Banding Broadbill on Great South Bay

Steve Sanford

Steve Sanford

Well-known member
Good morning, All~


As I mentioned in an earlier post, last Thursday I got a chance to fulfill a lifelong dream: banding Broadbill. First, some background:





Long Island Wildfowl Heritage Group



Over the years, good friend and retired DU Regional Director Craig and I routinely discussed the waterfowl "situation" on Long Island - its ecology and its history. We had long spoken of recording the gunning history enjoyed by our Dads and by us. So, we worked through LI Decoy Collectors Ass'n to help document what we knew. With the help of many veteran gunners, we produced two documentary DVDs, one on Broadbill and one on the Black Duck. But, it seemed there was little interest from the public agencies about the waterfowl populations. We had many, many questions but no source for answers. So, Craig took the bold leap and created the Long Island Wildfowl Heritage Group. The purpose of the LIWHG is stated simply:



Honoring Long Island's Waterfowling Past While Working to Preserve Its Future



Craig rounded up donors and set about funding research projects here on Long Island. There are currently two graduate students conducting investigations on Black Ducks and Broadbill. Dr. Michael Schummer of the SUNY School of Environmental Science and Forestry oversees the work of Aidan Flores and Jake Chronister. I met Jake for the first time along the shore of Great South Bay - late in the afternoon on a chilly but sunny day.


Baymen and guide Red Oster was guarding the "inductees" as we arrived. I was totally unprepared for field work - no room at all in my Forester for chest waders - so I watched and photographed from shore as others did the heavy work. The trap was about 20 yards offshore, in knee-deep water. Note the birds in the background. They kept arriving as we worked.



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I had only my 18-55mm "normal" lens on the camera - and no opportunity to run to the car for my 300mm.


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Red and I both "misunderestimated" the birds in the trap.


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Great South Bay was looking like the Bay of my youth - with rafts dotted all across the Bay out toward Fire Island.



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Big flocks from the west kept joining the rafted birds.


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Red blockaded the funnel entrance until the removal commenced.



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The crew included one netter and 3 more gents to crate up the birds and transport them landward.


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Jake was "practiced in the art of deception" - so was handy with the crab net. I later found him to be exceedingly competent in all aspects of banding and Scaup biology - a true pleasure to work with..


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Each crate was placed on a "barge" so it could be floated in.


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Each crate held about 20 birds - with ample straw to keep them warm and dry while awaiting their new hardware/jewelry.


(cont'd on next post)


SJS























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Last edited:
Part 2


The birds were quiet and content in their confines - both for the voyage and while on the beach.



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Here's Red getting a Hen ready for banding.


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We had a 4-man crew. Red and Craig handled the birds, Jake placed the bands and made sure that I - the over-the-hill Duck Biologist - wrote down all of the correct info on the data sheets.


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We banded 83 Scaup - all but 4 or 5 were Lessers. Great South Bay holds mostly (90 % historically) Greaters during the winter. These could be birds that wintered further south - on their way north. Or it could be that Lessers are more easily lured into traps. The banding results will help to answer some of the many questions we have.


All the birds were ID'd to species, age and sex by plumage characteristics. So the processing goes quickly without having to "pop the vents" for a cloacal exam.


I wish I could close with the iconic images of bands being pliered onto tarsi - and especially of releasing the birds into the air. But, I had to set down my camera and use my hands for writing. We banded until well after total dark. A fine time afield!


All the best,


SJS





 
very cool

what a great experience for a guy so interested in both the bird and the location
 
Great stuff! Excellent to see young biologist befitting from the dedication and hard work of local hunters and conservationists.

I've had the privilege of providing research funds, via our program grants and restoration money, to students down at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab. Cant count the number of masters and papers that resulted but it's one of the most rewarding aspects of my career.
Also have donated many carcasses to grad students over the years, the last one was looking at foraging habits of redheads.

