Double-crested Cormorants....proposed as an endangered species!

No this wasn't, or isn't, an early April Fool's joke. Double-crested Cormorants were at one time expected to be added to Ontario's Endangered Species list!

Cormorants were, at one time, extremely rare. They were believed to be having a negative impact on the commercial and sport fishing industry in the first half of the 20th century, by consuming vast quantities of small fish that were part of the commercial fish targets or food for the larger sport fish. As a result they were heavily persecuted by destroying nests and killing the adults. Compounding the decline was the impact of DDT. The population declined significantly, and the species was being considered for endangered species status. There were no breeding colonies of them in the lower Great Lakes at all!

In my old files (I'm a bit of a pack-rat......not a surprise to those who know me well), I have a copy of the 1970 spring-summer issue of the Fish And Wildlife Review, a publication produced several times a year by the Department of Lands & Forests, precursor to the Ministry of Natural Resources, which is now the Ministry of Natural Resources & Forestry (I'm not sure why the politicians thought Forestry had to be added to Natural Resources, as ever since 1973 when MNR was created, Forestry was always included since it is a natural resource. But I digress......)

In this issue was a feature article on the dozen or so species which were to be initially included in this new piece of provincial legislation, the Ontario Endangered Species Act. In another article of this issue, two species were predicted to be added in the near future: Double-crested Cormorant and Common Loon!

I remember in my early birding years (mid-1960s to early 1970s) it was a novelty to get cormorant on one's daily checklist. By the middle 1970s, cormorants started to show up again, and by the later 1970s, they started nesting again in remote places of the lower Great Lakes. Efforts by the Canadian Wildlife Service and Ministry of Natural Resources were underway to band the young at accessible nests. As I was stationed at Rondeau, I had the opportunity on several occasions to join the mixed crew in these events. The main nesting location in the western basin of Lake Erie was on Big Chicken Island, a small island made up of cobble stones and overall about 2/3 the size of a football field. It emerged from the lake a few kilometres west of Pelee Island. There was no woody vegetation on it, and hardly even any herbaceous vegetation.

Banding cormorants on Big Chicken Island, with East Sister Island in the background

During the several times I was part of this crew, the maximum number of nests as I recall was 104, and we were ecstatic with the nesting success.

The excitement was short-lived. In only a few years the cormorants had rebounded considerably, and they expanded their nesting sites to several of the other remote islands in the western basin. East Sister Island was one of the main new nesting sites, but they also became well established on Middle Island and to a minor extent for a few years at Lighthouse Point Provincial Nature Reserve on Pelee Island.

It didn't take long for the nesting colonies on East Sister and Middle Island to have some major impacts on the lush vegetation there. Cormorants do eat fish, and their excrement is quite acidic. They were nesting in trees and in a fairly dense colony, and so when the ~4 chicks pooped over the edge of the nest, the leaves of the trees were eventually destroyed. Trees started dying. The lush vegetation was in serious trouble, as at the peak, there were well over a thousand nests on East Sister Island alone.

East Sister Island

Middle Island, Canada's southern most land mass only 100 metres or so from the international border, was similarly affected. Whereas East Sister Island has a predominantly cobblestone shoreline, Middle Island has more solid limestone rock and plates that are broken off by wave and ice action. There is a geomorphology lesson in there.......

Middle Island is about the same size as East Sister, and has an interesting fairly recent human history. During the prohibition years, it was a busy place...a haven for rum runners and for the delivery of Canadian alcohol making its way to Ohio. Boat traffic was regular (a small harbour was created on the west side of the island) and a small air strip was cut out of the vegetation on higher ground. The place where the air strip used to be has been completely over grown for a long time. If you examine Google maps and zoom in closely in the Earth coverage, you can see the difference in the vegetation where the East-West air strip was located. There was even a small hotel and casino on the island during the early part of the last century. It was eventually abandoned, and by the 1980s was in complete disrepair. It was said that Al Capone was a periodic visitor to the island during prohibition days, to do 'business'.

