[obol] Fwd: Re: Lane Coast BRANT nesting...

From: Range Bayer <range.bayer@xxxxxxxxx>
To: Oregon Birders OnLine <obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tue, 24 May 2016 18:46:21 -0700

Hi,

In my May 22 email below, I mentioned the Coos Bay nesting record
given in p. 36 in Einarsen (1965. Black Brant: Sea Goose of the
Pacific Coast. Univ. of Washington
Press, Seattle).  I didn't have a copy immediately available, but here
is the relevant paragraph from p. 36:

"Mating does not begin on the nesting grounds.  It begins on the
wintering waters, perhaps several thousands of miles from the place
where the brant will build their nests.  Only rarely will they remain
in the vicinity of their wintering area and attempt to nest.  This
happens when injuries or other circumstances impairing flight prevent
them from the arctic sod that gave them birth.  There are records of
this on Tomales and Humboldt bays in California, and in other areas
along the Pacific coast states.  In 1958 a pair produced a brood of
five and raised them to maturity on the Oregon coast.  It was reported
by Robert Corthrell, an Oregon State game biologist stationed in Coos
Bay, Oregon, who found their nesting site on an arm of the bay.  A
fisherman of the area informed Corthrell that this was the second year
they had been there.  It was apparent that the goose was crippled.
James Moffitt told me of a similar instance on Tomales Bay in the
early 1930's and reported that the goose was crippled."

On p. 42-43, Einarsen makes it clear that his use of "goose"
specifically refers only to the female, not the gander.

The situation with the Coos County Brant nesting record appears like
Wayne wrote below in his email in this thread:

On Sat, May 21, 2016 at 8:52 PM,  <whoffman@xxxxxxxx> wrote:

Hi -

The other reason northern geese sometimes nest at lower latitudes is that if
a mated female has been shot and injured enough to prevent migrating, her
mate may stay south with her and they may nest. I believe I have heard of
examples both with Greater White-fronts and with Snow Geese, but its been a
long time.

Wayne

It will be interesting if the nesting female Brant that Diane has
found is injured.

On May 21, 2016, at 5:44 PM, Diane Pettey <surfbird@xxxxx> wrote:

This afternoon I visited an area home with a nesting pair of Brant geese. I
saw the male; the female was concealed on a nest near the lake edge on
private property.

Diane Pettey
Heceta Beach, OR

---------------------------
Happy birding!

Range Bayer, Newport, Oregon

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Range Bayer <range.bayer@xxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sun, May 22, 2016 at 4:02 PM
Subject: Re: [LCBNO] Re: [obol] Re: Lane Coast BRANT nesting.../
Barnacle Geese nesting south of range
To: Roy Lowe <roy.loweiii@xxxxxxxxx>
Cc: "timrodenkirk@xxxxxxxxx" <timrodenkirk@xxxxxxxxx>,
"brandon.green18@xxxxxxxxx" <brandon.green18@xxxxxxxxx>, OBOL
<obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, "joel.geier@xxxxxxxx" <joel.geier@xxxxxxxx>,
"Lincoln Co. Birding & Nature Observing" <LCBNO@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>

Hi,

In Lincoln County records of Brant in late May are common, so they
aren't of particular note (see attached image of semimonthly records
through 1992 that includes explanation for semimonthly codes at the
top is from
http://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1957/8070/vol.%204%20pg.%20395-543.pdf
).
Records in early and late June were also not rare during 1982-1992;
our records with best observation effort are from 1974-1992.

From Lewis, T. L., D. H. Ward, J. S. Sedinger, A. Reed and D. V.
Derksen. 2013. Brant (Branta bernicla), The Birds of North America
Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology; Retrieved
from the Birds of North America Online:
http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/337
[subscription required]:
"Generally arrives on breeding grounds late May or early Jun, and
begins laying eggs 10–13 d later, depending on breeding location
(Appendix 1)."  Their map of the general breeding range does not
indicate nesting as south of the north end of Hudson's Bay, but it is
not clear if they excluded rare, individual nesting attempts further
south.

