Tag Archives: Wildlife

Salmon Symposium

Salmon Symposium

Lake Champlain Salmon Symposium

Landlocked Atlantic Salmon

The Salmon Symosium focuses on fisheries management objectives for the Boquet River and Lake Champlain, as well as the history of the Atlantic salmon fishery, current management objectives, ongoing research, potential natural resource concerns, economic impact of fisheries development, opportunities, challenges and potential for the future.

The Salmon Symposium will be held March 11 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., at the Lodge at Noblewood Park, 158 Lakeshore Drive, Willsboro.

Due to limited seating, please preregister at 963-8933.

The Lake Champlain Salmon Restoration Program is sponsored by the Greater Adirondack Resource Conservation and Development Council, the Willsboro Community Foundation, the Lake Champlain Basin Program and the AuSable and Boquet River Associations. 

 

 

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2015 Peregrine Falcon Nest Monitoring Results  

Peregrine Falcon Nest Monitoring Results

2015 Eastern Adirondack/Lake Champlain Region Peregrine Falcon Nest Monitoring report 

New York State’s Department of Environmental Conservation issued their annual report on peregrine falcon nest monitoring in the Lake Champlain and Eastern Adirondack regions.

DEC wildlife staff and volunteers monitored 26 peregrine falcon nesting sites during the 2015 breeding season. The sites were located along Lake Champlain and Lake George and throughout the Adirondacks.

According to  the report, they confirmed 16 of the 26 sites were occupied by territorial pairs of falcons and all but one of those pairs actively undertook nesting. Of the 15 confirmed active nesting pairs, nine successfully produced a total of 18 chicks. This equates to 1.2 young/breeding pair and 2 young/successful pair – an average level of production for this region. 2015 was slightly more productive then the last few breeding seasons.

Some highlights of the 2015 breeding season include the discovery of a new nesting site on Crane Mountain, from which 2 young peregrines fledged. Also, a single nest along Lake George produced 4 young peregrines (2 young is average for the Adirondacks), and another new nesting location along Lake George may have been discovered.

Some peregrine nests on rock climbing routes were successful this year, especially in the southern part of the region. Nest failures on other rock climbing cliffs were thought to be from factors other than human disturbance, such as the above average precipitation received during the month of June, and the presence of young or inexperienced falcons in some locations. DEC officials report that the cooperation of rock climbers has been important to the success of the monitoring effort.

2015 Eastern Adirondack/Lake Champlain Region Peregrine Falcon Nest Monitoring report 

The peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus), also known as the peregrine, or duck hawk is a bird of prey in the family Falconidae. It has a blue-grey back, barred white underparts, and a black head. The peregrine is renowned for its speed, reaching over 200 mph during its characteristic high speed dive, or hunting stoop, making it the fastest member of the animal kingdom.

The peregrine can be found nearly everywhere on Earth, except extreme polar regions, very high mountains, and most tropical rainforests. This makes it the world’s most widespread raptor.

A copy of the full 2015 Eastern Adirondack/Lake Champlain Region Peregrine Falcon Nest Monitoring report can obtained by e-mailing a request to info.R5@dec.ny.gov.

 

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Lake Champlain Atlantic Salmon Run Underway

Lake Champlain Atlantic Salmon Run

Salmon can roam wild across lakes and oceans, yet somehow find their way back home to spawn in the same waterway where they were born.

Lake Champlain is hosting this miracle of nature this week, as thousands of salmon swim up a swift, narrow brook that leads to their birthplace, the Ed Weed Fish Culture Station at the Grand Isle Fish Hatchery.

Fish Culture Operations Chief Adam Miller with a landlocked Atlantic salmon from the Lake Champlain Atlantic Salmon Run at the Ed Weed Fish Culture Station in Grand Isle, Vermont

Fish Culture Operations Chief Adam Miller with a landlocked Atlantic salmon at the Ed Weed Fish Culture Station in Grand Isle, Vermont

State fish biologists are waiting upstream in the spillway and netting some of the fish for inspection and measurement.  About 85 pair of male and female salmon will be removed and moved by truck to the hatchery where their eggs will be fertilized and grown into sac-fry over this winter. 

 

In eighteen months about 20,000 salmon will be released back into the lake  and the cycle will begin again.

 

“There’s very little natural reproduction of salmon (in Lake Champlain) — we’re trying to encourage it but really the fishery couldn’t be sustained without stocking. We’d see very few salmon in the lake without stocking.”  Brian Chipman, fish biologist 

Lake Champlain Atlantic Salmon Run. Lake Champlain Salmon Restoration Successful in 2014The salmon restoration program in Lake Champlain has seen tremendous successes over the years. 2014 was the most successful year yet for the salmon restoration program. This year the salmon returning to the brook look healthy, with only about 15 percent showing any sign of parasitic lamprey wounds. 


Kevin Kelsey, who runs the hatchery, said this is the highest run he’s seen since he started work here in 1997, and this indicates positive results for the salmon hatchery and the lampricide treatments in the lake.

View WPTZ video report of the salmon run.


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Spiny Softshell Turtle Nesting Beach Work Day

Spiny Softshell Turtle Nesting Beach Work Day

North Hero State Park is the location for the Spiny Softshell Turtle Nesting Beach Work Day, when the turtles will be moved to other sites. The work takes place October 24th, starts between 10 and 11 and will continue into the late afternoon from 10-3.

 

Turtles - Spiny Softshell, Painted, and Map

Turtles – Spiny Softshell, Painted, and Map
Photo by Steve Parren

About the Spiny Softshell Turtle

The Spiny Softshell Turtle is a threatened species in Vermont, and Steve Parren, Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist, has worked for the preservation and protection of this species for many years.  Join Steve and others for an enjoyable and satisfying workday, as they remove plant growth on some rare stretches of Spiny Softshell nesting beach, preparing for the turtle egg-laying season next June. These same beaches are also host to Map, Painted, and Snapping Turtles.

IMG_2460

Snapping turtle hatchling next to my granddaughter Gabby’s foot.
Photo taken in North Hero, Vermont by Molly McHugh

While most of the hatchlings will have emerged from their nests and into the lake by the end of September, some late hatching young of other turtle species may still be underground. Sometimes these hatchlings are seen as plants are pulled from the shale pebble beaches.  That late in the season, the lake will be too cold for the baby turtles, so they are usually brought indoors for the winter.

ECHO Lake Aquarium and Science Center cares for some young Spiny Softshells each year to give them a head start on life.  They will overwinter at the aquarium, and in the process become part of the regular educational programming at ECHO.

What to bring: Bring warm clothes in layers, work gloves, and rain gear if needed.  You can bring a leaf rake, but otherwise, only short-handled tools, a trowel and/or a hand cultivator.  Bring lunch.  Bring kids.  Bring friends.

Families always welcome: Steve will bring some baby Spiny Softshell turtles (and other turtle species), and will discuss their biology and what we need to do to promote their recovery.

Directions: Route 2 north past Carry Bay in N. Hero.  Right on Lakeview Drive, just before Rt 2 swings west toward Alburg.  Follow Lakeview almost to the end.  North Hero State Park entrance and sign on left.  Drive to end, always bearing right.  Please arrive between 10 and 11 AM.

Contact: Eric Lazarus, 288-9570 or lazarericus@gmail.com

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