May 2003 News Archive

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Grant received for Project NestWatch

30 May 2003 - The McLean Foundation has just awarded a grant of $10,000 in support of Project NestWatch (PNW), specifically to assist with the promotion of this exciting on-line program. Participants are welcome to collect valuable information about bird nesting success and breeding distribution in Canada. Click here to read about PNW.

Support for the Marsh Monitoring Program in Québec

30 May 2003 - Bird Studies Canada has recently received $30,000 from the Canadian Wildlife Service, Québec Region, in support of developing the Marsh Monitoring Program (MMP) in Québec. Field work is currently underway to assess and monitor pilot sites along the St. Lawrence River, and volunteers will be recruited to monitor marshes starting in 2004. Click here to read about the MMP.

BSC Research in Macleans Magazine

30 May 2003 - The most recent edition of Macleans Magazine, 2 June 2003, is on the stands with two articles of interest - An Erie Decline by Stephen Leahy and the feature article entitled, Nature Under Seige. The feature is based on World Wildlife Fund Canada`s Nature Audit in which BSC participated. Steve Timmermans, from BSC`s Marsh Monitoring Program, is quoted in the article on Lake Erie and one of his photographs is featured. Click here to link to this article.

Bird Studies Canada’s Programs Presented in New Brunswick

30 May 2003 - BSC’s Atlantic Canada Program Manager, Becky Whittam. will attend the New Brunswick Federation of Naturalists' Annual General Meeting in Fredericton, NB. Whittam will present posters on Project FeederWatch, the Canadian Lakes Loon Survey, and the High Elevation Landbird Program. Click here to read more about Bird Studies Canada’s regional programs.

Bicknell’s Thrush Workshop an Education Credit for Atlantic Canada Foresters

28 May 2003 - Bird Studies Canada’s Atlantic Region staff, Colin Carroll, Ramsey Hart, and Mike Russell, will be leading three workshops on The Bicknell's Thrush: a Species of Special Concern in Atlantic Canada's Forests on 28 May in Edmundston, NB; 30 May in Miramichi, NB; and 3 June in Baddeck, NS. The workshops are being hosted by Nexfor Fraser Papers, UPM Kymmene, and Stora Enso Port Hawkesbury, respectively, and are eligible for CFE (Continuing Forestry Education) credit. Click here to download details on the three workshops.

Bird Studies Canada’s Long Point Waterfowl and Wetlands Research Fund Receives Funding from Ontario Power Generation

27 May 2003 - Ontario Power Generation (OPG) has made a very generous donation of $18,000 to the Long Point Waterfowl and Wetlands Research Fund to continue their research on selenium burdens in Lesser and Greater Scaup on the lower Great Lakes. The money will be used to continue to analyze the liver tissue of scaup collected on lakes Ontario, Erie, and St. Clair, as well zebra mussels collected from each of the three lakes. Click here for the initial results from this research.

Bob Osborne (left), OPG Public Relations Manager, presents a cheque to Dr. Scott Petrie, Reseach Director, LPWWRF.

John Ridgway’s Voyage - Saving the Albatross

27 May 2003 - The John Ridgway voyage will highlight the plight of Albatross and Petrel populations in the Southern Ocean and threats they are facing from longline fishing as well as piracy. With the use of modern technology, the voyage will link with the BBC interactive webpage to plot the voyage while providing data and satellite tracking on a number of key species. Click here to read more about this campaign.

An Invitation to Participate in Atlas Day

25 May 2003 - Atlas Day takes place 7 June this year and every participant is asked to join in the events. The Ontario Breeding Bird Atlas volunteers work throughout the province and provide invaluable data. In the Sault Ste. Marie region, "Atlas" volunteers are gathering for a bash on squares along the Ranger Lake Road; in the Guelph area, the emphasis will be on point counts, where volunteers will try to get many additional areas surveyed; Glenn Coady is introducing his birding class to the "Atlas" experience on their field trip to Carden Plain; and, in the Thousand Islands, volunteers are planning a special blitz of the only unassigned section of their area. Click here to learn more about the Atlas program and how you can participate.

Ukraine Urged to Save Danube Delta Reserve

Cambridge, UK, 20 May 2003 - The Ukrainian Union for Bird Conservation (UTOP) today urged the Ukrainian Government to cancel plans to build a deep-water canal through a strictly protected zone of the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve on the Black Sea coast. UTOP has urged the Ukrainian Government to cancel plans for the new canal at this week’s European Environment Minister’s Summit in Kiev which opens on 21 May. UTOP says there are at least six preferable alternative routes to the proposed canal including Solomonov – Zhebriyanovskaya Bay. Click here for the full release.

