From the Contact Station June 2023

Magnificent Migration

What is it?  Did you notice this odd object which was uncovered during the removal of blackberries in April?  The way it is sitting, it looks like it might have gathered intelligence from outer space,   unsuccessfully I would guess.  Well, you never know what you might find when you start clearing blackberry patches.  Deputy Refuge Manager, Eric Anderson calls it, “A blast from the past.” The cup/bowl-shaped baskets were a scrap item from the old shop.  Way back in probably 1995, there was an idea that they could recycle these scrap baskets and place them on a support to potentially make a nesting platform for geese.  Several of these were set out on the Refuge by volunteers.  This one has been knocked over.  As to the success of the project, Eric says, “… truthfully, I never saw a goose show any interest in them.  It was less useful biologically and more of an effort in optimistic recycling.  The geese are much happier nesting on top of the hunt blinds.”  You can see this relic between #12 and #13 on the auto tour near the trees where the blackberries were removed (and are rapidly growing back I might add).

Fantastic Shorebird Migration in May:  For anyone who likes challenging birding, we had plenty to

enjoy during May migration with a number of shorebirds dropping in for good viewing on Ruddy and Schwartz Lakes (#6-7 & #12-13 to the right).  Long-billed Dowitchers and Least Sandpipers have been around in small groups. Smaller numbers of Western Sandpipers and Dunlin made appearances. But, in addition, there were sightings of Solitary Sandpiper, Spotted Sandpiper, Red-necked Phalaropes, and a Semi-palmated Plover, species listed as only occasional in our bird list. They don’t make many stops here and are harder to find on the Refuge. Conditions on our lakes were ideal for good feeding. There were nice muddy edges and some areas with just the right depth of water.

Shorebirds have their preferences for feeding and it can be fun to watch their different styles.  For instance, Greater Yellowlegs generally takes prey from the water column as they feed by wading in relatively shallow water.  The small Least Sandpipers feed mainly on moist mud on broad mudflats and they like to be higher up and farther from the water’s edge than other feeding shorebirds. They like benthic invertebrates (aquatic animals without backbones including worms, crustaceans, and immature insects}.   Western Sandpipers like receding tidal areas but not here of course, so they forage along the edges of our ponds.  They use recently-dry or damp substrates and wade up to tarsus-deep water levels.  Watching the Semipalmated Plover is always fun as they will run several steps, stop, stare, and then peck or quickly snatch at prey.  They are visual searchers and require open, even substrate for running. Solitary Sandpiper will eat insects, supplemented by small crustaceans, mollusks, and frogs. Their technique is to snatch food almost exclusively, as they move through wetlands.  And then there is the phalarope. They are almost always on water.  They twirl around, creating a miniature upwelling that draws invertebrates to the surface where they can pick off their prey with their fine bill.

What is next?  As we move into the summer months, we will mostly see Greater Yellowlegs and

some Least Sandpipers foraging in or around what water bodies.  For shorebirds, fall migration starts as early as July. Though we don’t see large numbers of shorebirds on River S in the fall, there should be an uptick in numbers and variety again.

The ever-present Wilson’s Snipe, which has been very vocal of late and doing their winnowing, mate-attracting flight should be on the nest now or hatching babies.  First Goslings were spotted in late April and continued appearing into May.  Judging from the decrease in ducks in general, I would guess half of them were on nests in late May and we should be treated to ducklings before June.  I love the Pied-billed Grebes and American Coot babies. Watch for the parents giving the chicks lessons on how to capture food.  Look to the left edge of Rest Lake as you work your way from #11 to #12.  Rails will be bringing out their babies.  Watch muddy edges along both sides of the road going up to the hunt gate.  Look for a black puffball with toothpick legs following the adult rail.  The Soras seemed to come in as a huge flock by mid-May and they were calling everywhere so I am hoping for an abundance of babies.  Lots of Black-headed Grosbeak were singing high in the trees after mid-May.  I watched a baby begging from the top of one of our signs last year and the dad coming in to feed it.  Hoping for the same observation this year.

Observations from the contact station window: When there are slow times, we volunteers like to watch the goings on at the feeders.  Most recently we have been seeing lots of Red-winged Blackbirds, a male Yellow-headed Blackbird, and two marauding scrub jays.  I watched, with interest, the two scrub jays in late May.  They repeatedly came in noisy hard and fast onto the feeder tray, pushing off as many as five Red-winged Blackbirds at once.  They were fearless and aggressive.  I was reminded of a recent Zoom lecture at the Washington Ornithological Society’s (WOS) monthly meeting. The lecture by Stephen Carr Hampton discussed the movement of songbird wintering habitat northward. He focused his discussion on the Pacific Northwest.

I have always found it delightful to watch Seattle visitors ooh and ah over the scrub jays at our feeder.  That seemed reasonable since they were a rarity up in the Puget Sound area.  “Were a rarity” is the operative phrase here.  A recent group of ladies from up north commented to me as we all admired the birds, that they were seeing them all the time now; not so rare.  And, as Stephen mentioned in his lecture, California Scrub Jay was reported in the CBC of 2021-22 in British Columbia for the first time ever.

Many studies are predicting that bird ranges will shift northward with a warming climate and there is growing evidence for it. Admittedly, this topic is really complicated and the changes that will occur are many and varied.  I was intrigued by the description of Climate Velocity.  Our temperatures are shifting north about 1 to 3 miles per year.  But watching the aggressive scrub jays made me think.  These birds are nonmigratory but have a geographically variable tendency to wander beyond their breeding range in winter which may be a result of food needs and subsequent shifting of the species breeding grounds. They ravage nests of smaller birds for eggs or young to add to their spring dinner table.  That could be catastrophic for species less able to handle the invasion of a new predator into their territory when they are also less able to flee to more productive areas because they no longer exist or barriers, such as large mountain ranges, make it impossible to make the trip.  Grim thoughts, these.  Stephen’s recorded presentation to WOS is on YouTube and he also wrote an excellent article for the club in their last newsletter, Spring 2023.  He explains what is happening with some of our western bird species by his analysis of data from Cornell’s e-bird and Audubon’s CBC.  There are several links in the article that can take you on a deeper dive if you wish.  The WOS website is at www.wos.org. Links to the newsletter and the YouTube presentation are there.

Regardless of the reputation of the California Scrub Jay, I am going to continue to enjoy its antics at the feeder.  Meanwhile, there are a lot of chicks to watch on our Refuge as we move toward summer. Enjoy.

-Susan Setterberg, Contact Station Volunteer
images captioned by photographer