Report Shows Extent of Mercury Pollution More Widespread: Wildlife Ranging from Mountain Songbirds to Marine Mammals at Risk

Mercury pollution is making its way into nearly every habitat in the U.S., exposing countless species of wildlife to potentially harmful levels of mercury, a new report from the National Wildlife Federation shows.

“From songbirds to alligators, turtles to bats, eagles to otters, mercury is accumulating in nearly every corner of the food chain,” says Catherine Bowes, Northeast Program Manager for the National Wildlife Federation and principal author of the report. “This report paints a compelling picture of mercury contamination in the U.S., and many more species are at risk than we previously thought. Fish, long thought to be the key species affected by mercury, are just the tip of the iceberg.”

The National Wildlife Federation report, Poisoning Wildlife: The Reality of Mercury Pollution, is a compilation of over 65 published studies finding elevated levels of mercury in a wide range of wildlife species. The report highlights mercury levels in fish, mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians living in freshwater, marine, and forest habitats from across the country.

The accumulation of mercury in fish has been well-understood for years, leading 46 states in the U.S. to issue consumption advisories warning people to limit or avoid eating certain species of fish. However, scientists have recently discovered that mercury accumulates in forest soils, indicating that wildlife that live and feed outside aquatic habitats are also at risk of exposure to mercury.

“Scientific understanding of the extent of mercury contamination in wildlife has expanded significantly in recent years,” says Dr. David Evers of the Biodiversity Research Institute, wildlife toxicologist and leading researcher in this field. “We are finding mercury accumulation in far more species, and at much higher levels, than we previously thought was occurring. This poses a very real threat to the health of many wildlife populations, some of which are highly endangered.”

Mercury accumulation in fish is not only a concern for the health of people who eat them, it also poses a threat to the fish themselves. Poisoning Wildlife pulls together the major findings from over 20 of the 65 published studies that attribute adverse health impacts on fish, birds, and mammals with elevated mercury levels in those species. Fish with high mercury levels have difficulty schooling and spawning, birds lay fewer eggs and have trouble caring for their chicks, and mammals have impaired motor skills that affect their ability to hunt and find food.

Several states have already taken action to reduce mercury pollution from major sources like waste incinerators, chlorine manufacturers, power plants, and consumer products, and the results are very promising. In places where mercury emissions have been cut, such as Florida, Wisconsin, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts, mercury levels in fish and wildlife have been reduced in a matter of years, not decades, as scientists have previously thought.

“Now that we have hard evidence that mercury is affecting more species than originally thought, anything short of phasing out this toxic metal is inadequate,” says Bowes. “The discovery of mercury in so many different species is a wake-up call. We need to ensure that all is being done to help wildlife cope with the stresses of a changing climate. Eliminating known threats like mercury is a critical place to start.”

The scientific studies compiled in the report show mercury in a wide variety of species:

• Freshwater Fish: Brook Trout, Walleye, Yellow Perch, Rainbow Trout, Northern Perch, Largemouth Bass
  
• Birds in Aquatic Habitats: Bald Eagle, Great Egret, Wood Stork, Northern Shoveler, Common Loon, Red-winged Blackbird, White Ibis, Common Tern, Belted Kingfisher
  
• Birds in Forest Habitats: Wood Thrush, Red-eyed Vireo, Louisiana Waterthrush, Bicknell’s Thrush, Carolina Wren, Prothonotary Warbler
  
• Mammals: Florida Panther, Indiana Bat, Mink, River Otter, Raccoon
  
• Reptiles, Amphibians, Invertebrates: Two-lined Salamander, Snapping Turtle, Crayfish, American Alligator, Bullfrog
  
• Marine Life: Tiger Shark, Sperm Whale, Striped Bass, Loggerhead Sea Turtle, Narwhal, Polar Bear, Beluga Whale, Ringed Seal

Read Poisoning Wildlife: The Reality of Mercury Pollution

More information on mercury and montane songbirds from VINS.

Vermont Loons Faring Better

WATERBURY — It's a wildlife restoration success story few biologists envisioned occurring so quickly. The common loon, placed on Vermont's state Threatened and Endangered Species List in 1987, has responded well to restoration efforts by wildlife scientists with the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department and Vermont Institute of Natural Science. Loon numbers increased to a level that allowed their removal from the Threatened and Endangered Species List in 2005.