The impacts of nesting cormorants on Middle Island were fairly drastic as well. However since 1999, the island changed ownership....it had been in American ownership for at least 80 years prior to 1999, but given its natural history significance and its availability on the market, Canadian patriotism came to the fore. Led by the Nature Conservancy of Canada in conjunction with numerous conservation and government agencies as well as concerned individuals, it was purchased and became Canadian owned. It is now part of the federal park system, being administered and managed by Point Pelee National Park. What was left of the island's hotel has since been removed.

Cormorants have continued to expand their nesting sites in the Great Lakes. They have expanded to places like Rondeau Provincial Park, initially occupying a small unvegetated island towards the south end of the bay/marsh area. There they nest on the sandy island or in the fallen trees that remain.

They have since expanded again, to a cluster of small trees along the edge of the bay.

Cormorant nesting cluster, with Bald Eagle at top

Such are the dynamics and resilience of nature. For better or worse, nature is quick to recover when the conditions allow. And Double-crested Cormorants were never put on the Endangered Species list.

Sunset over the western basin of Lake Erie

Harlequins and Sandhills

First, an update on the Harlequin Ducks that have been hanging out at Erieau these last few days. I was checking on them a couple of days ago, in much calmer conditions, and both of them were in the vicinity of the farthest rocks on the eastern side of the channel. Still fairly distant but a lot easier to focus on than the previous time

After a bit, the Harlequins drifted off out of sight on the southeastern side of the rocks, so I left for awhile to check other things. When I came back a little while later, they had appeared in the channel, at the lake end, and were seen drifting in with a small group of Bufflehead. They didn't come real close, but I was definitely pleased with the better results.

Inland a little bit from Erieau, I noticed some drainage tiles going full tilt. The rain storm of a couple of days prior resulted in about 30 mm that fell, so there were wet spots in the saturated fields. Not surprisingly, water was being directed into the various ditches and canals......

 .......and from the canals, the water was being pumped into Rondeau Bay in large quantities.

It is a little surprising how saturated the soil is, considering how little moisture we've had. Certainly some of the woodlots are not wet at all. One forest that I check out periodically, the McKerrall Forest, is a swamp forest with Silver Maple being the dominant species. I usually have to wear good rubber boots to get around at this time of year. A few days earlier I had gone out to look and listen for the spring chorus of frogs, only to find that I could have used running shoes and not got even the least bit damp! There wasn't a single frog to be heard.

This first image is of an Eastern Cottonwood, which measured 108 cm dbh, which is often found near water.

This next image is of the largest Silver Maple in the forest, which measured 143 cm! Normally there would be 10-20 cm of water all on around the forest floor, but it was completely dry.

Last evening, I decided to go to St. Clair National Wildlife Area. It can be interesting either in the early morning or early evening. The light at the end of the day was particularly nice for photography, and I always consider that when I pick my travel spots.

There weren't a lot of ducks close at hand. Some hikers with dogs had been out just a bit ahead of me. But I heard Pied-billed Grebes giving their hooting and hollering. There were Ring-necked Ducks a-plenty, but not close by. A small group of Bufflehead had attracted a male Blue-winged Teal.

Red-winged Blackbirds were abundant. I was hoping for a Yellow-headed Blackbird, but it is a bit early for them, and in the last few years they seem to have avoided this NWA in favour of the marshes farther north near Mitchell's Bay.

 Canada Geese were abundant, as usual. It is a bit of a shame that they are somewhat of a nuisance in some areas....they really are a handsome species! It was relatively easy to get some flight shots in the beautiful light and crisp blue sky.

This next one was trying to look inconspicuous, skulking along the far side of the open water. It obviously had a nest nearby, likely with its mate incubating the eggs.

A highlight at any time of the year is to come across Sandhill Cranes. They used to be a novelty in southwestern Ontario, but have steadily increased in numbers so they are more predictable. They feed in nearby fields, and roost in various parts of the vast Lake St. Clair wetland complex. They probably breed in some of the marshes, too. Usually you hear them from afar giving their trumpet/tremolo, long before you see them. This pair came towards me without warning, flying soundlessly and low over the marsh. The camera wasn't at the ideal settings, but I was pleased with some of the shots.

 In just a few seconds, they were out of the good light and heading into the sun, so the images at that point required a lot more tweaking to overcome the high contrast.

