BLACKSTONE NATIONAL CORRIDOR WATERBIRD MONITORING FALL 2005

 

  1. I want to thank all the folks that were involved monitoring in this year’s project: SHEILA CARROLL, DAN BERARD, DAN BERARD JR., DEB BERARD, BRUCE DeGRAAF, PHIL GUERIN, KIM KASTLER, JOHN LILLER, FRANIC McMENEMY, KATHY MILLS, BILL RASKU, JOHN SHEA, BARBARA WALKER, MIKE WALKER, RICK WALKER, JOAN ZUMPFE
  2. DATES OF THE COUNT THIS YEAR: December  3&4 2005. This was the 5th year of doing an all Corridor count.
  3. WEATHER: Very cold (morning temps below freezing) and windy on Saturday. Snow showers on Sunday.
  4. WATER CONDITIONS: Large bodies, like reservoirs, were mostly open from north to south. In the northern parts of the Corridor (ex. Leicester), small ponds and marshes were mostly frozen. In the lower elevations of the Corridor to the south like Providence, there was very little ice In most locations.  Though this count was about one to two weeks later than previous counts, the number and variety of species was (on the whole) pretty good. SEE DISCUSSION BELOW.
  5. THIS YEAR’S COUNT: DISCUSSION:

 

    1. Numbers of waterbirds, though on the low side, were still not the lowest counted for most species. Many species in fact had higher than average counts. This included Ring-necked Duck and Common Merganser. The latter species had the highest overall count tallied so far, though for some odd reason seemed almost a “no show” in towns in southern Worcester County, Cumberland RI (where they should have been very common at this time) as well as East Providence. Had they just not migrated south yet? The breakdown of which species had higher than average numbers and which species had low numbers was not unexpected. “Dabbler” numbers (species that use edge habitat edge habitat which is the first place to freeze), tended to be on the lower than average side. But many migrant “diving” ducks numbers were higher than average. These species tend to be later migrants than dabblers. Numbers of Great Blue Herons, also dependent on edge habitat to be ice-free, were also on the low side. But just when you think that we can understand the occurrence of all species simply based how late in the year it was, please note that we had a high count of OSPREYS, a species certainly associated with the earlier parts of the fall migration year. This is in line with an ever-increasing number of sightings of this species in Southern New England progressively later and later in the fall and early winter season.

 

    1. GADWALL numbers, or rather a complete lack of Gadwalls this year, present a real problem for understanding the movements of waterfowl in the Corrdior. If you look at past years data and compare it with this year’s total absence of Gadwalls, you can understand why I am a bit concerned. This is a species that COMMONLY overwinters in the southern parts of the Corridor (Pawtucket, East Providence and Providence) and should have been found in numbers the later in the season we counted. Yet they were completely absent even from their strongholds in the Lonsdale marshes and the Ten Mile River (Pawtucket Country Club pond). Have they yet to move south? I doubt that. Perhaps there has been a slight shift in migratory patterns that sometimes occurs with species like RUDDY DUCKS. Monitors should closely watch reports of GADWALLS throughout southern New England this year and see if there are any unusually high or low counts of this important species. Possibly similar to this is a decline in numbers of AMERICAN WIGEON. Decades ago numbers of this species in late fall migration at Turner Reservoir, East Providence (“in” the Corridor) would sometimes include single day counts of hundreds. There has been a steady decline of this species there for some time now. Within the last several years of monitoring of the Corridor I have noticed a decline in Wigeon in the remaining favored areas in the Corridor like Bold Point and Turner Reservoir. To be sure, good numbers are still to be found just south of the Corridor in Watchemoket Cove (East Providence), but the regional distribution of this species in late fall and winter needs to be closely watched.

 

    1. MALLARD numbers were also surprisingly on the low side. Typically this is one of those species that just seems to move south in the Corridor as northern ponds freeze and mid-winter counts along the Seekonk River are often very high. This year numbers were down in many areas. Part of the reason for this, and possibly the low counts of some other dabblers, MAY be the unusually high water levels at many spots. But it takes a lot of environmental degradation for Mallards to move on, so there must be other  reasons why our Corridor-wide totals of Mallards are so low.