The summer of 2006, however, had its ups and downs for Vermont's common loons.

Read the rest of the story at the Rutland Herald....

Read more about the Vermont Loon Recover Project.

Weekly Birds Notes 22 September 2006

Most birders consider autumn birding to be one of the more difficult times for identifying birds, especially warblers, like the Blackpoll Warbler highlighted last week. However, it can also be a great time to see some of the more elusive boreal breeders as they pass through on migration. One such elusive bird is the Philadelphia Vireo.

Philadelphia Vireos are the most northerly breeding species of vireo with approximately 86% of the world population breeding in Canada's boreal forest. They migrate across eastern and central United States to their wintering grounds in Central America. They inhabit young deciduous woods year-round, gleaning insects from plants and occasionally supplementing their diet with fruit.

A few Philadelphia Vireos breed in Vermont, but they are greatly outnumbered by the similar sounding Red-eyed Vireo. Both species make a series of slurred notes sometimes rendered as “where are you?”, “here I am, over here”. In fact, many birders cannot distinguish between Philadelphia and Red-eyed Vireos by sound alone. We often have to follow every Philadelphia/Red-eyed-type song until we catch a glimpse of the bird singing.

In the fall, birds are less vocal so birders have to visually identify most birds. Once we find a migrant flock we start looking for rarer species like Philadelphia Vireo. At this time of year, birders also have to rule out Warbling Vireos when trying to identify a Philadelphia. Warbling Vireos have a very similar plumage, but lack the yellow wash on the breast and have a less distinct facial pattern (paler eyeline and dull white eyebrow). Add into the mix the fact that the yellow wash on Philadelphia Vireos varies in intensity, and that some Warbling Vireos have a yellow wash on the flanks, and you can see why fall birding can be challenging and thrilling at the same time.

Philadelphia Vireos were observed across the state this week, as well as Red-eyed, Blue-headed, and Yellow-throated vireos. Fall warblers continue to delight birders with highlights including Bay-breasted Warbler in South Burlington on the 16^th, Palm Warbler in Hartland on the 20th, and Pine Warbler in South Burlington also on Wed.

Birdwatchers on Lake Champlain continue to report rare migrants, including a jaeger chasing a Double-crested Cormorant on the 15^th. Horned Grebes also showed up at Charlotte Town Beach this week, presumably settling in for the winter.

Hawkwatchers on Putney Mountain, Mount Philo, and elsewhere are enjoying the peak of Broad-winged Hawk migration. Putney Mountain has recorded over 1500 Broad-winged Hawks this fall, over 50 migrating Osprey, and nearly 20 Bald Eagles.

You can learn about all bird sightings the past week and more on Vermont eBird.

Julie Hart, Conservation Biologist

Reign of monarchs: The butterfly flies back to Vermont in big numbers this year

It's a great year for monarch butterflies in Vermont. The state has seen an abundance of the orange-and-black winged fliers, and their yellow, white and black striped caterpillars this summer.

Kent McFarland, a biologist with the Vermont Institute of Natural Science and the director of the Vermont Butterfly Survey, says he hasn't seen this many monarchs in Vermont since 1997.

Read more at Times Argus....

Vermont Bird Notes 9/15/2006

One of the most spectacular migratory flights in the avian world is undertaken by a bird that few Vermonters ever see. The blackpoll warbler is a small, nondescript songbird that occupies an extensive breeding range across the northern coniferous forests of Canada and Alaska. In Vermont, however, and elsewhere in the Northeast, blackpolls nest only on mountaintops, where the high-pitched song of males can be easily missed among the dense fir and spruce trees. In autumn, the male breeding plumage with its black cap, white cheek, black “mustache” stripe, and lightly streaked white underparts is exchanged for a more nondescript greenish-gray plumage, which resembles that of females. This is truly one of the classic “confusing fall warblers” in terms of identification.

