Hi All,
I have studied Buff-breasted Sandpipers for some 24 years as a professional
biologists and I want to give everyone that is providing their own insights
into the habits and habitats used by this incredible species a big THANK
YOU. I have learned much from these and other writings provided by people
who are passionate about birding and in this case grasspipers.
I wanted to also let all of you know that we are attempting to get funds to
study this species in more detail. Such work likely would not take place
until next April/May as it depends on funding. Part of this work is to
fund the purchase of GPS tags that we will place on Buff-breasted
Sandpipers to track precisely the timing and location of their migrations
between the Arctic and southern South America. As we do this, we hope to
work with all interested parties in Texas and other parts of their
migration range to survey the birds so that we can estimate the population
size of the species. The GPS tags will provide information on how fast the
birds travel through a given area and thus allow us to correct counts of
birds (i.e., are the birds observed at a given sod farm the same birds we
saw yesterday or is this a new group of birds). Obtaining a reliable
population estimate is important since it is one of the major criteria used
when determining the conservation status of a species. We currently
estimate there are about 56,000 of these birds, but our confidence interval
is between 35,000 and 78,000. This estimate was from work in the Rainwater
Basin in Nebraska, which is also an important stopover site for this
species.
In regards to the few questions recently raised about this species, I offer
the following insights.
Question 1. There are already fairly large numbers of BBSA in Matagorda
County at this early date; 207 birds on this morning. (eBird is definitely
not very happy with me.). And there is a good showing in Victoria County
today as well. Is this normal to have so many birds this early? Do we
know? Did the BBSA have a poor breeding season so more birds are returning
earlier than usual?
**** Alaska had an extremely early breeding season this year and we
estimate about 25% of the Buff-breasts breed in Alaska. This might at
least partially explain the pattern. As Bob indicates, it could also be
explained by poor breeding patterns that resulted in early migration.
Males at a minimum should return earlier as they only display until
mid-June before departing. I am not sure if the males stage somewhere in
northern Canada though.
2. All of the BBSA that we found today were on sod farms. Do they really
prefer this habitat, at least in the fall, to other available habitats?
Or, are they just easier to see/find on the sod?
***** This species tends to prefer short grass, moist, somewhat irregular
pastures/sod farms during migration AND wintering. Much of what was
described by Rex Stanford is spot on and has been my observations in other
migration and wintering sites. However, documenting in a statistical way
that they do indeed prefer sod farms over other areas has not been done
well, and it requires searching areas that people generally do not think
are suitable. Should we obtain funding, we will be trying to establish a
more systematic way to survey the birds that will ensure our thoughts on
what is suitable habitat are reliable.
3. Not all sod farms are created equal. The birds were on some fields but
totally absent from others. What is the difference? Obviously food and
safety, but why, how? Or is it really just all about the food since the
field with the most birds was also the only one with a Peregrine?
***** My first experience with statements like this comes from the
Rainwater Basin, Nebraska, where a long-term farmer, and strong birder,
named Mr. Lee Morris, expressed this to me back in the early 2000s. He was
instrumental in pointing out the importance of the Rainwater Basin to
grasspipers, and susbsequently, Andy Bishop, Joel Jorgensen, and others
helped make this a Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network site in
subsequent years. In fact it was the first "landscape of Hemispheric
Importance" site designated due to the fact it had a multitude of
landowners spread over a 1.5 million hectare area (see
http://www.whsrn.org/site-profile/rainwater-basin). The area in Texas
where you are seeing the grasspipers seems like another area that could be
designated in this way.
***** Mr. Morris also noticed that birds used particular fields more than
others. Indeed, some fields always had BBSA present each year. However,
he also noticed that the practice of no-till agriculture may have been
reducing the value of these fields (mostly corn and soybean fields in this
case) since it resulted in fields being tilled later in the spring when
BBSA were less likely to be present. The prevailing thought is that many
of these historically used fields were near historic wetlands that have
been tilled under and that these wetland areas were historically kept in
short grass by bison that went to the wetlands to drink and then fed near
by.