Evaluation of BC Coastal Waterbird Survey Completed

20 May 2003 - BSC's Waterbird Scientist Dr. Shannon Badzinski has just completed a 3-year evaluation of the British Columbia Coastal Waterbird Survey. The evaluation found that the Survey had good power to detect trends in common waterbird populations over time. Dr. Badzinski recommended that the Survey could be improved by increasing interaction with volunteers, re-establishing a network of volunteer regional coordinators to interface between BSC staff and other volunteer surveyors, and improving volunteer adherence to counting periods and site boundaries. To download a copy of the 64-page report, click here.

Buzzards Bay Oil Spill

20 May 2003 - There was a large oil spill in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts on 27 April as over 98,000 gallons of oil leaked when a barge hit an unidentified object. Buzzards Bay has two of the three largest Roseate Tern colonies in North America - Bird Island and Ram Island. There are also Endangered Piping Plovers and Least Terns nesting in the Bay. Click here to link to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service web page for details on the spill.

Alberta Marsh Monitoring Report Online

20 May 2003 - The final report for the Alberta Marsh Monitoring Program, Pilot Year 2002, is available on the Bird Studies Canada prairie region website. Click here to view the report.

Forest Hawk and Spring Woodpecker Survey Begins in New Brunswick

18 May 2003  - The New Brunswick Forest Hawk and Spring Woodpecker Survey window begins today, and continues until 16 June. Click here to read about this program. 

BSC Presents During Wildlife Week

16 May 2003 - Lisa Priestley, Bird Studies Canada’s Prairie Program Manager, will be giving a presentation as part of Wildlife Week events at Oxbridge Place, Edmonton, on 11 June 2003. Priestley will be talking about the owls of Alberta, the importance of buffer habitat along water bodies, and the Alberta Nocturnal Owl Survey.

Go Owling at Alberta Songbird Festival

16 May 2003 - The Lesser Slave Lake Songbird Festival will be presenting an Owling Field Trip. Join Lisa Priestley, Prairie Program Manager for Bird Studies Canada, at the Northern Lakes College, Rm. A128 for a half-hour presentation on owls, and then head out on a field-trip to look and listen for owls. Learn how to become involved in the Alberta Nocturnal Owl Survey. For more information on the Alberta Songbird Festival, click here.

Rare Visitor Checks in at Two Migration Monitoring Stations

15 May 2003 - A young male Summer Tanager was captured and banded on 8 May 2003 at the Long Point Bird Observatory field station at the very tip of the Long Point spit and was seen daily until 11 May. This was the 17th Summer Tanager ever banded at LPBO. On 12 May, John Miles was delighted to see a Summer Tanager in the nets at the Haldimand Bird Observatory field station at Selkirk Provincial Park. This was the first Summer Tanager he had observed at this station in 8 years of operation. When John took the bird from the net he was amazed to see that it was already banded. Within 12 hours, it was determined that this was indeed the same bird (band number 1861-61113) that had been banded at the tip of Long Point 4 days earlier! The Selkirk station is 30 km northeast of the Tip station, taking a straight line distance across Lake Erie open water. Click here to check on the Latest Sightings at Canadian Migration Monitoring Stations.

New BC Program Coordinator Joins BSC Team

14 May 2003 - Bird Studies Canada welcomes Tasha Smith as BC Program Coordinator. With an Honours degree from Simon Fraser University and a Masters degree from Dalhousie University, Tasha brings not only expertise, especially in seabirds, but enthusiasm to the BC Programs. Contact Tasha at tasha.smith@ec.gc.ca. Click here to read Tasha’s biography.

Black-faced Spoonbill Web Site

12 May 2003 - Hong Kong Bird Watching Society Limited has established a web site for the Black-faced Spoonbill. It gives an introduction to this globally threatened species, distribution, recent conservation actions, and figures. It also has a newsgroup which provide an interactive means for exchange of information. The report for the International Black-faced Spoonbill Census (24-26 January 2003) is now available for download at this web site.

Atlantic Program Coordinator Welcomed to BSC

12 May 2003 - Bird Studies Canada is pleased to welcome Ramsey Hart as maternity leave replacement for Becky Whittam in the position of Atlantic Canada Program Coordinator. Ramsey will be filling in for Becky until the end of April 2004. You can contact Ramsey at ramsey.hart@ec.gc.ca. Click here to read his biography.