What sets the blackpoll warbler apart from any other North American songbird is its remarkable southward migration. Each September birds from across the breeding range move southeastward and congregate in coastal areas of the Maritime Provinces and New England. Here they feed heavily on insects, and occasionally fruit, some individuals nearly doubling their body weight in a sheath of fat. Following passage of a cold front, and taking advantage of northerly tailwinds, blackpoll warblers strike out on a nonstop, transoceanic flight over the Atlantic. This migration, without rest or refueling, carries the birds as far as 2,000 miles to their wintering quarters in northern South America. Some blackpolls continue another 1,500 miles south to Bolivia or Brazil!

The return trip in spring is less spectacular, but still daunting, as blackpolls traverse the interiors of Central and South America. Amazingly, the annual circuit for a bird breeding in Alaska may cover 11-12,000 miles, earning blackpoll warblers top bragging rights among migratory songbirds.

Three blackpolls seen in Quechee on September 11 were vanguards of this marathon transcontinental flight. Foremost among other avian highlights during the past week was the vagrant northern wheatear that has delighted many birders on the Colchester Causeway. The bird was present through at least September 10. Southbound migration on Lake Champlain is starting to pick up, as evidenced by sightings of parasitic and pomarine jaegers from the Charlotte Town Beach, as well as several Caspian terns and 2 black terns. A red-necked grebe was observed off the Colchester Causeway.

Among other songbirds, Philadelphia vireos, always an unusual find in Vermont, were reported from five locations. The fall’s first American pipits were observed from the Colchester Causeway. Migrant warblers continued to move through in good numbers. In addition to the 3 blackpoll warblers in Quechee, the following were reported: a single Tennessee warbler in So. Starksboro, a Cape May warbler at Red Rocks Park in So. Burlington (a great birding spot), a palm warbler also in So. Burlington, bay-breasted warblers in East Dorset and Burlington’s Centennial Woods, and Wilson’s warblers from five locations statewide.

Two fall migrants from the northern boreal forests were reported earlier than usual: a Lincoln’s sparrow in So. Duxbury on September 10 and a rusty blackbird at the Mississquoi National Wildlife Refuge in Swanton on the 9^th.

Chris Rimmer

Weekly Bird Notes 9/8/2006

Birdwatchers from across Vermont have been flocking to Colchester this week to see a bird that birders usually travel to the Arctic barrens to add to their life list. A Northern Wheatear was first sighted on Saturday, September 2 on the Colchester Causeway. It was recognized by its bobbing behavior, white rump, and inverted black 'T' on the tail.

Wheatears are a member of the thrush family and are distinguished from other birds breeding in North America as the only bird to winter in Africa. Two of the four races of the species occur in North America, one breeds in northeastern Canada and another breeds in Alaska and northwestern Canada. The northwestern population travels some 21,000 km each way between their breeding and wintering grounds.

Wheatears breed in rocky tundra and on barren hilltops. The female chooses the nest site and builds a cup nest under rocks, in a burrow, or in rock crevices. She lays 5-8 eggs, and, after 12-14 days of incubation, both parents feed the chicks a variety of ground insects, spiders, small mollusks, and other invertebrates. In summer and fall, the birds supplement their diet with berries.

The young quickly develop their independence after leaving the nest by establishing a mobile territory around them. They continue to maintain a high level of territoriality as adults year-round. However, as many birdwatchers have noted, they are not afraid of people--this individual appears to simply hop out of the way of passing recreationists!

This is only the 11th time that a wheatear has been documented in Vermont, with the first sighting in the fall of 1980. All records have been from the Champlain Valley. Most sightings have occurred from mid-September to late October, making this the earliest fall record for the state.

Other migrants from the far north are currently moving south through Vermont. Shorebirds are being seen in increasing numbers and diversity, including Semipalmated Plover, Killdeer, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Solitary Sandpiper, Whimbrel, Pectoral Ssandpiper, Semipalmated Sandpiper, and Least Sandpiper.

The week's unsettled weather also made for some good warbler fall-outs. Highlights include Tennessee Warbler in South Burlington on September 1 and in Norwich on September 2. Wilson's and Golden-winged Warbler were observed in Norwich on the 3rd. A second Wilson's Warbler was also observed in Norwich on the 4th.

