Post by Woody Williams on Jun 20, 2009 20:03:57 GMT -5
I got this from a friend in Alberta…
Bad year for goose hunting?
By: Robert Alison
13/06/2009
Winter grips 90 per cent of north, migratory birds can't breed
It is the winter that refuses to go away in northern Manitoba and most
of the eastern Arctic.
Prolonged cold snowy conditions in the Hudson Bay area are expected to
obliterate the breeding season for migratory birds and most other
species of wildlife this year.
According to Environment Canada, the spring of 2009 is record-late in
the eastern Arctic with virtually 100 per cent snow cover from James Bay
north as of June 11.
May temperatures in northern Manitoba were almost four degrees C below
the long-term average of -0.7, and in early June, temperatures averaged
three degrees below normal.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration images confirm snow and
ice blanket all of northern Manitoba, part of northern Ontario and
almost all of the eastern Arctic as of June 12. U.S. arieal flight
surveys confirm the eastern Arctic has no sign of spring so far.
"I have lived in Churchill since the 1950s, and this the latest spring I
have ever seen here," said local resident Pat Penwarden. "The spring of
1962 was almost this bad."
Six-foot snowdrifts blocked Churchill-area roads. A thick blanket of
snow, in places three- and four-feet deep, coated 90 per cent of the
local taiga in northern Manitoba. Ecotourists, who normally flock to
northern Manitoba every June to see birds and other wildlife, cancelled
their plans this June "in droves," according to local ecotourist
specialists. Snowy conditions are largely to blame.
"It is like a winter landscape," said Ruth Baker, a Michigan tourist who
spent June 9 to 12 at Churchill. "I couldn't believe the snowdrifts,
like mountains of snow".
Researchers confirm that the lateness of the spring of 2009 dooms local
birds to a virtually complete reproductive failure.
According to Robert Jefferies, professor emeritus of botany at the
University of Toronto, the last time there was a late spring in northern
Manitoba, in 1983, there was a total reproductive "bust" in lesser snow
geese. Most species of birds did not nest at all.
Aerial inventories of fall migrant geese from the eastern Arctic that
year confirmed 0.005 per cent of the fall population comprised juvenile
birds, compared to the normal figure of over 50 per cent.
According to Cornell University researchers, currently at Churchill,
shorebird nesting is already three-weeks late, and has yet to start.
The first Canada goose nests were initiated on June 7, more than one
month later than normal, and probably not early enough to allow goslings
to mature before the fall migration flight. Canada geese are the first
birds to nest in northern Manitoba. Many northern birds require more
than 100 days to nest, incubate young and rear offspring to a condition
suitable for fall migration.
According to Robert Rockwell of The City University of New York, who
studies geese in northern Manitoba, if the geese have not begun
incubating clutches of eggs before June 11, there is almost no chance
that their offspring will be strong enough to endure the long southbound
fall flight.
In 1983, that was the case, and 1983 was not nearly as late as 2009.
Research by Hugh Boyd, scientist emeritus at the Canadian Wildlife
Service, states late Arctic springs reduce northern waterfowl production
by up to 90 per cent, with very late springs having a devastating
impact.
According to Vern Thomas, a University of Guelph researcher, record-late
springs produce "reproductive failures" in northern geese.
"These late springs generate reproductive busts," confirmed Joe Jehl,
who has studied birds in northern Manitoba since the late 1960s and
recently retired from the Smithsonian Institution.
Studies at Churchill show that in late springs, female birds delay
nesting, and rather than starve for lack of food, they re-absorb
already-formed eggs to benefit from their nutritional content.
Nesting often does not occur under those conditions. In 2004, a late
Bad year for goose hunting?
By: Robert Alison
13/06/2009
Winter grips 90 per cent of north, migratory birds can't breed
It is the winter that refuses to go away in northern Manitoba and most
of the eastern Arctic.
Prolonged cold snowy conditions in the Hudson Bay area are expected to
obliterate the breeding season for migratory birds and most other
species of wildlife this year.
According to Environment Canada, the spring of 2009 is record-late in
the eastern Arctic with virtually 100 per cent snow cover from James Bay
north as of June 11.
May temperatures in northern Manitoba were almost four degrees C below
the long-term average of -0.7, and in early June, temperatures averaged
three degrees below normal.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration images confirm snow and
ice blanket all of northern Manitoba, part of northern Ontario and
almost all of the eastern Arctic as of June 12. U.S. arieal flight
surveys confirm the eastern Arctic has no sign of spring so far.
"I have lived in Churchill since the 1950s, and this the latest spring I
have ever seen here," said local resident Pat Penwarden. "The spring of
1962 was almost this bad."
Six-foot snowdrifts blocked Churchill-area roads. A thick blanket of
snow, in places three- and four-feet deep, coated 90 per cent of the
local taiga in northern Manitoba. Ecotourists, who normally flock to
northern Manitoba every June to see birds and other wildlife, cancelled
their plans this June "in droves," according to local ecotourist
specialists. Snowy conditions are largely to blame.
"It is like a winter landscape," said Ruth Baker, a Michigan tourist who
spent June 9 to 12 at Churchill. "I couldn't believe the snowdrifts,
like mountains of snow".
Researchers confirm that the lateness of the spring of 2009 dooms local
birds to a virtually complete reproductive failure.
According to Robert Jefferies, professor emeritus of botany at the
University of Toronto, the last time there was a late spring in northern
Manitoba, in 1983, there was a total reproductive "bust" in lesser snow
geese. Most species of birds did not nest at all.
Aerial inventories of fall migrant geese from the eastern Arctic that
year confirmed 0.005 per cent of the fall population comprised juvenile
birds, compared to the normal figure of over 50 per cent.
According to Cornell University researchers, currently at Churchill,
shorebird nesting is already three-weeks late, and has yet to start.
The first Canada goose nests were initiated on June 7, more than one
month later than normal, and probably not early enough to allow goslings
to mature before the fall migration flight. Canada geese are the first
birds to nest in northern Manitoba. Many northern birds require more
than 100 days to nest, incubate young and rear offspring to a condition
suitable for fall migration.
According to Robert Rockwell of The City University of New York, who
studies geese in northern Manitoba, if the geese have not begun
incubating clutches of eggs before June 11, there is almost no chance
that their offspring will be strong enough to endure the long southbound
fall flight.
In 1983, that was the case, and 1983 was not nearly as late as 2009.
Research by Hugh Boyd, scientist emeritus at the Canadian Wildlife
Service, states late Arctic springs reduce northern waterfowl production
by up to 90 per cent, with very late springs having a devastating
impact.
According to Vern Thomas, a University of Guelph researcher, record-late
springs produce "reproductive failures" in northern geese.
"These late springs generate reproductive busts," confirmed Joe Jehl,
who has studied birds in northern Manitoba since the late 1960s and
recently retired from the Smithsonian Institution.
Studies at Churchill show that in late springs, female birds delay
nesting, and rather than starve for lack of food, they re-absorb
already-formed eggs to benefit from their nutritional content.
Nesting often does not occur under those conditions. In 2004, a late
I don't see it affecting us much here in Indiana though, our hunting will most likely be about normal.