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Bird observations at Chesterfield Inlet, Keewatin, in 1950

1951; Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club; Volume: 65; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.5962/p.341353

0008-3550

D. B. O. Savile,

Botany, Ecology, and Taxonomy Studies

The contents (13 c.c.) proved to be about 95% feathers and 5% parts and fragments of arthropod exo-skeletons.Microscopic examination showed no definite vegetative particles.This analysis conformed with a study by Wetmore (1924) who examined 46 stomachs from birds taken at different points across North America and at different times of the year.Ten of these 46 stomachs contained feathers only, and feathers made up 70% of the total volume of the remainder.Of the remaining material, 97% was animal matter and 3% vegetable matter.The former was composed 'of fish, crustacean and insect material in that order of importance; the vegetable matter was considered incidental.Until more definite evidence is secured, it may be surmised that the abundant growth of Characeae at Willow Beach in late summer and autumn provides a favourable habitat for quantities of insects and crustaceans which in turn provide food for the grebes.The other late summer and autumn concentration point mentioned by Baillie (1949) is situated in Kempenfeldt Bay, Lake Simcoe, about 50 miles north of Toronto.This was first recorded by Devitt (1943), 35 birds having been seen there in October, 1939, but in the last ten years the numbers reported from this area have been steadily increasing, and the peak October figure is now about 300.Dr. J. M. Speirs has recently found a previously unrecorded autumn concentration point at Pickering Beach, on Lake Ontario, FIELD-NATURALIST 145 some 25 miles east of Toronto.About 500 Red-necked Grebes were seen there by him on September 28, 1949.The relatively large size of this flock may account for the reduced numbers seen at Willow Beach in 1949.In September and October, 1950, an estimated 300-400 birds were observed at Pickering Beach by Dr. Speirs.On Lake Erie, the Red-necked Grebe is still a relatively rare spring and fall visitor, and its status there remains much as it was in Nash's time.However, in view of the recent records from Lake Ontario, observers might well watch for an increase in the number of this species visiting Lake Erie.