences at VTI, and whom just recently received his doctorate for studies on the population dynamics of the Piping Plover. "In years prior they had been periodic visitors, and I was waiting for the first eggs to drop on sand."

Constructed sandbar complex at the west end of Lewis and Clark Reservoir, Knox County Nebraska. Image courtesy of Greg Pavelka.

The "nest substrate for the snowies is similar to the piping plovers, but they do not line their nests on the Lewis and Clark sandbars," Catlin said. "They actually look like a mixture of a least tern nest and a piping plover nest. The eggs are a slightly different coloration than the plovers, and they only lay three whereas the pipers initially lay four. It is hard the first time that you see one to determine that it is, but they look just different enough that it raises questions."

Last summer at this constructed sandbar complex, the Least Tern had 93 successful nests, and the Piping Plover 56 successful nests, according to the Corps findings.

Construction on the sandbar complex was begun in 2006 and was completed in 2008. The complex was built as a part of the Corps' emergent sandbar habitat program to provide breeding habitat for least terns and piping plovers on the Missouri River. There is about 305 acres of sandbar habitat available at this complex that is suitable for nesting by the tern and plovers.

Central Platte

The Snowy Plover has been breeding along the central Platte River only since 2007.

"A pair of snowy plovers and a nest, however, was observed at the Dinan Tract site during weekly site surveys in 2008 and 2009; snowy plover chicks fledged at the Dinan Tract site during 2009," according to the report "Interior Least Tern and Piping Plover Monitoring and Research Report for the Central Platte River, Nebraska" just released by the Platte River Recovery Implementation Program office in Kearney. "Two snowy plover nests were also observed at the Dinan Tract site in 2007; one fledged young," according to David Baasch, the author of the report.

There has now been three breeding seasons with snowy plovers at this site, so "there seems to be a biased selection for this area," said Matthew Rabbe, a Fish and Wildlife Service biologist that has studied these birds. "The Dinan tract islands may stand out differently from other areas in that it has the largest number of islands managed in a relatively small section of the central Platte River."

Least Terns and Piping Plover also nest at this 200-acre tract, located on the Lillian Annette Rowe Audubon Sanctuary, on the Platte River south of Gibbon, and which was dedicated in 2007.

The area is a restoration project created and managed by the Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program.

North Dakota

"In 2007, snowy plovers were observed on both the sparsely vegetated shorelines of alkaline lakes and sandbars on the Missouri River system during regular surveys for piping plovers and least terns," according to a report prepared by Pavelka and biologists with the Fish and Wildlife Service. "Three 1-5 day old chicks were seen on the sandbar on the Missouri on July 13, but were not seen on the next three weekly visits. The crew concluded the chicks did not fledge."

Also in Dakota, there was one nesting documented at on the Missouri River below Garrison Dam and one on Lake Oahe, where "two chicks hatched from the nest and these two were documented as having fledged," Pavelka said. "The appearance of snowy plovers in the Dakotas corresponds with spring flooded conditions in Texas, Kansas, and Colorado, which precluded nesting in traditional areas. These birds may be displaced migrants that continued north to find appropriate nesting habitat," he said.

In 2007 and 2008, Snowy Plovers also nested in North Dakota at Long Lake NWR, said Catlin. They were not present in 2009.

There were no snowy plovers documented by the Corps in North Dakota in 2008 and 2009, according to Pavelka.

Irrigation Reservoirs Habitat

Nesting at this reservoir on the western Platte was first noted in 2000, when a small chick with a female was noted, according to records gathered by Nebraska bird watchers. In 2001, an adult female with three young was noted on the south beach in mid-August. Additional nesting occurred in subsequent years.

In 2004, nesting occurred also at Harlan County Reservoir, according to an account of the status of the Snowy Plover, as maintained by Ross Silcock. There have been no subsequent records for this locality.

The Snowy Plover is classified as having a "peripheral" breeding range in Nebraska, Silcock said, as its range on the Great Plains is generally from Kansas southward.

The extent of nesting in 2009 may indicate this species is making Nebraska an inclusive part of its regular breeding season range.

Arctic Research Compares Birdlife of Different Decades

Arctic Tern. Photo: Sarah Trefry

For Sarah Trefry, a graduate student at the University of New Brunswick, the past summer provided a unique opportunity to compare some Arctic bird populations to those present twenty years ago.

“The surveys were just one part of the much larger ongoing ecological research program of Dr. Greg Henry, a professor at the University of British Columbia,” Trefry said. “His multidisciplinary program monitors bird, animal, insect, and plant populations over time.”

Dr. Henry “knew about my interest in birds, and suggested that I conduct bird surveys of the lowland to compare with earlier surveys done by Dr. Bill Freedman of Dalhousie University. I was also interested in comparing Dr. Freedman's survey technique with a more intensive ‘rope drag’ technique, as a measure of the proportion of breeding birds that get 'captured' through a walking census.

