2022 COA Birds and Science Conference

NOTE:  COA Science Conferences will resume in 2024, in early November 2024.  There will be no COA Science Conference in 2023. 

This new site is under construction. This construction was suspended in January 2023 for about six months, due to a very demanding new job. It will contain a summary of the Proceedings of the Birds and Science 2022 conference (see the table below for the agenda of the dozen speakers). About a dozen posts are being drafted below (and this first post will be broken into several shorter posts). Please come back in the second half of 2023 as they are completed, each one documenting and summarizing one of the 2022 presentations. Meanwhile you can go to the COA website ( www.ctbirding.org ) and/or  browse the material in the many posts further below from last year's  2021 COA Science Conference (or go to that actual 2021 website:  https://birdsandscience2021.blogspot.com/ ). 

The 6-hour video recording of this 2022 conference can be viewed by clicking on this link:

https://www.ctbirding.org/events/coa-science-conference/   OR 

https://youtu.be/8AKff0HWaFs 

The numbers in the right-most column in the table below are an index to this long recording.  

Remember that this conference is in conjunction with our Bird Restaurant Photos project, which is beginning at this draft collection of photos, of birds eating things in and near LIS (see the example photo below, thanks to Chris Wood):

**LIS "Bird Restaurant" photos - Google Slides

This "Bird Restaurant Photos" project will continue through the winter, and be reevaluated in the Spring, aiming to possibly continue it through the heat of the summer.  We are soliciting winter photographs from now until March 31, and especially during the coldest months of January and February. This project is another opportunity for Bird Photographers to make a unique contribution to our bird knowledge in and around LIS, Long Island Sound.  Thank you Bird Photographers!

The panoramic photo at the top of this site was taken by Chris Wood during our COA/HAS March 9, 2019 "mini-pelagic" cruise in Long Island Sound.  It shows some of the 3,000 gulls surface-feeding on the LIS foodweb that day, 1.5 miles off Long Beach, Stratford, CT.  You can see details of that 2019 trip here:  

https://sites.google.com/view/lisgullsplanktontrip/home  

The table below shows the agenda for our Nov.5, 2022 Science Conference.  The right-most column shows the time on the video recording at which that section begins, e.g., the food web talks began at 1hour 33minutes into the recorded video.

Our next conference is planned for half a day on Nov.4, 2023.  Between now and then we will agree on a short LIS "watchlist" of food web "indicator species" in each category of life forms, which we want to track (birds such as Roseate Tern, and other LIS life forms), and give an update on their status and any changes at next year's conference.  We may be able to use iNaturalist.org to assist us with this effort.

For questions, suggestions and contributing photos or other materials, please contact Tom Robben robben99@gmail.com   

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QUESTIONS:

The main questions for this conference include:

• How is the LIS Long Island Sound ecosystem and its food web changing?
• How are birds responding to those changes, both seasonal cycles and long-term trends? What are they eating, and how is that changing?
• How are birds handling the extremes of the LIS seasonal cycles, e.g.,  the cold of mid-winter and the heat of mid-summer? Do the stresses of these seasonal extremes help us learn anything?
• Might the bird and food web responses to seasonal extremes tell us how they might respond to extreme longer term trends, such as climate changes?
• Can photographs showing what birds eat in LIS help us with any of these questions? We have a parallel "Bird Restaurant Photos" project to do this, starting with an initial focus on the coldest winter months:   **LIS "Bird Restaurant" photos - Google Slides  
• Can we draft a watchlist of a few indicator species in LIS, and watch how they change? How?

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WATCHLIST OF LIS INDICATOR SPECIES:

This Watchlist  for LIS  will be constructed here, starting from these few species. How can we monitor their presence and abundance? Their LIS seasonal status indicators are: PR=Permanent Resident, PRNB=Permanent Resident NonBreeding,  SB=Summer Breeder, SV=Summer Visitor, M=Migrant, WV=Winter Visitor. 

BIRDS:  What do each of these eat?

---   Roseate Tern, Common Tern, Least Tern.  SB. 

---   Northern Gannet. M. Rare in winter. 

---   Razorbill. WV.

---   marsh sparrows. SB.

---   Osprey.  SB.

---   Double-crested Cormorant. SB. Winters in LIS locally in small numbers. 

---   Bonaparte's Gull. M and WV.

---   Ring-billed Gull.  PRNB. 

