Cormorant populations threaten islands

Residents concerned cormorants will destroy more islands in the region

On an early August afternoon a sudden thunderstorm rolled over the Bay of Quinte Channel while Bath resident Gerard Menard was giving a sightseeing tour on a family boat.

A powerful, purple cloud formed directly above in the sky and created an awesome backdrop to two tiny islands illuminated by a western ray of light.

Some beige trees suddenly sparkled in the sunlight and the sound of hundreds of birds carried through the wind.

But the feelings it evoked were bittersweet.

The trees sparkled because they were bare and dead. The birds chirping were too numerous to appreciate. Colonies of more than a thousand double-crested cormorants have turned the islands into noisy, smelly mountains of bird waste.

The excrement has killed all the vegetation on one of the islands and looked about to kill what little was left on the second.

The tour Menard was giving was not a happy one. He offered to take a Kingston This Week reporter out to the Brother Islands, located between Amherst Island and Bath, to express his concern about their depletion.

Now that these islands are gone he was wondering what could happen next. Will the birds migrate to beautiful Amherst Island and get in the way of homes? And what will happen to fish in the area, seeing that these birds are known for turning lakes into their own all-you-can-eat buffets? And will anyone do anything about it?

"You know if this was happening in the Thousand Islands area people would be doing something about this," Menard said.

It's a valid point considering that over the last two years the provincial government has ordered the killing of more than 11,000 cormorants that threatened to destroy tourist-throbbing Presqu'ile Park in Brighton.

Judging population-control initiatives is as confusing as looking at the depleted Brother Islands during a fantastic sunny thunderstorm. It's quite easy to see the growth of the birds as beautiful and horrible at the same time.

While Menard detests the animals, bird lovers are celebrating their comeback. A federal government study shows there were just 315 cormorant nests in the Lake Ontario region in 1979.

In 2004 there were 26,165 according to research gathered by Dr. Chip Weseloh, a biologist with Canadian Wildlife Services.

"It's definitely a success story," he said, revealing his personal view.

But he also acknowledged the birds can be pests. Although Weseloh works in Toronto, he has a cottage off Wolfe Island and is very aware that the birds have destroyed the Brother Islands and have also started colonies on Pigeon Island, Snake Island, The Spectacles and Black Ant Island, which has a few cottages.

The good news, for those bothered by the birds, is that populations in the Lake Ontario region seem to be levelling off. The number of nests in 2004 was down slightly from 2002 when 28,180 were counted.

Although provincial laws that made it illegal to kill cormorant eggs contributed to their comeback over the last 25 years, landowners can now get special permission from the Ministry of Natural Resources to harass the birds if they're causing problems.

However, cormorants are still a protected species and populations on crown land are left free. That's why the number of nests on the West Brother Island has skyrocketed from 135 in 1994 to 1,229 in 2004, according to Weseloh's study.

The once beautiful Brothers used to be a popular lunch spot for boaters, but are now wastelands. But whether the colony is dangerous for the broader environment is tough to figure out.

A Glenora-based ministry biologist, who's keeping an eye on how the birds are affecting fish populations, couldn't say they're having an impact on people's livelihoods.

"The one thing everyone agrees on is that cormorants eat a lot of fish," said Alastair Mathers. "But do they eat fish that lots of people want to consume is another question.

"They're opportunistic, which means their diet will change over the years."

In other words, they'll eat whatever's available. In some years, they could be eating fish that impact the sport fish population, but in other years they won't.

Weseloh further explained that a single cormorant tends to eat a pound of fish per day, but the significance of the statistic is lost since "no one can answer how many fish are [in the lakes] in the first place."

As for migration, Mathers says cormorants tend to be shy and only colonize in areas where humans are scarce.

And biologists also know that population booms level off.

As early as 1995 Environment Canada was releasing material to ease people's concerns about the cormorant's rapid comeback. In a fact sheet it reminded that "eventually, the population outstrips its food supply, outgrows its habitat (or nesting area), or is reduced by disease or predation."

When this happens, the cormorant population will drop. But until then, there's little people can do — and that's a very sticky dilemma.

Every time Menard drives from Bath to Kingston along scenic Highway 33 he glances out in frustration at the sight of the Brother Islands, once a lush green scene.

Others are upset by the birds.

Donna Radtke lives in Kingston and owns a cottage on one of the Thousand Islands. There are 64 nests and more than 200 cormorants scattered along the tiny island.

Its six trees are in distress and it smells like a dump, Radtke says.

The problem is she's not the kind of person who wants to kill birds and there are few experts around who can help her find ways to make them shoo.

"The quick answer is shoot them," she says. "But that's not everyone's solution."

Still, if she doesn't do anything soon, a cottage her family has enjoyed for 40 years will probably be useless by next year.

"It's hideous," she says. "And it's no one's fault."