Karrak Lake Survey

Project name: The State of Canada's Birds

Goals : Monitors the status and trends of a Ross’s Goose colony

Dataset summary : Ross’s and Lesser Snow Goose nesting abundance has been estimated at Karrak Lake in the Queen Maud Gulf (Ahiak) Bird Sanctuary, Nunavut since 1993.

Year started : 1993

Years (comments) : Suspended 2020-2022 (Covid19) and 2023 (logistic failure), but ongoing.

Season(s) and frequency : Annually during the breeding season.

Frequency : Annually

Geographic area covered : Mid-continent Population: Nebraska. Eastern Population: Karrak Lake in the Queen Maud Gulf (Ahiak) Bird Sanctuary, Nunavut.

Primary species covered : Ross’s Goose and Lesser Snow Goose

Sampling Design : Systematically spaced (1 km grid) of 30 meter radius sample plot for nest counts visited annually within a sampling frame determined annually.

Field methods : Annual boundary of contiguous nesting by light geese was mapped from a helicopter to determine extent of sampling frame. Pairs of researchers circled each incubation or initiation plot using the end of the tape to define the sample plot boundary, at either 20 (1993-2006) or 30 m (2007-2019). All nests on sample plots were recorded with distance and direction from plot centers. Eggs were counted and labelled with nest number on sides of egg. Maximum length and width of each egg was measured from which species (Ross’s Goose or Lesser Snow Goose) could be determined.

Analysis methods : Discriminant function used to determine species of each nest, Stratified systematic sample was used to estimate abundance of nests within the colony each year.