2-3. 11- 15 August 2019. Part 3

Longridge Camp, James Bay

    Adult male godwit in flight

The second week at Longridge Camp was better than the first week for several reasons, one being I was physically adapting to the camps rigors, and second, because I was seeing more on the natural history front. I was gradually adapting to this new environment, and catching up to the others in the team.

    Track in sand of adult Gray Wolf

Aside from the abundant shorebirds, there were other things of interest. A Short-tailed Weasel occasionally appeared out of the pile of firewood in front of the cook house. An American Martin occasionally chivvied in the spruces near the outhouse. Doug once pointed out a Beluga whale shining white as it broke the surface of the Bay in the bright sunlight.

    Footprint of Hudsonian Godwit in mud    

Any spare moment, I went out to Tringa Creek to watch the godwits loafing and foraging in the stream. There were always 15-20 there, moving about and complaining vocally when I tried to get close to take photos…

    Our friendly little Black Bear watching us at the banding camp

More than one Black Bear considering the camp area part of its home range. There was a larger bear and a smaller bear. The latter (above) often was feeding happily on Gooseberries in the morning just behind the banding station. It was curious about us but never approached too closely… One afternoon, upon returning to the camp, I found this little guy standing on the porch of the ladies’ cabin peering in the window of the front door. It scampered off when I heard me approaching.

    Doug McRae surveying shorebirds in West Bay

I joined Doug McRae on several shorebird walking surveys over the two-week period. Doug taught me so much on these excursions. I happily wrote down the shorebird counts and soaked up his wisdom with regard to all things related to birds. We had a lot to talk about, because Doug led several birding tours to New Guinea for the Field Guides company. We were thus mutual friends with field ornithologist Bret Whitney (who I had happily seen in Austin in April on part one of my travels).

    A flock of White-rumped Sandpipers in flight

If we saw a big flock of flying shorebirds it was typically composed of White-rumped Sandpipers, less commonly Semipalmated Sandpipers or Red Knots. The season was still young, and more flocks of southbound birds were expected in weeks to come.

    Wilson’s Snipe in the hand

It was also a treat spending time at the banding station with Ross and Angelika. Although the station was targeting a selection of shorebirds to tag (Lesser Yellowlegs, White-rumps, Semipalmateds, etc) as part of major scientific efforts, it also had a lot of “by-catch.” We caught quite a few Wilson’s Snipes, which are gorgeous in the hand. The snipes came into the wrack in small flocks all morning long. It was not hard to run up and flush them into the nets…

    Whimbrel flying over the flats

We also caught hundreds (literally) of Savannah Sparrows, the most common species of bird in the area. The grasslands were filled with these little birds, which flushed in numbers all hours of the day. Of course, we got a bit tired of the ever-present SAVS (the banding code for this sparrow), and were always on the lookout for Clay-colored, Nelson’s, and Le Conte’s Sparrow, which were local breeders.

    Aerial vista of the shore of James Bay—this is where we surveyed

We also caught a number of Northern Waterthrushes and Tennessee Warblers, which came out to the edge of the grasslands to forage, a bit of a surprise. They were happily moving out of the conifers in search of the abundant insect life that lived in the wrack. These were the two common breeding warblers.

    Aerial shorebirds with conifers in background

Ross was a relentless observer of passing birds while he stood at the banding station on the height of the beach ridge above the nets (about 2 meters higher than the surrounding landscape). Ross’s sharp eye never missed a thing. One day a Little Gull, another day a Peregrine or a Merlin, tearing by in search of a negligent shorebird. Ross was always the one to point out the presence of a bear across the expanse of grass.

    Godwits loafing in flats (with Black-bellied Plover in far right)

We also spent time looking for and identifying butterflies and dragonflies. These were added to the daily list of species we recorded each evening in the master report to go into the “permanent record.” Banded Admiral (now White Admiral in some books), meadowhawks, and darners of some sort… My team members were all-around naturalists and that made it fun. I could bring in a plant and they would all be interested in identifying it. Gray Carlin was particular good at plant ID.

    Storm approaching Fantasy Island on Longridge Point

The weather along James Bay is nothing if not unpredictable. Sunny then rainy. Warm then cold. Weather was always on the march across the Bay.

    Red-winged Blackbird female

Rusty Blackbirds and Red-winged Blackbirds were flocking up and passing through while I was there. Naturally, the Rusties were in smaller numbers. We caught both species in the nets. In the hand, the female Red-wings are quite elegant, but so were the Rusties…

    Helicopter passing overhead in the annual aerial shorebird survey

On the 12^th of August our sector was the focus of the annual aerial shorebird survey carried out by the Canadian Wildlife Service team. On this day, our little team was deployed at key points, and we would provide “before and after” counts as the helicopter zoomed overhead—data that could then be compared with what the aerial team counted from the heli. It was exciting to wait for the heli to arrive from the south and sweep over our domain.

    Aerial view of the boreal spruce forest that dominates in upland patches

The two week passed quickly, and suddenly it was time to prepare for departure… As is common, these things don’t always go as planned. Our team found itself packing, waiting, then unpacking, when the helicopter failed to materialize on the first day. Time moves slowly when waiting for a helicopter (because one has to be ready to board quickly and go). It’s all part of the experience.

    View from the Helicopter on ride back to Civilization (GrayCarlin in shotgun seat)

The ride back in the morning took us to the Piskwamish Camp, just south of the Longridge Camp, where a counterpart shorebird group was doing its work. We had been “competing” with this group in a friendly way, signaling to each other our shorebird counts and best other birds seen.

    Little Moosonee Airport

The helicopter zoomed south over the mix of bog and spruce woods and suddenly we were back at Moosonee, which is a little enclave surrounded by wilderness. This vista makes us appreciate how isolated we were from the world. Over the two weeks at Longridge we were without direct communication with the world’s media—no newspaper, radio, or TV. Just a portable messaging service that allowed us to send and receive 160-character-long messages. It was splendid isolation. We had our own little world to ourselves, and were glad of it. Next step--a northern transect eastward across the province of Quebec to the tiny village of Tadoussac, on the north shore of the mighty St. Lawrence...

    Godwits alighting on mudflat