P. 88 of the Brant account in the Birds of Oregon: General Reference
about Brant: "Have reportedly bred in Coos and Humboldt bays" (Cottam
et 1944.  [Food habits and management of American sea Brant. J.
Wildlife Management 8:36-56], Einarsen 1965), but Harris (1991
[Northwestern California Birds.  Humboldt State Univ. Press, Arcata,
CA]) suggests that these may have been molting adults mistaken for
young."  I have the 1975 edition of Yocom and Harris' Birds of
Northwestern California; p. 22 states only about the Humboldt Bay
account: "We feel that the Brant reported as nesting at Humboldt Bay
by Moffitt (1941.  Eleventh annual Black Brant census in California.
California Fish and Game 27:216-233) were actually molting crippled
birds or yearlings in badly worn plumage summering in this year."

P. 739 of "Censuses of Black Brant at Yaquina Estuary, Lincoln County,
Oregon" writes: "In 1958 and perhaps also in 1957, a pair of Brant
raised a brood of young at Coos Bay (p. 36 in Einarsen, A. S. 1965.
Black Brant: sea goose of the Pacific Coast. Univ. of Washington
Press, Seattle [this is at QL696.A5 E5  at OSU Library in Corvallis
and Guin Library at the Hatfield Marine Science Center)
[http://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1957/8081/vol.%206%20pg.%20723-780.pdf
]
Unfortunately, my copy of the relevant page 36 in Einarsen is not
readily accessible.

Below is the  p. 739 write up in "Censuses of Black Brant at Yaquina
Estuary, Lincoln County, Oregon" about their rarity in June-October:

N. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: BRANT RARITY IN JUNE-EARLY OCTOBER

N-1. YAQUINA ESTUARY AND LINCOLN COUNTY

Our first report of Brant in summer in Lincoln County is of a female
that was collected on 28 July 1941 at Yaquina Bay by J. C. Braly
(Bayer 1989:38). The first published report of summering Brant is by
Smith (1961), who found a pair along the ocean beach at Lincoln City
on 10 August 1961.

During 1972-1992, Brant were recorded in Lincoln County during June in
12 years and during July-September in 13 years (Bayer 1995:425). In
1982, 1984, and 1988, when summer observation effort may have been
better than usual, Brant were recorded during each month of the year
(Bayer 1995:425). My impression was that Brant were more commonly
found along the open coast in summer than in Yaquina Estuary, where as
many as 13 were found in June 1983, but usually only 1-2 were
uncommonly counted during June-September (Table 9). There was no
evidence that Brant nested in Lincoln County.

In 1973, a pair of intergrade Black X Atlantic (B. b. hrota) Brant
were spotted at Yaquina Estuary in late July (Hoffman and Elliott
1974). Determining intergrades can be difficult because summering
Brant are commonly molting and look a lot different than wintering
birds.

N-2. ELSEWHERE IN OREGON

The earliest published summering records were by Giesler (1952:38,
55), who found as many as 13 Brant in Coos County during six days from
18 June through 2 July 1951. Batterson (1954, 1968) saw a flock of
five along the ocean beach in Clatsop County on 14 August 1954. In
1958 and perhaps also in 1957, a pair raised a brood of young at Coos
Bay (Einarsen 1965:36).

Although usually only 1-2 summering Brant are found, they may
sometimes be more numerous at Netarts Bay as about 200 Brant were
reported on 12 July 1975 (calculated from Munson 1976:156, 165) and in
late August 1977 (Contreras 1977:21). However, Munson (1976:163-165)
only found Brant during one of his 15 censuses from 28 June-17 August
1975 at Netarts Bay, so they were apparently not very common there
that summer.

=======================

Range Bayer, Newport, Oregon
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[obol] Fwd: Re: Lane Coast BRANT nesting...

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