A flotilla of Common Loons (staging before their migration to the coast) was observed from the Charlotte Town beach on September 3. Also observed were a migrating phalarope, Common and Caspian Terns, and Bonaparte's Gulls. A Glossy Ibis was observed flying north from the same location the following day. On September 5 Black Terns were added to the list of migrating waterbirds observed from Charlotte.

Ten Black-crowned Night-herons were observed at Dead Creek in Addison on September 3.

You can learn about all bird sightings the past week and more on Vermont eBird.

Julie Hart, Conservation Biologist

Vermont Weekly Bird Notes 9/1/2006

An unfamiliar sight to most Vermont birders, the Red-headed Woodpecker is one of our most strikingly-plumaged, but rare, breeding species. The bright red 'hood' and contrasting black and white body unmistakably identify adults. Its behavior is equally distinctive. Red-headed woodpeckers are remarkably pugnacious, aggressively and noisily driving intruders of almost any species from their territories. The most omnivorous North American woodpecker, it is one of only four species known to store food,

hiding its provisions (insects, acorns, fruit, or seeds) in crevices in wood, under bark, in fence posts, and even under roof shingles. An added twist is the occasional tendency of Red-headed
Woodpeckers to eat, or destroy, eggs and young of other bird species!

Birders are hard-pressed to find a Red-headed Woodpecker in Vermont nowadays. While never common in Vermont, recent sightings have been few and far between. The species has declined over most of its North American breeding range. A single adult observed on the east side of Cornwall Swamp on August 19-20 was the first individual reported in 2006. Although nesting was confirmed at several Champlain Valley
sites during the 1970s, reports of breeding have been very sporadic during the past decade or more. The species favors habitat edges, especially those lands in Vermont that feature a mix of agriculture, isolated woodlots, and hedgerows with scattered dead trees. Like other species of open habitats, Vermont's reforestation during the past century has probably contributed to the decline of Red-headed Woodpeckers. Loss of snags in farmlands is another likely factor. Addison County appears to constitute the last remaining stronghold of Red-headed Woodpeckers in Vermont. Birders are encouraged to report any observations of this species to VINS.

Other notable bird sightings during the past week included a merlin and a good smattering of migrant shorebirds at Dead Creek. Among these were a single Black-bellied Plover, a Greater Yellowlegs, several Least Sandpipers, two Short-billed Dowitchers, and four Red-necked Phaloropes. Two Caspian Terns, a species increasing in abundance on and near Lake Champlain, were sighted both at Dead Creek and Grand Isle. Another avian rarity of the past week was a
well-described Summer Tanager at the Gorham Bridge south of Pittsford on August 19-20th. This species is very similar in appearance to our resident Scarlet Tanager, but lacks its black wings. It inhabits the southern U.S. but occasionally wanders north to New England. Summer
Tanagers are unusual among songbirds in their specialization on bees and wasps as food items.

You can learn about all bird sightings the past week and more on Vermont eBird.

Chris Rimmer, Conservation Biologist

Bird Night Migration Recording Update

I recorded this week on Aug. 27 thru the 30th.

The 27th was apparently a strong migration night over in coastal Maine and in central New York according to colleagues that record there. Here in east Woodstock it appeared to be slow, but I think perhaps my device went hairwire. My neighbor has a metal roof on on his dormer and the monitoring program was grabbing nearly every drip from the light misty rain that dropped on that roof. I have over 8,000 hits in the morning. I listened to about 2.000 of them before I gave up. Chris Rimmer reported an amazing early morning in nearby Quechee, VT on a birding stop on the way to the office, so I must have missed a good one.

The remaining nights I recorded were light for warblers:

28th: 2 Ovenbird
28th: 2 Ovenbird
30th: 3 Ovenbird, 1 Black-throated Green Warbler

I am having a terrible time with the thrush detector. It is nailing many many cricket and other insect sounds and I just have not had time to go through all of them. It is logging 2-4,000 sounds a night. Spot checks of them show just a few thrushes and a lot of insects, planes, spring peepers, and other strange night knocks.

I am working on a new mic. that I can place high up on the very top of my roof to get away from some of these insect noises. But, I am having some wiring problems building this mic.

Kent McFarland