Going south
Bruce Mactavish: It cannot be helped. It cannot be stopped. Bird migration is happening in full force in Newfoundland and Labrador. It started as a trickle in July when the first Arctic shorebirds to finish their nesting activities in the higher latitudes turned south.
It cannot be helped. It cannot be stopped. Bird migration is happening in full force in Newfoundland and Labrador. It started as a trickle in July when the first Arctic shorebirds to finish their nesting activities in the higher latitudes turned south. An early resting stop on their passage south is this province. Since then shorebird migration has ramped up to maximum volume. Most of the species that use Newfoundland and Labrador as a recharging site on their migration route south are present now or will be over the next two weeks.
Now the warblers are joining in the march of migrants heading southward. The warblers are done with nesting. They will linger as long as there is plenty of food to keep them comfortable. Eons of knowledge ingrained in the warblers serves as instinctive impulse. They feel the need to move south now. They do not fight it. They do not care to question the wisdom that dictates the urge. If they could dig deep they would discover they are leaving Newfoundland and Labrador before the general insect population goes into a state of suspended animation for the fall and winter season. Warblers live on insects.
The warblers that arrived in the province only three months ago have gone through the whole process of finding a mate, building a nest, laying eggs, incubating the eggs, and feeding the young until they fledged. Now those young birds are independent feeding on their own and the adults have separated from their mates and are also independent. Released from family ties but flocking in mixed species groups, they roam through the woods seeking insect life. They are gaining strength and building fat reserves. They are getting in the best physical and highly spirited condition of their lives in preparation for their migration south. Times are good at the end of the summer for warblers.
One of the commonest warblers in the province has the longest migration. It is the blackpoll warbler. In Newfoundland and Labrador it nests in a variety of habitats ranging from stunted spruce on a windy headland to young birch saplings growing along the sides of logging roads in the sheltered interior. As with most of the warblers the males are more sharply dressed than the females. In spring the males are neatly trimmed in black and white with a distinctive clear white cheek and a solid rounded black cap. The females are muted version of the male. But in fall migration, the males, females and young of the year all dress in similar olive-greens and light lemon yellows. You cannot really tell them apart.
In late summer blackpolls are busy in the insect-rich woodlands. Weighing about 15 grams these birds thriving in our roadside alders now will be in rain forests of the Amazon River basin of Brazil in a few weeks. How a bird so small can generate the energy while at the same time maintaining a navigational focus from Newfoundland to Brazil is mind-boggling. Most of the population of blackpoll warblers use Florida and the Caribbean Islands as a route of passage between Canada and South America. However, there is good evidence supported by radar showing some are skipping the United States all together and are flying from Atlantic Canada direct to South America. This is a water route with no chance of landing for a rest or fuel up.
The blackpoll warbler pictured with this column was one of many near Renews this past weekend. Sometime within the next two weeks this very bird will be out of here and trekking toward its winter destination in South America. Imagine it. Do you see any room for luggage or a GPS on that bird? Everything it needs is built in. Will it take the shortest and most risky route and fly due south over a few thousand kilometers of water to reach its South American goal? Or will it take the safer longer route flying west to Nova Scotia and then south along the east coast of the United States to Florida and island hop across the Caribbean to South America. There is an unwritten story of adventure ahead for this bird. Good Luck! Enjoy the toucans and parrots in Brazil this winter. See you back here next spring. Back to shorebirds There were 19 species of shorebirds detected in eastern Newfoundland over the weekend. Among the passage of southbound shorebirds a few rarities have been found. Most interesting this was the unexpected appearance of stilt sandpipers, one at Cappahayden and two more at Renews. The main migration route of this species takes them well west of Atlantic Canada. The third common ringed plover of the migration season turned up at Portugal Cove South. American golden plovers are starting to arrive on the barrens to fatten up on berries.
Bird migration is all around us.
The warblers are done with nesting. They will linger as long as there is plenty of food to keep them comfortable. Eons of knowledge ingrained in the warblers serves as instinctive impulse. They feel the need to move south now. They do not fight it.