Longridge Point, James Bay, Ontario - Red Knots - page 1 of 6

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Red Knots at Longridge Point on 29 July 2009

I thank Mark Peck of the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) for inviting me to join the team of six surveying the endangered rufa subspecies of the Red Knot at Longridge Point on southern James Bay, Ontario. Other team members were Amy Whitear (ROM), Doug McRae, Don Shanahan, and Gerry Binsfeld. Project funding came from the Royal Ontario Museum, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, World Wildlife Fund - Canada, the Ontario Species at Risk Research Fund, Ontario Parks and the Far North Initiative.

Longridge Point

Our camp is in the trees just off the photo. The tip of Longridge is 5.7 km from camp. Photo: Don Sutherland.

We counted flocks of Red Knots and found flags such as this orange flagged bird from Argentina (left) and lime green flag (right) from Delaware Bay, USA. We saw about 150 individually flagged knots, many were re-sighted over many days, indicating a long stopover in this food rich area.

After breeding in the Canadian Arctic, these Red Knots migrate south to staging areas such as James Bay, where they fatten for the long flight to South America. 29 July 2009

Red Knots were in body molt varying from some still mostly in breeding plumage to those more advanced into winter plumage such as this individual on 29 July 2009.

Red Knots roosting at high tide on 27 July 2009

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