BSC Welcomes New Staff in Québec Office
17 May 2006 - BSC is
pleased to welcome Andrew Coughlan to its regional office in Québec
City. Mr. Coughlan will be responsible for the delivery of BSC's
programs in Québec, including the delivery of the Québec Marsh
Monitoring Program. Mr. Coughlan is fully bilingual and has a diverse
background working with birds, including The Zoological Society of
London (England), The Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, and the Tadoussac
Bird Observatory in Québec, as well as with mushrooms through Université
Laval, Québec. Mr. Coughlan will be replacing Catherine Poussart during
her one-year maternity leave beginning at the end of May and can be
reached at the following address, effective June 1: 1141, route de
l'Église, P.O. Box 10 100, Québec, Québec, G1V 4H5, Ph. 418-649-6062,
acoughlan@bsc-eoc.org.
ÉOC est fière d’accueillir Andrew Coughlan à son
bureau régional de Québec. Monsieur Coughlan sera responsable de la
livraison des programmes d’ÉOC au Québec, incluant la mise en œuvre du
Programme de surveillance des marais du Québec http://www.bsc-eoc.org/regional/qcmarais.html
. Monsieur Coughlan est bilingue et possède une expérience de travail
diversifiée reliée aux oiseaux, acquise notamment au sein des organismes
suivants : The Zoological Society of London (Angleterre), The Wildfowl
and Wetlands Trust (Angleterre) et l’Observatoire d’oiseaux de Tadoussac
(Québec). Monsieur Coughlan possède également une bonne connaissance des
champignons grâce à son travail récent à l’Université Laval (Québec).
Andrew Coughlan remplacera Catherine Poussart lors de son congé de
maternité d’un an qui débutera à la fin mai. Les coordonnées pour
joindre monsieur Coughlan à partir du 1er juin sont : 1141, route de
l’Église, C.P. 10 100 (Québec) Québec, G1V 4H5, (418) 649-6062,
acoughlan@bsc-eoc.org.
Field Season Gears up in Maritimes
16 May 2006
- Bird Studies Canada field crews are eagerly preparing for summer
bird research all across Atlantic Canada. In southern Nova Scotia,
Piping Plover staff have already started locating nests of the
endangered shorebird. Despite inclement weather, staff have searched 16
southern beaches and have located five nests. Maritimes Breeding Bird
Atlas and High Elevation Landbird Program staff will soon be traveling
to remote regions of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Here they will
conduct point counts of local breeding birds, and gather information on
the elusive Bicknell's Thrush. Field crews will often be tenting in
isolated campsites, waking before dawn and working long hours to get as
much information in these remote areas as possible. Atlas staff Isabelle
Robichaud and Frédéric Paillard will be conducting work mainly in the
francophone regions of the Maritimes from southwestern Nova Scotia to
Northern New Brunswick. Emily MacKinnon and Greg Campbell will conduct
High Elevation Landbird Program and Atlas activities in the more remote
regions of Northern New Brunswick, while Stephen Gullage will work in
Cape Breton prior to heading to Southern New Brunswick for Atlas
workshops there.
Atlas volunteers have already
begun collecting data on birds breeding in their areas, and Atlas staff
will be offering on-site training opportunities to participants
throughout the Maritimes. These sessions will allow participants to get
familiar with Atlas methods. Also for early risers, teams will
demonstrate the ins and outs of birding by ear and the point count
method. All are encouraged to join in the fun! To find out more about
the Maritimes Breeding Bird Atlas and how to participate in surveys,
click here. To find out more about BSC's other Atlantic
Region programs,
click here.