---   Red-breasted Merganser. WV.  A few summer along the coast. 

---   Purple Sandpiper. WV. 

---   Red Knot. M.  Rare in winter. 

---   Willet. SB.

---   Brant. M and WV. 

---   Wilson's Storm-petrel. SV. 

---   

FISH: 

---   Menhaden. M.

---   Sand Lance (several species).  PR. 

---   

INVERTEBRATES:   all PR?

---   Horseshoe crab

---   several crab species?

---   Slippershell snail.

---   some marine worms?

---   

PLANKTON:   all PR?

---   Acartia tonsa (warm-season dominant) 

---   Acartia hudsonica

---   Alexandrium spp (toxin-producing dinoflagellates, a phytoplankton)

---   Barnacle cyprid

---   

MARINE MAMMALS: 

---   ice seals:  Harp Seal, Hooded Seal.  WV. 

---   any Cetaceans in LIS:  whales, dolphins, porpoises.  M.  

MARINE REPTILES:

---   any sea turtles:  Leatherback, Loggerhead, Atlantic Green, Kemp's Ridley.  SV.

VEGETATION:

---   sea grasses.  PR.

OTHERS?

WATER CHEMISTRY?

---   dissolved oxygen

---   nitrates

---   phosphates

---   pH

---   salinity

---   temperature

---   

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PROFILES:

Portrait of a bird's typical food chain, e.g., Osprey<--Menhaden<--zooplankton<--phytoplankton<--nitrogen&phosphates<--decomposer bacteria<--Osprey!   This is a partial/conceptual carbon/nitrogen cycle food chain. 

Several such typical food chains will be suggested,  and we will ask if there are ways they can be monitored throughout the year. 

LIFE CYCLES of selected prey species, especially Menhaden,  the finfish species which so many bird's lives depend upon:   Menhaden and  Atlantic menhaden - Wikipedia . Also read "The Most Important Fish in the Sea:  Menhaden",  

https://www.amazon.com/Most-Important-Fish-Sea-Menhaden/dp/1597265071/  

Their life cycle will be related to their bird predators... 

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REFERENCES:  draft list starting here:

Wahle, Lisa.  -  Plants and Animals of Long Island Sound.

Good basic info on LIS wildlife in a short 40-page booklet.

https://nsgl.gso.uri.edu/conn/connh90001.pdf   

Lynch, Patrick. A Field Guide to Long Island Sound. 2017. Yale.

https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300220353/a-field-guide-to-long-island-sound/  

Long Island Sound: Prospects for the Urban Sea (Springer Series on Environmental Management)

by James S. Latimer, Mark A. Tedesco (Editor), R. Lawrence Swanson (Editor), Charles Yarish (Editor), Paul E. Stacey (Editor), Corey Garza (Editor)...  2012.  There is a $24 Kindle edition for computer viewing. 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19782160-long-island-sound  

LIS Blue Plan…

https://portal.ct.gov/DEEP/Coastal-Resources/LIS-Blue-Plan/Long-Island-Sound-Blue-Plan-Home  

Long Island Sound Blue Plan  –  Resource and Use Inventory…

https://portal.ct.gov/DEEP/Coastal-Resources/LIS-Resource-and-Use-Inventory-Home 

Long Island Sound Resource and Use Inventory… 2019…   Chapters 5-7 very useful…

https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/DEEP/coastal-resources/LIS_blue_plan/resourceanduseinventoryversion14september2019pdf.pdf   

Hammerson, Geoffrey.  Connecticut Wildlife:  Biodiversity, Natural History, and Conservation. 2004. 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2191057.Connecticut_Wildlife

Waldman, John.  Our lead-off presenter on Nov.5,2022 wrote these 2 very interesting books: 

https://www.amazon.com/Running-Silver-Restoring-Atlantic-Migrations/dp/0762780592 

https://www.amazon.com/Heartbeats-Muck-History-Environment-Revised/dp/0823249859

MANY MORE REFERENCES WILL BE ADDED HERE.

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DATA SETS:  

we will build up a list of them here... such as this one: 

LISTS   Long Island Sound Trawl Survey. 

https://portal.ct.gov/DEEP/Fishing/Fisheries-Management/Long-Island-Sound-Trawl-Survey  

“ To date, the Trawl Survey has documented 99 finfish species and more than 60 invertebrate taxa. Each spring (April, May, June) and fall (September, October) the 50-foot R/V John Dempsey carries its crew of 4-6 scientists and vessel staff on the monthly cruises, sampling 40 stations “ 

Robben: Introduction

Introduction

Tom Robben

COA, President, and Research Chair since 2013.