BSC’s High Elevation Landbird Program Presented at Aboriginal Forestry Conference

7 May 2003  - Bird Studies Canada’s High Elevation Landbird Program Biologist, Colin Carroll, attended an Aboriginal Forestry Conference in Tobique, NB. Carroll prepared a talk on the Bicknell's Thrush and BSC's High Elevation Landbird Program (HELP), a topic of interest to foresters in New Brunswick as a large proportion of the New Brunswick population of Bicknell's Thrush nests in high elevation industrial forest. Click here to access the latest report from this program.

Good Spirits Regardless of Poor "Owling" Weather

6 May 2003 - Bird Studies Canada’s Atlantic Canada Program Manager, Becky Whittam, led an "owl prowl" in St. Andrew's, NB, for 18 keen individuals. While no owls were found due to the rather dismal weather, participants enjoyed a talk by Whittam and some lively discussion. Click here for more information about BSC’s nocturnal owl programs.

Environmental Trust Fund Provides Vital Support to BSC

5 May 2003 - The New Brunswick Environmental Trust Fund (ETF) has renewed its support of the New Brunswick Nocturnal Owl Survey for the third straight year. The $10,000 contribution from the ETF will be used to help fund the survey coordinator who will produce a "three year analysis" of the New Brunswick survey. The ETF is also providing $8,000 in support to the New Brunswick Forest Hawk and Spring Woodpecker Survey, which enters its second year this spring. Click here to read more about the NB Nocturnal Owl Survey.

Check Out Latest Sightings on Bird Studies Canada’s Web Site

May 2003 - Several Canadian Migration Monitoring Network stations are now posting their banding tallies and highlights on their web site regularly throughout the migration season. The Long Point Bird Observatory Sightings Board has proven a very popular feature of Bird Studies Canada’s web page. Click here to access a list of participating bird observatories including: Haldimand Bird Observatory; Lesser Slave Lake Bird Observatory; Long Point Bird Observatory; Prince Edward Point Bird Observatory; Rocky Point Bird Observatory; and, Whitefish Point Bird Observatory.

International Wetlands Team Welcomed to Bird Studies Canada

9 May 2003 - The Great Lakes Coastal Wetlands Consortium Project Management Team will meet at Bird Studies Canada’s National headquarters from 12-13 May. The partners will discuss Year-One pilot project activities, including those conducted at Long Point World Biosphere Reserve, and plans for implementing a Great Lakes basin-wide coastal wetlands monitoring program. For more information about the program, click here.

Bird Studies Canada Presenting to Parks Research Forum of Ontario

6 May 2003 - Debbie Badzinski, BSC Bird Population Biologist, will be attending the Parks Research Forum of Ontario Annual Conference in London, ON, on Friday 9 May, and will be giving a talk entitled "A citizen science-based approach to monitoring bird populations". For conference details click here. 

Canada's Boreal Forest found to be Critical to North American Bird Life

6 May 2003 - To mark International Migratory Bird Day (10 May), the Canadian Boreal Initiative (CBI) and the US-based Boreal Songbird Initiative (BSI) have jointly released a study, Importance of Canada’s Boreal Forest to Landbirds. Dr. Peter Blancher of Bird Studies Canada, study author, and Cathy Wilkinson of CBI have been interviewed by Canadian Press, CTV national news, CBC radio and other outlets across the country. Click here to see the full report or here to read the media release.

Public Outreach in Alberta

5 May 2003 - Join Lisa Priestley, BSC’s Prairie Canada Program Manager, at the Bird Migration Festival, 11 May, Inglewood Bird Sanctuary, Calgary, AB. The event is open to the public and displays will highlight various bird programs in Alberta, including Bird Studies Canada's prairie programs. Priestley will be at the Provincial Museum in Edmonton 13 and 27 May. She will be presenting a slide show to two school groups about owls in Alberta.

Fishing Season Not Just for People

4 May 2003 - The fishing season has started for both people and loons in Atlantic, says Becky Whittam, BSC’s Atlantic Canada Program Manager. In celebration of Loon Awareness Week (4 - 11 May), people are asked to make their lake loon friendly. Click here to read the release or here for more information about the Canadian Lakes Loon Survey and your opportunity to participate in this exciting program.

2003 NABCI Calendar of Events - May Addition

May 2003 - Bird conservationists please note that the NABCI Canada Council has released an updated 2003 Calendar of Events. A new addition to the calendar is the Canadian Wildlife Directors’ Meeting in Winnipeg, 12 - 15 May. Click here for the full calendar.

 

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