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Bear Lake, Bear Lake National Wildlife Refuge (NWR)

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Grebe Survey Summary

  • Max Adults: 63
  • Year: 1993
  • Most Recent Adults: 51
  • Year: 1993
  • Survey Type: Shore; Boat
  • Most Common Threats Reported: Water level too low; lack of/poor nesting habitat; water quality/contaminants/oil spill
Lake name:
Bear Lake, Bear Lake National Wildlife Refuge (NWR)
Location:
Idaho
HydroLAKE ID:
778
Latitude:
42.121153
Longitude:
-111.317708
Surface area (km2):
281.4
Basin type:
natural
Management agency:
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Idaho Department of State Parks; Idaho Department of Fish and Game; Utah Department of Natural Resources; Utah Power and Light
Lake use:
irrigation
Region associations:
Bear Lake NWR; Bear Lake State Park; Bear River
Designations:
National Wildlife Refuge; State Park
Comments:
Half of the lake is in Idaho, half is in Utah. Most of the refuge is marsh and the lake is a very important site for birds.

Surveys (4)

Survey Citation:
Trost, C. H. 1985. Status and distribution of colonial nesting waterbirds in Idaho, 1985. 110.

  • Type
    shore
  • Time period
    20 June 1984
  • Source
    Report
  • Both Western and Clarks?
    N
Count Type Range Max Year
Max Adults 1 to 100 43 1984
Most Recent Adults 1 to 100 43 1984
Max Nests 1 to 100 50 1984
Most Recent Nests 1 to 100 50 1984
Max Chicks N/A N/A N/A
Most Recent Chicks N/A N/A N/A

Comments:

Source is G. Deutscher. 2.2 eggs/nest, N = 35. This is one of 4 colonies observed by Peterson (1977) cited in this report.

Survey Citation:
These surveys included as historical data in Cavitt, J. F., S. L. Jones, N. M. Wilson, J. S Dieni, T. S. Zimmerman, R. H. Doster, and W. H. Howe. 2014. Atlas of breeding colonial waterbirds in the interior western United States. Research Report, U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, Denver, Colorado.

  • Type
    shore; boat
  • Time period
    19 June 1993, 10 July 1993
  • Source
    Report
  • Both Western and Clarks?
    N
Count Type Range Max Year
Max Adults 1 to 100 60 1993
Most Recent Adults 1 to 100 48 1993
Max Nests 1 to 100 30 1993
Most Recent Nests 1 to 100 30 1993
Max Chicks 1 to 100 20 1993
Most Recent Chicks 1 to 100 20 1993

Comments:

Source (Trost) is this study for June 19 and July 10, 1993 surveys. Source (Trost) is R. Sjostrom for July 8, 1993. July 10 survey by canoe. For July 8 survey, estimated 20 young. Cavitt doubles the 25 nests from July 8 to estimate 50 breeding birds even though Trost has count at 60 (by Sjostrom). I included the 60 from Trost. The July 8, 1993 survey is also included in G. Ivey's ID Waterbird Atlas spreadsheet for his work with Region 1 - Non Game. In Ivey's spreadsheet, the median number for range of nests is reported as 28 and estimated # of breeding birds at 56 (conversion factor of nests by 2).

Survey Citation:
Trost, C. H., A. Gerstell. 1994. Status and distribution of colonial nesting waterbirds in southern Idaho, 1993. 110.

  • Type
    shore
  • Time period
    10 July 1993
  • Source
    Report
  • Both Western and Clarks?
    N
Count Type Range Max Year
Max Adults 1 to 100 3 1993
Most Recent Adults 1 to 100 3 1993
Max Nests N/A N/A N/A
Most Recent Nests N/A N/A N/A
Max Chicks N/A N/A N/A
Most Recent Chicks N/A N/A N/A

Comments:

Source is this study. Two sites of Bear Lake NWR combined because both surveyed same day for Clark's (July 10). The same day survey for Western doesn't have matching total number for which Clark's are proportioned out (3%) so I used the count # for Clark's in its own entry.

Survey Citation:
Peterson, L. A. 1977. Colonial waterbirds in Idaho. Special Report to Idaho Department of Fish and Game. 38 pp.

  • Time period
    N/A
  • Source
    Report
  • Both Western and Clarks?
    N
Count Type Range Max Year
Max Adults 1 to 100 presence ?
Most Recent Adults 1 to 100 presence ?
Max Nests 1 to 100 presence ?
Most Recent Nests 1 to 100 presence ?
Max Chicks N/A N/A N/A
Most Recent Chicks N/A N/A N/A

Comments:

Peterson summarizes historic Western grebe nesting colonies in Idaho. No numbers nor years for this record but states that colony or colonies are in south end of marshy lake.

Sources of Information

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