“Breeding bird survey were done at the same site in the early 1980s,” she explained, and “breeding bird populations have also been infrequently monitored at the site since 1980.”

The past summers field work by Trefry (a summer between her MSc project investigating collared pika vocalizations in the Yukon and PhD project on sexual dimorphism and sex ratios in Magnificent Frigatebirds) was the first year she was involved with research at Alexandra Fiord.

The field season’s “climate was slightly unusual for the Canadian High Arctic. At our camp, spring melt-out came late, but arrived without warning. All snow at the site melted over two days in mid-June. The last two weeks of June were warm and sunny. July was much cloudier and cooler. ‘Winter’ arrived when it typically does in mid-August.” this information actually came from James Hudson, since his project has been working with the climate data. You could attribute this quote to him.

Sarah Trefry and James Hudson on rope-drag. Photo: Carolyn Churchland.

The breeding bird surveys at Alexandra Fiord and Ellesmere Island conducted from mid June to late July - with the assistance of James Hudson (studying plant ecology) – were done by “walking transects and rope dragging within five plots, to obtain a measure of how many birds were being spotted on the walking transects.”

The surveys showed “very similar results in breeding bird species and abundances compared to the earlier surveys done at the site.”

“We found few changes in bird densities and species present in the lowland compared to earlier surveys,” Trefry explained. “A few species formerly breeding in low numbers on the lowland were absent, such as Arctic Terns, but these were nesting in high density on a nearby island. The walking census seemed to perform quite well compared to the more labour-intensive rope drags, which James and I spent many hours doing.”

Eight species were found breeding in the lowland habitat, according to the international breeding conditions survey posted on Arctic Birds network: “Snow Buntings, Hoary Redpolls, Lapland Longspurs, Parasitic Jaegers, Long-tailed Ducks, and Baird's Sandpipers. There was also evidence of Rock Ptarmigan, Arctic Turns, and a pair of Gyrfalcons nesting (though the Gyrfalcon nest failed this year). The following numbers of probable and confirmed nests by species were found at the lowland: Snow Buntings: 132, Hoary Redpolls: 2, Lapland Longspur: 19, Parasitic Jaegar: 2, Long-tailed Duck: 2, Baird's Sandpiper: 6.”

Female Long-tail duck on nest. Photo: Sarah Trefry

Lapland Longspur chicks. Photo: Sarah Trefry

“Species like jaegers and ducks were very susceptible to Arctic Fox and Gray Wolf predators if their nests were found, and the jaegar pairs this year at our site were not successful. Climate data for the site shows ambient warming in temperature over the past twenty years, but as of yet the breeding birds appear to be relatively comparable over time.”

“These results are interesting because there was no significant change in the composition of bird species during the breeding season in this area, whereas other Arctic research sites have been noted as having declining breeding bird populations, Trefry noted.

William Brown and Carolyn Churchland relax in the Ellesmere sun. Photo: Sarah Trefry

Trefry, originally from Alberta, has “always enjoyed working in the Canadian Arctic. It is a visually stunning, invigorating, and inaccessible place to work, and one feels very special to get the opportunity to be there. There are few species of animals, but those that are there you often get good looks at, and one cannot help but admire their adaptations for survival in northern climates. I loved the sunshine in June, 24 hours of constant light as the sun makes its circuit around the sky. It makes you feel like you can go forever. Tundra naps are also a highlight - the sun is also appreciated then!

“Alexandra is a neat site because it has a history of Royal Canadian Mounted Police living there with Inuit families, and evidence of them living there remains. On the nearby islands there are also remains of Thule whalers who hunted for Bowhead whales, which are no longer found in that area.

“The locations also means that you are very isolated. This became a challenge when James had a bit of a medical condition and I came into camp while he was flown to a hospital in Iqaluit. However, a second Twin Otter brought him in a week later. And with the isolation comes a forced self-sufficiency, and often the opportunity to become fast friends with those you are working with. And we had a really great crew this year, who were a delight to work with.“

"Support for the project came from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Government of Canada International Polar Year Program, and ArcticNet graciously provided financial support for our 2008 field campaign. Invaluable logistical support was given by the Polar Continental Shelf Project. The Qikiqtani Inuit Association, Nunavut Department of Environment and Royal Canadian Mounted Police authorized our research in 2008."

The multidisciplinary, ecological research project will continue to monitor bird, animal, insect, and plant populations.

Alexandra Fiord field crew, 2008. L-R: Sarah Trefry, Tammy Elliott, Adrian Leitch, William Brown, Carolyn Churchland. Photo: James Hudson.