Although formal censuses for marsh and waterbird species were not conducted off of Long Lake National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) in 2002, staff commonly record observations of these birds throughout the Wetland Management District (WMD). Many representatives of this bird category nest on remote wetlands, traditionally from year to year. Spring migration signals the return of these species to the northern prairies. Staff recorded arrival dates for all species within this category. They are listed below.

On July 2, 2002, Refuge staff conducted an informal survey of waterbird colonies on Kleppe Lang WPA and the adjacent contiguous water known locally as “DeWald Slough”. Two colonies were located and their perimeters mapped using GPS equipment. Colony #1 was 14.9 acres in size and located almost entirely within the WPA boundary. Colony #2 was 6.8 acres in size and located entirely on private land. The below narrative summarizes the waterbird and vegetative species makeup of each colony.

Colony 1

Survey Period: 1630-1730

Species Present (8)
Forster’s Tern = high abundance of this species within the colony (all other species abundance measures are relative to the Forster’s Tern which was the most abundant species in the colony)
White-faced Ibis = low abundance (4 breeding pairs)
Franklin’s Gull = moderate abundance
Western Grebe = low abundance
Horned Grebe = low abundance
Eared Grebe = moderate abundance
Black Tern = low abundance
Clark’s Grebe = low abundance

- both waterbird eggs and nestlings were present in this colony........................................................................Franklin Gull © Patsy Renz

Vegetative Species Composition: bulrush (Scirpus spp.), cattail (Typha spp.), common reed grass (Phragmites australis)
- no submergent vegetation was present
- amount of living vegetation was greater than the amount of dead (residual) vegetation
- density of the colony’s emergent vegetation was DENSE, rather than moderate, or low

Survey Period: 1800-1945

Species Present (6)
Black-crowned Night-Heron = high abundance of this species within the colony (all other species abundance measures are --------------------------------------relative to the Black-crowned Night-Heron which was the most abundant species in the colony)
White-faced Ibis* = moderate abundance (7 breeding pairs)
Cattle Egret = high abundance (nearly equal in abundance to the BCNH)
Western Grebe = low abundance
Forster’s Tern = low abundance
Snowy Egret* = low abundance (4 breeding pairs)

- both waterbird eggs and nestlings were present in this colony

Vegetative Species Composition: bulrush (Scirpus spp.), common reed grass (Phragmites australis) ................snowy egret
- pondweed (Potamogeton spp.) was the dominant submergent vegetation present ........................................................© Patsy Renz
- amount of living vegetation was equal to the amount of dead (residual) vegetation
- density of the colony’s emergent vegetation was DENSE, rather than moderate, or low

*Because of the rarity of these species, an actual determination of breeding pair numbers was attempted