Bicknell’s
Thrush Research Presented in Prince Edward Island
29 October 2004
- BSC's Atlantic Canada Program Manager, Becky Whittam, attended the
Atlantic Society of Fish and Wildlife Biologists' meeting in Stanley
Bridge, PE, 26-27 October. Becky presented a paper on "The High
Elevation Landbird Program: Monitoring Bicknell's Thrush in Atlantic
Canada." For more information on the High Elevation Landbird
Program, click
here.
Satellite
Tracking Continues Through Destination Eagle
28 October 2004
- Destination Eagle, BSC’s Bald Eagle monitoring project,
continues to provide regular updates on the whereabouts of two
transmitter-fitted eagles, Olivia and Pamela, through our Eagle Tracker
web page. These two adventurous eagles have now travelled far from their
nest site in Long Point, ON. To date, we have followed Pamela from Long
Point to Lake Michigan, through Detroit City, to mid-state Illinois.
Apparently Pamela has found a favourite watering hole along the upper
Mississippi as she has been located in this area for the last month.
Satellite transmissions suggest she has been sharing her time between a
wildlife reserve and an army depot!
Olivia,
Pamela's sibling, travelled north from Long Point to the Bruce Peninsula
where, for three weeks, she did not appear to move. To further
investigate, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources (OMNR) staff from the
Espanola area enthusiastically volunteered their time to locate Olivia
using radio telemetry technology. To our surprise, the day after the MNR
team began the search, transmissions revealed that she had moved on to
upper-Michigan. To keep tabs on their further adventures, visit our
Eagle Tracker web site by clicking
here.
Some
evidence suggests that southern Ontario eagles may have shortened life-spans,
which could be linked to the accumulation of lead and mercury in their
bodies. In collaboration with the Canadian Wildlife Service and OMNR,
and through important support from Ontario Power Generation, Bird Studies Canada initiated Destination Eagle in 2004 to determine
where these migratory birds are acquiring toxic chemicals.
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TD
Canada Trust Friends of the Environment Fund
Supports Destination Eagle
28
October 2004 - Bird Studies Canada is pleased to announce the
securement of two grants from TD Canada Trust Friends of the Environment
Fund for Bald Eagle monitoring through Destination Eagle. The London
chapter has committed $5000 to fund a transmitter for a juvenile eagle
in their region and the Windsor chapter is supporting local banding and
associated field work to the sum of $1000. To learn how you can sponsor
an eagle in 2005 field season, contact BSC’s Bald Eagle Program
Coordinator, Dawn Laing, at .
BSC
Programs to be Presented at the Université de Sherbrooke
27 October 2004
- On 12 November 2004, Catherine Poussart, coordinator of the Marsh
Monitoring Program in Québec, will be speaking to Ecology students at
the Université de Sherbrooke, QC. Catherine will provide an overview of
Bird Studies Canada, the Marsh Monitoring Program, and Project
NestWatch. The presentation will be addressed to undergraduate students,
however graduate students are also invited to attend.
Le 12 novembre,
Catherine Poussart, coordonnatrice québécoise du programme de
surveillance des marais, sera la conférencière invitée du cours d’écologie
de l’Université de Sherbrooke. Catherine présentera aux étudiants
de premier et deuxième cycle Études d’Oiseaux Canada, le programme
de surveillance des marais et le programme de suivi des oiseaux nicheurs.
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BSC
to Attend Biological Monitoring Conference in BC
25
October 2004 - BSC’s British Columbia Projects Coordinator,
Tasha Smith, will be attending the international conference, Monitoring
the effectiveness of biological conservation, in Richmond, BC, and
presenting a poster about Bird Studies Canada’s regional programs in
BC. This conference will focus on different monitoring techniques, and
their usefulness in determining the sustainability of natural resources.
The meeting will bring together resource managers, scientists,
environmental groups, and decision makers with an interest in the
conservation of biological diversity from around the world. The
conference runs from 2-4 November. For more information, click
here.
Cape
Breton Beached Bird Survey Documents Seabird Mortality
21 October 200
4 - Results are in from the third year of the Cape Breton
Beached Bird Survey. Between July 2003 and July 2004, a total of 118
surveys were conducted on 28 beaches. Thirty beached birds were found,
six of which showed signs of oiling (20%). Oiling rates were higher than
in 2002-2003 (0%), but not as high as the first year of the survey
(85%). The most common species found in 2003-2004 were Dovekies and
Herring Gulls. A single new beach on the Gulf of St. Lawrence side of
Cape Breton accounted for 20% of all beached birds found in 2003-2004.
After three years of surveys in Cape Breton, the overall rate of
deposition of beached birds is 0.18 birds per kilometre, which is much
lower than that recorded in southern Newfoundland but within the range
of deposition rates reported for other parts of North America. The
overall bird oiling rate is 57% over three years, the second-highest
rate recorded on a beached bird survey in North America (after
Newfoundland). Click
here to download the full report .
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Scaup
Research Receives Additional Support
20 October 2004
- The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources recently contributed $6000
to Scott Petrie's research on contaminant burdens (especially selenium)
in Lesser and Greater scaup staging on the lower Great Lakes. Scott is
the Research Director of BSC's Long Point Waterfowl and Wetland Research
Fund (LPWWRF). For more information on LPWWRF, click
here.
BSC
Banders Receive Certification
18 October 2004
- Congratulations to Stuart Mackenzie, BSC’s Long Point Bird
Observatory (LPBO) Landbird Program Coordinator, and Christian Friis,
LPBO's Tip Warden, who were recently certified as banders by the North
American Banding Council. The two spent 1-3 October at Braddock Bay Bird
Observatory in Rochester, NY being tested and evaluated by some of North
America's finest trainers. The North American Banding Council has
developed a bander training and certification program to set standards
of knowledge, experience, and skills for bird banders in North America.
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