BIRDS NEED THE CHANGING LIS "RESTAURANT" TO SURVIVE!

This conference focuses on the LIS Long Island Sound ecosystem and its food web, and the birds feeding on this changing food web, which is, in effect, the birds' restaurant, with its "menu" changing seasonally.  This entire LIS ecosystem (including its food web) changes in seasonal cycles and in long-term trends.  We look at both kinds of changes.  Birds depend upon this "menu" of food to survive and reproduce.  It is imperative that we understand this menu and how it is changing.  

LIS  Long Island Sound has annual seasonal cycles, driven by these physical cycles:

LIS also has long tern trends, such as these:

Razorbill with three Sandlances: 

Waldman: Overview

Long Island Sound – An Ever-Evolving Ecosystem

John Waldman, Queens College, NY

Long Island Sound is a water body created recently in geological time, the product of glaciers that began their retreat approximately 15,000 years ago. It mixes with fresh waters, principally the Connecticut River, and has salinities that are on the high end for an estuary. Seasonal temperature swings of LIS are pronounced, with summer heat leading to stratification and hypoxia in its western end. Seasonal temperature changes also help drive seasonal changes in its fish community, considered a key component of the Sound’s “Restaurant for Birds.” Fish are most biodiverse and abundant in September and least so in late winter. Temperatures of LIS have been increasing at the fast rate of approximately 0.85F per decade. Changing temperatures have led to long-term changes in its ichthyofauna. Species that are rarely or no longer seen are primarily cold-water forms such as Atlantic tomcod, silver hake, squirrel hake, Atlantic mackerel, and winter flounder. Warm-water fishes that were once rare or absent include bluefish (adults), summer flounder, common searobin, and skittlefish; warm-water species that increased dramatically in abundance include scup (porgy) and black sea bass. A critical nexus exists between fish and seabirds in LIS. This includes predation by raptors such as Bald Eagles and Osprey, gulls and terns of various species, wading birds such as herons and egrets, and Double-crested Cormorants. Cormorant predation may be responsible for the great reduction of slow-swimming cunner in LIS. Menhaden, a herring species is a key species at the base of the Sound’s fish-birds food chain. One proactive measure that can provide more of herring species (alewife and blueback herring) for birds is dam removals on the fish’s spawning rivers. The future of LIS will likely include increased stratification from warming and a loss of salt marshes as a result of sea-level rise. It is also likely that both the restaurant menu (fishes) and the restaurant patrons (birds) will change due to rising temperatures, resulting in novel biotic communities for LIS. 

Note the extreme seasonal water temperature cycles in LIS, from the coldest weeks of early February to the warmest weeks around August 1st. 

These extreme water temperature cycles drive most of the fish diversity, occurrence and abundance in LIS. 

This is a photo of Northern Gannets plunge-diving into the water to catch fish. 

Decker: Environment and Habitats

Mary Beth Decker

Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology 

Yale University 

Abstract

Title: Long Island Sound’s Coastal Habitats: A Bird’s Eye View

Long Island Sound is a dynamic estuarine system, which encompasses a wide variety of habitats that support birds. These range from nearshore and intertidal habitats, such as salt marshes, beaches, mud flats and rocky outcrops, to the Sound’s open waters. These habitats and the birds that depend on them are threatened directly or indirectly by climate change, sea level rise, severe storms, non-point source pollution and invasive species. Protection of these coastal habitats is key to maintaining bird populations in Long Island Sound.

Outline: Environment & Habitats (in & around Long Island Sound)

Geographical Overview (show maps)

LIS estuary, rivers, the Race, Block Island Sound, Continental Shelf

Physical Oceanography

Freshwater and saltwater sources, temperature/salinity ranges

Tides, wind, circulation

Stratification, hypoxia

Temporal variability (seasonal, inter-annual, inter-decadal)

LIS Habitats and relevance to birds

Intertidal (rocky intertidal, cobble, beaches, mud flats)

Tidal Marshes

Seagrass

Seaweeds

Nearshore open water (inside LIS)

Offshore open water (outside LIS)

Threats to Habitats

Climate change

Sea level rise

Severe storms

Notice the season cycle of river water (fresh water) entering LIS, caused mostly by snow-melt and spring rains.  