I wish someone would do some work on scaup migration patterns in the MS Flyway. Anecdotally and based on our pre-season and mid-winter counts, we simply don't overwinter Scaup on Mobile Bay and Mississippi Sound in the numbers we did historically. The major drop seemed to happen around 2005-06 when our grassbeds crashed and this trend of warmer winters kicked in. I'd like to know where "our" birds are wintering now!
 
Hi Steve,

How do you get the birds that can fly to swing into the trap? Looks like Red really cares about the future of the bay.
How would one contact Red if they wanted to hunt the bay next season?
 
Traps are baited with corn and have funnel entrances.
Birds can get swim in but can't swim out.
 
Thanks for taking the time to create this most interesting post, Steve. Loved the pictures, also.
Al
 
Steve

What an AWESOME experience. Very cool. Thank you for sharing this as I know any serious waterfowler would like to help with this kind of project.

Eric
 
Thanks for taking the time to post the write up and photos!

To be able to help band Broadbills, (Bluebills as I've always known them), is high up on my bucket list. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, some serious traveling would be involved, as they are not common around here.

Jon
 
That is really, really cool Steve! Pretty different from us zooming around in the dark snatching ducks off the water in an airboat during a banding night. That would be lots of fun to do it your way as well. Thanks for sharing with us
 
Good morning, Dani~


In my youth, I drove airboats at the Horicon refuge in Wisconsin for a couple of months. We were mostly chasing "short-stopped" Canadas - but we found time to catch and study/admire plenty of ducks and other waterbirds with a scap net.


I'm guessing that sitting down and recording data is my new "age-appropriate" role.....


All the best,


SJS

 
Steve, excellent post and pictures.
Are the 2 DVD's you mentioned available anywhere? I bet they are real interesting.
 
Good morning, Mike~


Yes, the DVDs are still available. I have just a couple of each on hand - but we can always get more copies made.



When the Broadbill was King on Great South Bay (2015) $20



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On the Falling Tide ~ The story of traditional Black Duck gunning along the South Shore of Long Island (2017) $25


It's about 90 minutes + a 300 image slide show



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This is about 4 hours (yikes!) - so should be viewed in "chapters".



If you want one or both, just mail me a personal check (with LIDCA Broad and/or Black Duck on your memo line) to:


Steve Sanford
PENCIL BROOK FARM
160 Gannon Road
Buskirk, NY 12028


Be sure to include your mailing address.



All the best,


SJS













 
oh don't worry about recording the data. When we banded down here on black bellies and mottled ducks, I was the designated data recorder. I could see the best and our banding was done entirely at night. I did get my chances though to set free and get pictures with birds sporting their new bling.
 
Steve,
Your Story on Banding Broadbills was well done. I can Tell you I had that Experence When I Was A younger Man With the Local Warden & State CO"s in our local Shrewsbury River Back in the late 90's, I was the trap man in the Trap netting the birds Enjoyed it very much. Thats when we use too have at least 5,000 birds in that river. NOW we are lucky to have 1,000 In that river & that raft have found a safe haven to sit in all day for that area has now been closed . That Warden has since past away. But your story brings back some fine memories. Nice job.
Paul
 
Steve Sanford said:
Good morning, Mike~


Yes, the DVDs are still available. I have just a couple of each on hand - but we can always get more copies made.



When the Broadbill was King on Great South Bay (2015) $20









On the Falling Tide ~ The story of traditional Black Duck gunning along the South Shore of Long Island (2017) $25


It's about 90 minutes + a 300 image slide show







This is about 4 hours (yikes!) - so should be viewed in "chapters".



If you want one or both, just mail me a personal check (with LIDCA Broad and/or Black Duck on your memo line) to:


Steve Sanford
PENCIL BROOK FARM
160 Gannon Road
Buskirk, NY 12028


Be sure to include your mailing address.



All the best,


SJS












Click to expand...

I'll send a check tomorrow for the both of them.
Ty
 
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