Thanks again for showing an interest in the grasspipers and in
Buff-breasted Sandpipers in particular!
Cheers, Rick
*********************************************
Richard Lanctot, PhD
Region 7 Shorebird Coordinator
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
1011 East Tudor Road, MS 201
Anchorage, Alaska 99503
Ph: 907-786-3609
Fax: 907-786-3641
Cell: 907-440-9733
E-mail: richard_lanctot@xxxxxxx
**********************************************
"Hockey is Life - Keep your stick on the ice!" Unknown author
On Sun, Aug 2, 2015 at 4:34 AM, Brent Ortego <brentortego@xxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
FYI
Sent from my iPhone
Begin forwarded message:
*From:* "Bird.fried" <bird.fried@xxxxxxxxx>
*Date:* August 1, 2015 at 3:49:01 PM CDT
*To:* "texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
*Subject:* *[texbirds] Buff-breasted Sandpiper survey - Matagorda County*
*Reply-To:* bird.fried@xxxxxxxxx
After finding 115 Buff-breasted Sandpipers at the Saha Sod Farm yesterday
afternoon, I decided to do a more thorough survey of the Matagorda County
sod farms. So, after we finished at the Formosa Tejano Wetland this
morning, Brian Berry and I hit 6 sod farms with the following results.
1.). CR 453 = Francintas Rd sod farm (Jackson County): 31 Buff-breasted
Sandpipers
2.). CR 436 = Morris Rd sod farm (Matagorda County): 47 Buff-breasted
Sandpipers / 2 Pectoral Sandpipers / 1 Upland Sandpiper .... all birds in
the same frame at one point.
3.) Zemanek Rd sod farm ( Matagorda County): 6 Upland
Sandpipers
4.) CR 454 = Graff Rd (Matagorda County): 0
grasspipers
5.) Saha Sod Farm on Bieri Rd (Matagorda County). 114
Buff-breasted Sandpipers / 2 Pectoral Sandpipers / 5 Upland Sandpipers / 15
Western Sandpipers / 5 Least Sandpipers / 1 Peregrine Falcon (eating a peep)
6.) Hanson Sod Farm on S Citrus Rd (Matagorda County) 15 Buff-breasted
Sandpipers
I'll pin all of these locations in eBird for those interested in more
information.
In addition to the sod farms, we also stopped to 'glass' 3 disced fields
and drove by numerous stubble fields. We did see a group of 6 Upland
Sandpiper flying low over one of the stubble fields but all other
grasspipers that we found were on the sod. Note that due to other
commitments we were unable to check the Triangle Sod Farm in Matagorda
County or the 4-5 sod farms on Wharton County. These have been good for
grasspipers from time to time. Also note that this morning, Brent Ortego
had 17 BBSA and 11 UPSA at the sod farm near Docasta in Victoria County.
Some takeaways are that:
-> There are already fairly large numbers of BBSA in Matagorda County at
this early date; 207 birds on this morning. (eBird is definitely not very
happy with me.). And there is a good showing in Victoria County today as
well. Is this normal to have so many birds this early? Do we know? Did
the BBSA have a poor breeding season so more birds are returning earlier
than usual?
-> All of the BBSA that we found today were on sod farms. Do they really
prefer this habitat, at least in the fall, to other available habitats?
Or, are they just easier to see/find on the sod?
-> Not all sod farms are created equal. The birds were on some fields
but totally absent from others. What is the difference? Obviously food
and safety, but why, how? Or is it really just all about the food since
the field with the most birds was also the only one with a Peregrine?
Lots of questions here. Regardless, it was a good morning with great
views of the grasspiper trifecta of Buff-breasted Sandpiper, Upland
Sandpiper and Pectoral Sandpiper.
Good birding,
Bob Friedrichs
Palacios
Sent from my iPad
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