West Nile Virus Continues Killing Bird Species Commonly Observed At White Memorial

West Nile Virus was first documented in Connecticut and North America in 1999.  The mosquito-borne disease has spread throughout the continent, meanwhile killing millions of birds as it spread.  American Crow, Common Raven, and Blue Jay were the first birds observed dying in Connecticut.  Fortunately, these populations were able to recover since then, but many other bird species have not faired as well, including Purple Finch and Tufted Titmouse.  A brief article that outlines the major findings of this paper can be found here.  

The original publication is an important examination of how emerging infectious diseases are impacting and will continue to impact many bird species.  This lesson is not a new one for us in Connecticut.  We've observed how White Nose Syndrome has severely decimated several bat species that were regarded to as common a decade ago.  We are learning about new pathogens that are spreading around the world and could have devistating impacts to very important species we conserve.    Our best course of action for the long-term conservation of our natural resources is to prevent the introduction of these pathogens and pests from entering the continent.  

Notable Wildlife Sightings at White Memorial, 10/24 & 25/2011

Rusty Blackbird photo from

www.borealbirds.org

Four-toed Salamander photo by Dave Rosgen

Eastern Red Bat photo from

www.lakecountyspecies.org

This past Monday and Tuesday, 10/24 and 25/2011, produced a fair number of notable wildlife sightings on White Memorial property. Tops among these were an Eastern Red Bat which I saw flying around Ongley Field between 6:00 and 6:10 p.m. on Monday. It then headed off to the south. This is a rather late date for this Connecticut species of special concern. The nearby Activity Field produced a Field Sparrow and a Purple Finch for notable birds earlier this day. On Tuesday, Nicole Morin and I visited the salamander cover boards along the Windmill Hill and Butternut Brook Trails for their final inspection of the year. One of the Windmill Hill boards yielded a Four-toed Salamander, which I think is only the second one of this species found under a board in this plot since we established it about 7 years ago. The rest of the boards in this plot produced a total of 11 Red-backed Salamanders on this visit. About half of these boards were awash in floodwaters a month ago. Interestingly, the cover boards at Butternut Brook, which were completely inundated last month, produced absolutely no salamanders on this visit. However, they did harbour at least 40 earthworms. The Windmill Hill boards had only about 15 earthworms under them. Farther along the Butternut Brook Trail we encountered a nice flock of 18 Rusty Blackbirds feeding under the shrubs in the swampy area. They are a regular, but uncommon fall migrant through this area.

The Bird Migration Continues at a Rapid Pace

Brown Thrasher photo by Paul Fusco

Purple Finch male photo by Bob Stanowski

Since my last postings about the northbound migration of wetland and other birds a slew of new migrants have arrived and passed through. Winds from the southwest this week have been very favorable for moving birds this way. Clear periods some nights have really helped, too. On those nights I heard multiple flight call notes coming from the sky when I was out. Migrant birds seen around White Memorial this week have spanned the taxonomic gamut from loons to finches. Bantam Lake has produced a Red-throated Loon and Long-tailed Duck. Single American Bitterns have been seen at Pt. Folly and Mallard Marsh. Hawks passing over the Property included a Merlin and 2 American Kestrels. Eastern Kingbirds have appeared at Mallard Marsh, Little Pond, and Butternut Brook. Great Crested Flycatchers have been seen at Pt. Folly and around the Museum Area. I saw a Cliff Swallow at Mallard Marsh on Monday, 4/25. A Brown Thrasher was a really nice find along the Little Pond Trail on Friday, 4/22. Warbler numbers and diversity have increased daily, with Yellow-rumped being by far and away the most abundant. We've also seen a lot of Pine, Palm, and Black-and-White Warblers. Yellow Warblers have been seen in low numbers so far at Icehouse and Bantam R. Marshes and Pt. Folly. They will be abundant by next week. I had single Blue-winged Warblers near Chickadee Bridge and at Pine Island Marsh on Tuesday, 4/26. Jim Kandefer had a Blackburnian Warbler along the Little Pond Trail that same day. Northern Waterthrushes were seen along the Interpretive and Lake Trails and in the Pine Island Ditches. A Louisiana Waterthrush was seen along the Bantam River. Our first Common Yellowthroat of the year appeared at Little Pond yesterday, 4/27. White-throated Sparrows have increased in number daily, while the numbers of Dark-eyed Juncos have decreased as they moved north. Purple Finches have been much more common than average for over a week as they stop to bulk-up at bird feeders before continuing northward. This is just a short summary of the migrant birds that have been around White Memorial in the past week. I hope it helps the birders reading this blog to come out and see them for themsleves.