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Christmas is Coming

15 October 2004 
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Marsh Monitoring Staff Attend State of the Lakes Ecosystem Conference

11 October 2004 - Bird Studies Canada’s Aquatic Surveys Scientist, Steve Timmermans, Marsh Monitoring Program Biologist, Tara Crew, and Aquatic Surveys Officer, Kathy Jones attended the State of the Lakes Ecosystem Conference (SOLEC) 2004 from 6-8 October. SOLEC 2004 was the sixth biennial conference in which the governments of Canada and the United States assess and report on the condition of the Great Lakes basin ecosystem. Attendees explored managerial implications of using indicators, considered the size of our Great Lakes "ecological footprint," and recognized the Great Lakes "success stories" that exemplify a commitment to preserving and restoring the environment. Tara and Steve presented their research to develop coastal wetland marsh bird and amphibian indicator indices, and staff attended managerial workshops held during the last two days of the conference. For more information about the conference, click here.

New U.S. Important Bird Area Established with Help of 
Marsh Monitoring Data

9 October 2004 - Audubon Ohio recently named Cuyahoga Valley National Park (CVNP) as an Important Bird Area (IBA) because the park provides critical natural habitats for breeding and migratory birds. An IBA is a site providing essential habitat for one or more species of breeding or non-breeding birds. These sites may contain threatened species, endemic species, species representative of a biome, or highly exceptional concentrations of birds. One of the sites specifically identified in this designation is the Towpath Trail Beaver Marsh. CVNP volunteers and staff participate in the Marsh Monitoring Program (MMP). Since 1995, they have collected data on both marsh birds and amphibians at Towpath Trail Beaver Marsh. MMP data contributed to the IBA nomination process. On 8 October, the park celebrated the dedication by recognizing its Citizen Scientists and partners, and launching a cooperative effort between the U.S. National Park Service and Parks Canada. MMP staff were invited but were unable to attend. For more information about the MMP, click here.
  As a 10-year participant in the Marsh Monitoring Program, CVNP is now looking forward to developing a partnership with another MMP area and a Canadian IBA - Point Pelee National Park. These two national parks have much in common - of the 244 bird species recorded in Cuyahoga Valley National Park, 241 are shared with Point Pelee National Park. Because these parks are important areas for migratory birds traveling from Canada across Lake Erie, the partners look forward to this new international cooperation for migratory species conservation. For additional information about CVNP, click here.

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First-ever Interactive Guide to Boreal Birds Available Online

7 October 2004, Seattle, WA - The Boreal Songbird Initiative (BSI), in partnership with the Ducks Unlimited and the National Wildlife Federation, has launched an interactive, online field guide to boreal birds, providing a new tool to the millions of U.S. bird enthusiasts who track birds at their backyard birdfeeders and in their local communities.
  Based on a recent Bird Studies Canada report, up to five billion birds - from warblers, sparrows, and thrushes to ducks, pelicans, cranes, and shorebirds - migrate from Canada's boreal forest to wintering grounds in the U.S. and farther south. More than ½ billion warblers of 27 species and close to a billion sparrows of 25 species are estimated to migrate out of the boreal each year. In addition, almost half of North America's ducks and geese use the boreal for some portion of their lifecycle.
  Marilyn Heiman, director of the Boreal Songbird Initiative said, "Fall migration is underway. The new boreal bird guide will help bird enthusiasts in the U.S. recognize which of the birds they see in their communities have traveled from nesting grounds in Canada's threatened and largely unprotected boreal forest region." Canada's boreal forest is a 1.4 billion acre greenbelt of forest, wetlands, tundra, rivers, and lakes that stretches across the centre of Canada from Alaska to the Atlantic Ocean. To view the Boreal Bird Guide, click here.

Controversial Curlew Raises Slender Hopes for Europe's Rarest Bird

Photo: N.C.Hazard from The Birds of the Niagara 
Frontier Region by Beardslee and Mitchell

5 October 2004, BirdLife International - Birdwatchers from across the continent have been flocking to the east coast of England to look for Europe's rarest bird.
  A possible Slender-billed Curlew has taken up residence at the Royal Society for the Protection of Bird's Minsmere Reserve on the Suffolk coast. BirdLife estimates the total world population of the species to now be less than 50 birds. However, so little is known about this critically endangered species that the bird's identification is refuted by some observers. To read the entire press release, click here.
  Interestingly, a record of the Slender-billed Curlew exists for Canada. An individual bird was shot at Crescent Beach on Lake Erie, ON about 1925. It was mounted and later turned over to the Buffalo Museum of Science in Buffalo, NY.