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Researchers are Boreal Bound
12 May 2006
- Fergus Nicoll, Boreal Forest Assistant Biologist, and a small crew
of student field assistants have returned to boggy spruce forests of the
north where they will remain until the month of August. These
researchers will be conducting point counts and habitat surveys in and
around areas where different silvicultural practices have occurred as
well as in areas of recent forest files. Research has suggested that at
the forest stand level there are significant differences in abundance
and distribution of some boreal bird species. Ryan Zimmerling, Boreal
Forest Research Associate, and Fergus, are working in partnership with
the Canadian Wildlife Service and Abitibi-Consolidated Inc in
coordinating a project to determine which particular aspects of forest
management are responsible for differences in bird communities between
recently burned and harvested sites. Accommodations will be primarily
tents along the thousands of lakes in this beautiful area of Ontario.
They will no doubt have a challenging yet enjoyable field season in this
breeding ground of millions of birds as well as billions and billions of
black flies and mosquitoes.
Maritimes Breeding Bird Atlas Launched to the Media
11 May 2006
- Media representatives, atlassers, regional coordinators, and Atlas
staff gathered this past week for the official Maritimes Breeding Bird
Atlas media launch held at the Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History in
Halifax and the following day at the Moncton Museum in New Brunswick.
Both launches were successful and brought in ample television, radio,
and newspaper coverage to the project. Since these launches,
registrations for the Atlas have been pouring in! The Maritimes Breeding
Bird Atlas is the largest citizen science project ever undertaken in the
Maritimes, and the number of participants in this second Atlas is
expected to easily eclipse the 1,100+ who participated in the first
Atlas 20 years ago.
Karel Allard, Atlas
Coordinator, gave a presentation on the need for community involvement
in the Atlas. "This is not just for science but involves the entire
community, as it did 20 years ago," he said. He also discussed the role
of the Atlas in raising conservation awareness and alerting us to
environmental concerns. "By gathering comprehensive bird information in
every part of the Maritimes, we will gain valuable insights into how
natural and human influences such as land use, climate change and other
factors are affecting the environmental well-being of the region where
we live."
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Banded Eagle Recovered
1 May 2006
- In mid-April, an injured immature male eagle was found near
Shelburne, Ontario (north of Guelph). The Ministry of Natural Resources
was contacted and a local Society for the Protection of Cruelty to
Animals (SPCA) officer transported the bird to a nearby wildlife
rehabilitation centre. The injury consisted of soft tissue damage to the
left wing as a result of an apparent gunshot wound. Under the skillful
care of the rehabilitator, the bird quickly recovered from this serious
injury and was released back into the wild in early May. What makes this
even more of a good news story is that this particular bird had been
banded by Bird Studies Canada (BSC) staff as nestling in 2004 at a
location near Long Point, Ontario. It is a rare event when we are
re-united with one of the eaglets banded under the Southern Ontario Bald
Eagle Monitoring Program and more often than not the report is of a bird
found dead. Collecting information on the whereabouts of eaglets once
leaving the nest is critical to understanding survival rates and also
the sources of contaminants observed in adult birds. Through the
"Destination Eagle" program, researchers at BSC have been able to use
satellite technology to track the weekly movements of young eagles and
pinpoint their precise locations over several years. To date nine
eaglets have been affixed with satellite transmitters, with plans to
include an additional five in 2006. Keep an eye on "Eagle
Tracker" where you can follow the journeys of these birds.
Long Point Bird Observatory Launches New Boat
23
April 2006 - Thanks to a substantial capital grant from the
Ontario Trillium Foundation, Long Point Bird Observatory (LPBO) had a
20ft welded aluminum boat custom made for our specific needs on Long
Point. LPBO's two remote field stations, the Tip and Breakwater, can
only be serviced by water. The waters of Lake Erie are not always
forgiving and maintaining the operations at the remote field stations
can be very demanding. Traditionally this has been done by a tandem of
16 foot aluminum boats. The yet to be named boat was launched
successfully on 23 April, and has since made five successful trips back
and forth to the Tip in a variety of weather conditions. It has already
made a large difference in our ability to safely and efficiently service
our field stations.
The Ontario Trillium Foundation, an agency of the
Ontario Ministry of Culture, receives annually $100 million of
government funding generated through Ontario's charity casino
initiative. More information about the Ontario Trillium Foundation can
be found by clicking here.
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