LIS Ecosystem and its Food Web

 will be drafted here, as an intro to all the following presentations

This LIS food web diagram is from the Long Island Sound Study. Click on it to enlarge it. Then press Esc key to return. 

https://longislandsoundstudy.net/2010/03/inside-the-long-island-sound-food-web/  

McManus: Plankton

An example post will be drafted here, this week, using PLANKTON  as the example, with a few images from the presentation slide deck.  This post is not done. It is still under construction as of Nov.9, 2022.  

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PLANKTON: 

George McManus

Professor of Marine Sciences
Interim Director, Connecticut National Estuarine Research Reserve
University of Connecticut
1080 Shennecossett Rd.
Groton CT   USA  06340

microzooplankton.uconn.edu

https://microzooplankton.uconn.edu/people/ 

Time on the video recording:  1hr33min -to- 2hr25min

Talk summary/abstract: 

                Long Island Sound plankton has been studied since the 1940s, when Gordon Riley and his group at Yale made some of the first observations of phyto- and zooplankton seasonal cycles and used state-of-the-art mathematical models to describe their interactions and dynamics.  Since then, groups at Stony Brook and UConn have developed a more detailed picture of plankton in the Sound, including participation in a >20 year monitoring program funded through the EPA’s National Estuary Program.  This talk gives an overview of the kinds of plankton in Long Island Sound. It summarizes the seasonal cycles of the important plankton groups, introduces the links in the plankton food web, and where birds directly and indirectly relate to plankton. It discusses possible changes as the regional climate warms.  It discusses changes in plankton, both those occurring now, and potential. 

Wilson's Storm-petrel is a regular summer visitor to LIS, and here are several foraging for plankton: 

Gulls plankton feeding in LIS in March 2019:

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Hartnett: Invertebrates

Gail Harnett.  

University of New Haven

ABSTRACT will be added here...

Herring Gull, eating a crab in LIS, by Chris Wood: 

Common Eider, eating a crab in LIS, by Larry Flynn:

Molnar: Fish

David Molnar 

Connecticut DEEP,  Department of Energy and Environmental Protection

ABSTRACT will be added here...

Double-crested Cormorant, eating a fish: 

Northern Gannet, eating a fish:

Mateleska: Marine Mammals and Reptiles

Mary Ellen Mateleska 

Mystic Aquarium

ABSTRACT will be added here...

Seals:  Harbor Seal, Gray Seal. Harp Seal, Hooded Seal. 

Cetaceans:  North Atlantic Right Whale, Humpback Whale, Fin Whale, Minke Whale,  Harbor Porpoise, Common Dolphin, Atlantic White-sided Dolphin, Pilot Whale.

MARINE REPTILES:   Sea Turtles

Photo by David Clapp, off Cape Cod, on 2019 June 16 pelagic trip.  Humpback Whale, gulls and Wilson's Storm-petrel plankton-feeding together: 

Mid-Winter Food Web in LIS

 This section will describe LIS and its food web in January and February, including photos of birds eating things in LIS. 

Birds

 draft will be here.  multiple bird posts will follow, one for each speaker., including:

Chris Wood.

Steve Broker.

Breanne Ellis.

Chris Elphick

Frank Gigliotti

Carlin Eswarakumar

Will DeMott

Wood: Colonial nesting birds of the Norwalk Harbor, CT

 Chris Wood

Chris researched the colonial nesting birds of the Norwalk Harbor area for his Master’s thesis in the late 1970’s and will summarize that historical status of those bird populations.  

Broker: Winter population trends in LIS birds

 Steve Broker

Early Winter PopulationTrends in Long Island Sound Birds

Connecticut Christmas Bird Counts, 1970-2021

Presenter:  Steve Broker

Connecticut Christmas Bird Count data for the Long Island Sound coastline were reviewed for the 52-year period 1970-71 through 2021-22.  The eight coastal counts range from Greenwich-Stamford in the west to Napatree, RI/NY/CT in the east. Six of these eight coastal counts have been conducted each year since 1970, some of them first held many years earlier than 1970.  Two coastal counts have been added to our LIS shoreline in more recent years.  The early winter populations of Long Island Sound birds have seen significant increases for some bird species and major declines for others, as indicated in a series of graphs.