 

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Bird Studies Canada and the Society of Canadian Ornithologists 
Launch a New Journal of Ornithology

 

15 October 2004 - Thanks to key support provided by George Weston Limited and the Canadian Wildlife Service, Bird Studies Canada (BSC) and the Society of Canadian Ornithologists (SCO) are proud to announce the launch of a new journal of ornithology - "Avian Conservation and Ecology - Écologie et conservation des oiseaux" ("ACE-ECO"). The new journal will be the first fully-electronic, open-access (freely available) high quality ornithology journal in the world. As a partnership initiative of SCO and BSC, the new journal is not only a major milestone for both organizations, but it fills a long-awaited gap in Canadian ornithology. ACE-ECO will provide a venue for high-quality research papers that have a focus on population biology, ecology, and conservation of birds, including aspects such as species-at-risk, population modelling, analyses of population trends, evaluations of the impact of stressors on bird populations, and bird science and conservation policy.
  Because the journal will be freely available over the Internet, there will be no subscription fees, nor will any trees be sacrificed in its production!
  The BSC/SCO Journal Committee has selected an internationally-respected, online journal publisher ("Resilience Alliance") to professionally manage and produce Avian Conservation and Ecology. The Committee is also very proud to announce the selection of two prestigious scientists as Editors in Chief - Dr. Tom Nudds (University of Guelph, ON) and Dr. Marc-André Villard (University of Moncton, NB). A call for scientific papers is in preparation, and the first papers in the journal are scheduled to be published by fall 2005. Stay tuned for future updates! 

BSC to Participate in National Bird Conservation Meetings

14 October 2004 - Bird Studies Canada’s (BSC’s) President, Dr. George Finney, is travelling to Montague, PE on 19-20 October for meetings of the North American Wetlands Conservation Council (Canada) Committee and the North American Bird Conservation Initiative (NABCI) Canada Council. BSC's Atlantic Canada Program Manager, Becky Whittam, will be attending the meetings as an observer. For more information on NABCI, click here.

Another Year of Loon Surveys Wrapping Up

12 October 2004 - As cottagers and lake users visited their favourite lake this past weekend, many also completed their final Canadian Lakes Loon Survey (CLLS) for their lakes. Anyone who is still visiting their lake can survey up to 20 October 2004, and then return their forms to Kathy Jones, Aquatic Surveys Officer, or enter their data online by clicking here. Steve Timmermans, Aquatic Surveys Scientist, and Kathy Jones extend a warm thanks to all surveyors for their active participation this year and look forward to working with them in the future. For more information about the CLLS program, click here.

 

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Public Invited to Soar with the Eagles

14 October 2004 - Birds Studies Canada (BSC), in partnership with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, Canadian Wildlife Service, and Ontario Power Generation, has launched a new program, Destination Eagle, which uses the latest in satellite technology to track the movements of young juvenile Bald Eagles from the Long Point Bay area in southern Ontario. In June 2004, 10 Bald Eagle nests were accessed and 21 juvenile eagles were measured, banded, and blood sampled. In addition, three eaglets were equipped with lightweight, back-pack, satellite transmitters that turn on every five days. Transmissions from each of these birds are sent via satellite, and then the internet, to BSC headquarters, and then immediately translated to online maps on our "Eagle Tracker" web site.
  Destination Eagle will help answer some important questions about Bald Eagles in southern Ontario. Where do Bald Eagles go in the period between fledging and becoming a breeding adult (3-5 years later)? Where do they spend the winter? And where are the important stopover sites?
  BSC thanks Ontario Power Generation (OPG) for providing a generous grant of $25,000 to support this project. OPG affectionately named their sponsored eaglets Olivia, Pamela, and Genna. By 1 July, all three began their first exploratory flights away from their nest sites. Unfortunately, Genna, and an untagged banded sibling, were found dead within 200 metres of their nest tree in mid-September. The remains of both birds have been forwarded to the University of Guelph for necropsies. Olivia has moved to Manitoulin Island in Georgian Bay and her sibling, Pamela, has been tracked from the Long Point Bay area through Detroit to the upper region of the Mississippi River, in Illinois.
  Interested public are invited to soar with the eagles by following the journeys of these young eagles via the BSC's Eagle Tracker web site. To visit the web site, click here. If you have any questions about the project, or are interested in sponsoring an eagle, please contact Ms. Dawn Laing .

BSC to Attend the Montreal Bird and Nature Fair

14 October 2004 - The 20th Edition of the Great Bird and Nature Fair, organized by the Province of Québec Society for the Protection of Birds, will be held in Montreal on 6-7 November 2004. Many conservation groups, including Bird Studies Canada, along with wood carvers, artists, commercial vendors (optics, books, birdfeeders, etc.), and government agencies will be present. The event draws several thousand visitors each year. The fair will be held at Westmount High School from 10:00 to 5:00 p.m. both days. Entrance is free.

La 20e édition de la grande foire des oiseaux et de la nature, organisée par la Société québécoise de protection des oiseaux, aura lieu les 6 et 7 novembre à Montréal. Plusieurs groupes de conservation – incluant Études d’Oiseaux Canada- ainsi que des sculpteurs, artistes, commerces de vente au détail de matériel relatif à la faune (jumelles, livres, mangeoires, etc.) et agences gouvernementales seront présents. L’événement attire plusieurs milliers de visiteurs chaque année. La foire a lieu à l’école secondaire Westmount de 10h00 à 17h00 samedi et dimanche. L’entrée est libre.

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OFAH Supports Study on Waste Grain as a Food Source 
for Staging Waterfowl

14 October 2004 - BSC’s Long Point Waterfowl and Wetlands Research Fund (LPWWRF) recently received a $5000 contribution from the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters (OFAH). This generous contribution will be used to support research by Master of Science candidate, Ted Barney. The title of Ted's research project is: Changes in availability and nutritional quality of post-harvest waste grains for staging waterfowl near Long Point, Lake Erie. To learn more about LPWWRF, click here.

 

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