We received interesting recent information from Ken Abraham of the
Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (OMNR) and Ken Ross of the
Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS) who spent four days in late July and
early August flying aerial surveys primarily to inventory flocks of
molting scoters offshore in James Bay. They also recorded shorebirds
as reported below.

Marbled Godwit: On the 30 July 2006, Ken Ross (CWS) and Ken Abraham
(OMNR) observed a flock of 400 to 500 Marbled Godwits at the
southeast corner of Akimisiki Island (Nunavut Territory) in James
Bay. This is many more than Ken Abraham has seen before at one spot.
His previous high count for one location was about 50 birds.
Surveying from a fixed wing aircraft, they also observed many small
groups of Marbled Godwits in twos and threes (some larger groups)
along Ontario's south and west coasts of James Bay north to Akimiski
Island. Marbled Godwits in James Bay are part of a small isolated and
poorly studied breeding population. Migration corridors and wintering
areas of Marbled Godwits from James Bay are unknown. Presumably most
Marbled Godwits seen in southern Ontario, southern Quebec, the
Maritime Provinces, the New England States and New York State
originate from James Bay. The James Bay population may winter along
the southeastern Atlantic Coast, but some may go to the Gulf of
Mexico and farther south. To what extent the Prairie and James Bay
populations mix in winter is unknown.

Red Knot: Also on the 30 July 2006, Ken Abraham and Ken Ross saw a
very large flock of Red Knots (several 1000) on the Gullery Islands
near Akimiski Island. This is a good portion of the current eastern population.

Other Shorebirds: They saw some quite large flocks of peeps and small
sandpipers (probably mainly Semipalmated Sandpipers, White-rumped and
Dunlin) on the south and west coast of James Bay and south shore of
Akimiski Island. These reports are qualified by variance in effort
and viewing conditions. Not all of the coast was covered at
appropriate tidal conditions or in good light. It also was not
possible to identify many shorebird flocks to species because
observations were made from a fixed wing aircraft.

Facts about James Bay and Akimiski Island: James Bay is the
southeasterly extension of Hudson Bay. Its funnel shape causes
southbound shorebirds from the Arctic to concentrate in suitable
coastal habitats. Thousands of shorebirds stage (stopover) and fatten
on the broad tidal mudflats and coastal marshes before departing
southeast (most species) to the Atlantic Coast of the United States.
Some species such as Hudsonian Godwits fly nonstop to South America.
Akimiski Island is the largest Island in James Bay. It has an area of
3001 sq km making it the 29th largest island in Canada. At 53 degrees
north latitude, Akimiski Island lies slightly south of the latitude
of Edmonton, Alberta, indicating just how far south James Bay extends
into central Canada.

Jurisdiction over James Bay: The provincial boundaries of Ontario and
Quebec extend only to the shoreline of James Bay. The islands in
James Bay such as Akimiski are part of Nunavut, a territory of
Canada. However, the waters and seabed of James Bay are not part of
Nunavut or the adjacent provinces of Ontario and Quebec. These waters
and seabed are the jurisdiction of the Government of Canada.

Happy shorebirding,

Jean Iron and Ron Pittaway
Toronto and Minden, Ontario
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