 

    1. OTHER CHANGES. Certainly the rapid and unabated development around the Corridor is affecting the occurrence of some species, though exactly how is complex. Increased recreational use of waterways, the inevitable pollution that occurs as more and more people build close to water’s edge and even an increase in hunting may all contribute to a decline in waterfowl numbers. As to hunting. I have noticed in my sections hunters being present now where in years past I had never seen them before. This includes now commonly finding hunters on the critical habitat of the Seekonk River. Hunting IS legal there, but only in a small stretch between the Ten Mile River outflow and the Henderson Bridge. In the last two years I have seen hunters in boats in areas where they are clearly not supposed to be, like right off Swan Point Cemetery. When I have notified people “in charge” about this (Swan Point Cemetery security, East Providence police) there seemed to be little concern or a general feeling that they, the people in charge, did not know the regulations so “what can they do?”. As the area of the Blackstone Corridor gets more and more developed, there will be increased pressure for more and more recreational uses (passive and non-passive, like hunting) of these same waterways that also host an important variety and number of migratory waterbird species and this needs to be taken into account when developing a recreation policy for certain critical ponds.

 

 

    1. UPTON, MENDON, HOPEDALE AND DOUGLAS, UXBRIDGE, NORTHBRIDGE. As a geographical unit, the towns of Upton, Mendon and Hopedale seem to be anathema to waterbirds. Though pond size and the number of ponds is certainly a factor, in these towns even Mallards and Canada Geese seem to give these ponds a wide berth. I find this fascinating. On first glance, these three towns are good examples of what I would call “unbridled development” and sprawl and this certainly is tempting to posit as a reason for the paltry numbers of waterbirds found in these towns. Though that maybe part of the answer, consider this: the two biggest CITIES in the Corridor, Worcester and Providence, have consistently hosted some of the greatest variety and numbers of waterbirds.  So, it is not simply the amount of Homo sapiens in any given area. I suspect it is the size and composition of the ponds and how they are used. If there are nooks and crannies with emergent vegetation that waterbirds can retreat to on a body of water, areas on a pond where they can get sufficiently far away from people, they will continue to use that pond. A great example of such a pond is tiny  SALISBURY POND in Worcester. This Park pond has a marshy back edge along which ducks can get away from people or at least seem to be in a more wild location. When you lose these sub-habitats in a pond or lake, my guess is that you will lose the ducks. Is this what is happening in Mendon, Upton, Hopedale? Or is it water quality issues? Time and further research will tell. Interestingly, waterbird numbers from NORTHBRIDGE, UXBRIDGE, AND DOUGLAS were also disappointing this year, though typically at least some of the ponds in each of those towns are productive. For instance, Rasku and Mills noted an almost complete lack of Common Mergansers in Douglas and Uxbridge, even though (as this survey shows) they were found to the north (look at the counts from Worcester and Millbury) as well as south of these areas. Carroll and Lynch also noted an almost lack of Common Mergansers from Cumberland, where they should have been extremely common at this time, as well as East Providence and Providence, where numbers of this species overwinter. OVERALL numbers of Common Mergs in the Corridor were excellent, a new record high, but they were just not where they had been in years past.

 

    1. SURPRISES. The Walkers noted that what used to be a productive pond in Riverdale (actually a swelling of the Blackstone River up-river from a dam) now has dramatically changed. “There is no longer a pond since the dam was opened during the recent rains to alleviate flooding. Looks like they are not going to close it again. The Blackstone River has scoured out a channel thru the mud flats left over after the water receded. Everywhere on the river the water was high and fast moving. Lots of water, no ducks.” Liller and Kastler had (3) RIVER OTTERS in Burrillville. The Berards noted that folks are still commonly feeding ducks in the RI section. Carroll and Lynch had a sighting of Santa and Mrs. Claus driving through Cumberland when the passed the happy couple in a car in full regalia obviously heading to some gig.

 

    1. ATTACHED: X-cel sheets for Worcester County and Rhode Island town-by-town totals, an X-cel sheet for year totals by state for all five years that includes state and Corridor-wide average counts.

 

Thanks to all again,

 

Mark Lynch

Moa.lynch@verizon.net