Early spring action

It seems like spring is reluctant to arrive for good, but it is providing hints of what is to come, and a few jaunts around the country side have been interesting.

On a couple of the briefly warmer days, there have been birds, herps and butterflies all to enjoy.

I saw my first of the year Eastern Phoebe a few days ago....two different birds, in fact, in different parts of Rondeau. This member of the flycatcher family is an early migrant. Although it eats mostly flying insects, in cold weather when insects are scarce to non-existent, they will eat berries.

There has been a moderate influx of Northern Flickers.......

....and a much greater number of Turkey Vultures. It doesn't seem that long ago when the last of the fall migrant vultures were dipsy-doodling across the sky on their southern journey. In the lead article of the most recent issue of OFO News, written by noted Ontario birder Ron Pittaway, raptor taxonomy was discussed. Included in that article was the point which cited Palmer in his 1968 work Handbook of North American Birds that our Ontario vultures were not related to Old World vultures but more closely related to the Condor group. In Ron's article he suggested that maybe it is time to change their name to Turkey Condor! That will take a bit of time to get used to, if it happens.

Typically as soon as the ice is off the ponds in the forests, the earliest amphibians emerge, including salamanders and frogs. I have heard Leopard Frogs, Western Chorus Frogs as well as Wood Frogs at times, and some of the larger sloughs of Rondeau have dozens of Wood Frogs clucking away in their attempts to attract mates.

Wood Frog

Unfortunately as some of the snakes emerge, they seek out the warmest sites to bask on, and this can lead to their death by vehicle. This Northern Brown Snake was not only smushed, it was decapitated along a paved road in Rondeau.

Butterflies that overwintered as adults, may appear in areas on sunny warm days. I have seen Red Admiral (but it was too quick to get a photo of) as well as Mourning Cloaks.

 It was trying to place its wings perpendicular to the sun's rays to get the maximum effect, until it flew up onto a tree trunk.

Groundhogs go into hibernation for the winter, and are emerging from their dens. This one was along a road side, and looked a little sleepy.

Snowy Owls are lingering, as they often do in an irruption year.

Waterfowl are numerous these days, and are getting into mate selection and even egg-laying mode. A pair of Mute Swans has taken up residence in McGeachy Pond, as is usual, and has a nest.

Canada Geese are paired up. I saw this one trying to look as inconspicuous as possible while floating in some shallow water. Its mate was nearby. Normally they would be squawking a lot, and moving away from any intruder. However these two were totally silent. Their behaviour suggests that a nest with one or more eggs is nearby, but probably just at the early stage and the adults are not yet incubating full time.

With all the ducks around, it is entertaining to observe their courtship displays. It varies with the species, and often involves some type of head bobbing, chasing, wing display, ducking and diving and various auditory sounds. Sometime it involves all of those things!

Red-breasted Mergansers are quite common in the area right now. I observed some of their antics at Erieau a few days ago.

A bad hair day

Chasing

 Neck stretching, above, typically followed by semi-submersing themselves, below.

Vocalizations between two males

The happy couple

One of the highlights of the duck world locally in the last few days has been the presence of two Harlequin Ducks at Erieau. A single bird was seen periodically earlier in the winter, but lately a male just coming into its breeding (alternate) plumage has been seen with a female. They aren't always easy to find, however. It took me three visits to the Erieau waterfront to finally catch up with this pair. On one occasion I had been looking and watching for about 30 minutes or so, and finally left. A little later I found out that if I had waited another 15 minutes, the pair of them were quite visible out in the main channel. Timing is everything......however the next day I did get to see them within minutes of my arrival. They flew in from the marina area and went across to the eastern edge of the rocks on the far side of the channel, where they proceeded to spend a lot of time diving into the surf. They seem quite at home in the rougher water. As a result due to their constant bobbing and disappearing into the surf, it was difficult to get a good photo. Auto focus was not going to work, so I had to anticipate approximately where they might surface, and manually focus the lens in hopes of getting something reasonably useful. They aren't the greatest shots given the light, the manual focus and the distance, but are identifiable.

male with the female just going under

male in centre with Red-breasted Mergansers on either side