First of all, from Greenland: Does anybody recognize this bird? Martin Kviesgaard, in Nuuk Greenland, has come across another banded bird and got some shots of the bird with band but without enough information to make a positive identification. So….does this bird look familiar to any of you?
One of our banded males in Nuuk, Greenland. -M Kviesgaard
A closer look….anyone recognize this band as one of theirs? -M. Kviesgaard
Banded male still showing vestiges of its brown Basic Plumage. -M. Kviesgaard
Some of the band detail. -M. Kviesgaard
And now back to Iqaluit:
It’s been a frustrating few days. The females are all sitting on eggs, emerging from their nesting cavities only occasionally for a quick snack for ten minutes. And if you’re not in a position to catch this quick trip then you’re out of luck for finding a nest. Further, since the females are busy (and mated) the males aren’t singing much so you can walk for kilometers without seeing much. But occasionally you get lucky and here’s some of the nests we’ve found:
Found this nest by chance – while walking through someone’s backyard.
Looking down at SNBU21 – which holds 7 eggs. Another nest I found strictly by chance when the female flushed as I was going by.
And while searching for bunting nests, helper Shan Leung found the nest of a Northern Pintail:
While searching for nest SNBU22, Shan found this Northern Pintail nest with 7 eggs.. -S. Leung
Today was all bright sunshine – cold wind but sunshine. We set out some traps by one of the nests in Sylvia Grinnell Park. The female managed to elude them consistently but the male, thinking just of his stomach got caught in the Potter Trap within the first 5 minutes.
A mini bow net and a Potter trap arrayed outside a nest cavity (the opening in the bottom left of the picture).
On our way down to the other bunting nest in Sylvia Grinnell Park, David Hussell came upon the nest and eggs of an American Pipit – a nest that, in my experience, is very hard to find.
Entrance to the pipit nest – the small hole in the middle of the picture.
Nest and eggs of an American Pipit.
While checking out the 2nd bunting nest (we had no luck), a pair of Lapland Longspurs dropped by to see what all the commotion was about:
Female Lapland Longspur checking things out. -E. Sudlovenick
Male Laplong Longspur in bright breeding (or alternate) plumage. -E. Sudlovenick
The 2nd bunting nest(SNBU19) has 7 eggs:
Seven Snow Bunting eggs – a large clutch for this dimutive bird. -E. Sudlovenick
In the long run, the best thing that could happen would be to have people in in the Arctic banding birds up there, in their backyards so to speak. To this end Enooyah Sudlovenick may be that person in Iqaluit. Currently she attends the University of Guelph but returns home as soon as school is finished to do contract work through the Summer. Enoo helped me this past week (and again today) and shows both a great interest and skill in this area. With some training in the Fall at Ruthven (handling a variety of passerines) and in the Winter with David Lamble (concentrating on Snow Buntings), she should be ready to band in Iqaluit next Spring. Now that would be exciting!
Introducing Enooya Sudlovenick – future Snow Bunting bander.
Long-time Arctic resident Glenn Williams has been a fount of useful information and contacts about birds and Arctic life. After hearing of the successful use of nest boxes by Snow Buntings in Arctic Bay, he made and just put up four which he’s hoping buntings will check out this Fall (after fledging) and will use next Spring. If he gets the same buntings returning year after year, it will revolutionize the study of this hardy little bird.
The steep overhang mimics the tunnels that buntings use in crevasses and rock piles.
The overhang on the box (and the roof) will provide protection from Common Ravens which are plentiful in Iqaluit.
Rick