Québec Marsh
Monitoring Program – 2006 Results
26 January 2007 - February 2 is
World Wetlands Day. Bird Studies
Canada’s Marsh Monitoring Program (MMP) focuses on the monitoring of
secretive marsh birds, and began in the Great Lakes Basin. This year the
MMP’s program in Québec will be run for a fourth consecutive year. From
its initial stronghold in southwestern Québec, the program has spread
north to the Lac-Saint-Jean region and east to the Magdalen Islands.
Last year, Citizen Scientists provided data from 68 marshes ranging from
small locally important ones, to those forming part of large,
internationally important wetlands, such as at Cap Tourmente and Lac
Saint-Pierre. During the 2006 field season, 129 bird species were
recorded. Among these were four species at risk: the Least Bittern,
present in nine marshes; the Bald Eagle, present in three marshes; the
Sedge Wren, present in two marshes; and the Nelson’s Sharp-tailed
Sparrow, present in one marsh. Bird Studies Canada and its partners rely
on marsh bird data to monitor wetland health and integrity, and the data
concerning species at risk provide important information for biologists
working on recovery plans for these species in Environment Canada’s
Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS). We are eager to increase the number of
marshes covered by the MMP in Québec, so if there is a marsh in your
area and you would like to participate, contact Andrew Coughlan at
Études d’Oiseaux Canada, telephone (418) 649-6062; email
acoughlan@bsc-eoc.org. Key
program funding has been provided by the CWS, with additional support
coming from Ducks Unlimited Canada and the TD Friends of the Environment
Foundation.
Bird Protection
Quebec’s Big Year of Birding
26 January 2007 - Bird Protection
Quebec (BPQ) is celebrating their 90th anniversary in 2007 with a
special year-long event. The Big Year of Birding is open to Quebec
residents and all members of BPQ, and offers prizes in a number of
categories including the most species in a year, month or day, and
Photograph of the Year. For more details, visit the
BPQ web site or email
quebecbirds@yahoo.ca.
BC-Yukon Nocturnal Owl Survey
26 January 2007 -
It is almost time to start counting owls in British Columbia
again. Coastal owl surveyors will go out in February to census owls
along their routes, while those in the southern Interior will go out in
March, and those from central BC north into the Yukon will go out in
April. In 2006, 102 participants did 105 owl surveys along 96 routes
across British Columbia and Yukon, detecting 291 owls, up once again
from the 269 heard in 2005 and 236 the year before. Northern Saw-whet
Owl numbers levelled off somewhat, with 121 heard. Great Horned Owl
began to climb out of the bottom of the 10-year snowshoe hare cycle; 79
were heard in 2006, all but 2 of them in the BC Interior and southern
Yukon. Boreal Owl numbers also started to increase from the bottom of
their cycle. Thirty-two were heard in 2006: 24 in the Yukon, 7 in
northern BC and 1 in the Kootenays. The number of Barred Owls reported
has remained remarkably constant over the past three years, with 31
heard in 2006, 30 in 2005 and 33 in 2004. Western Screech-Owl numbers
were also similar to last year, with 14 detected, five of them in the
southern Interior and the rest on the coast. Of particular interest were
two found by Peter Davidson in the Rocky Mountain Trench south of Fort
Steele. The habitat in the East Kootenay seems to be ideal for this
species but very few have ever been reported there. The
BC-Yukon
Nocturnal Owl Survey 2006 newsletter
is now available online. For more information, email Dick Cannings:
dickcannings@shaw.ca.
Marsh Monitoring Program Reports on Wetland Health
in Great Lakes Areas of Concern
23 January 2007 - The Marsh
Monitoring Program (MMP) is pleased to announce the release of its
latest report, “Monitoring and Assessing Marsh Habitats in Great Lakes
Areas of Concern.” This report summarizes and interprets the final
results of a two-year MMP project which assessed the health of coastal
and inland marsh habitats within and among 12 U.S. and binational Great
Lakes Areas of Concern (AOCs). Using a multiparameter approach, marsh
health assessments were made using MMP participant-derived marsh bird
and amphibian data, as well as MMP staff-collected water quality and
aquatic macroinvertebrate community composition data. This report will
provide local AOC Remedial Action Plan committees and other stakeholders
with insight into the success of local water quality and habitat
remediation and restoration efforts.
Select
this link to download the report
(size: 4.4 Mb).
“OFAH-J” Returns to
Hamilton Harbour
17 January 2007 - Dr. Scott Petrie and
Dr. Shannon Badzinski of the Long Point Waterfowl and Wetlands Research
Fund (LPWWRF) have been satellite tracking Lesser and Greater scaup from
Long Point and western Lake Ontario for two years. An initial group of 6
Lesser Scaup received tracking devices in 2005, and 20 more birds (18
Lesser Scaup and 2 Greater Scaup) were added to the study in 2006. An
additional 20 Lesser Scaup will receive transmitters between January and
March 2007. A better understanding of scaup migration between wintering
and breeding areas will help scientists to determine how pollutants in
staging areas may be affecting scaup reproduction. For
more information about the study visit the
online
Scaup Tracker.
The
photograph above was taken at Hamilton Harbour
on Lake Ontario two weeks ago by Frank and Sandra Horvath. This female
Greater Scaup, known as OFAH-J, was originally captured at Hamilton
Harbour in March 2006 and was implanted with a satellite transmitter by
LPWWRF researchers. Soon thereafter, she departed and migrated to a well
known scaup breeding area in western Alaska. Most recently she has made
the return voyage to winter once again at Hamilton Harbour. Researchers
are pleased to note that the bird is in good health and appears to be
paired. After ten months, OFAH-J’s transmitter is still operating and
scientists hope to be able to monitor her during another spring
migration.
Return to Top of Page
