BC Coastal Waterbird/Beached Bird Survey Training: October 22
20 September 2011 – Bird Studies Canada’s (BSC) Karen Barry is
offering a free training workshop at Vancouver’s Stanley Park on
Saturday October 22, from 9:30 am to 2 pm. Strategically located in the
English Bay-Burrard Inlet Important Bird Area, the workshop will review
the techniques for conducting Beached Bird and Coastal Waterbird
Surveys, two of several of BSC’s BC-based Citizen Science monitoring
programs. The workshop is suitable for people willing to volunteer on an
ongoing basis or for those already participating in these programs and
who would like extra training.
The workshop will be held at the Stanley Park Ecology Society Office
in the Stanley Park Dining Pavilion. Pre-registration is required as
spots are limited. To sign up, contact Karen Barry (bcprograms@birdscanada.org)
or (604) 940-4688. Please dress for the weather and bring a bagged lunch
and binoculars if you have them. This workshop is co-sponsored by the
Stanley Park Ecology Society and
Nature Vancouver Birding Section.
Tracking Sable Island Gulls
Photo: Ingrid Pollet
30 September 2011 – In the spring of 2011, an Acadia University
research team led by Dr. Phil Taylor, Bird Studies Canada Chair in
Ornithology, captured Great Black-backed and Herring Gulls during the
breeding season to fit them with electronic tags and mark them with
coloured wing and leg bands. The purpose is to study how gulls interact
with offshore platforms and vessels, and to learn more about the
year-round movements of these birds. This research relies on reports of
banded birds spotted by birdwatchers, beach goers, offshore workers,
fishers, and keen observers anywhere. Sightings throughout the year will
help researchers to map out the home range and migration routes of Sable
Island gulls. Sable Island is currently designated as a Migratory Bird
Sanctuary, an Important Bird Area, and is slotted to become Canada’s
newest national park in the near future.
To learn more about this research and to read
the blog,
select this
link and to report your sightings of marked gulls, email
robert.ronconi@acadiau.ca. Photos are
welcome!
This research is supported by Encana Corporation and by Environment
Canada’s Canadian Wildlife Service. Encana is the owner and operator of
the Deep Panuke offshore natural gas project located 250 kilometres
southeast of Halifax, Nova Scotia on the Scotian Shelf.
Small IBA Gets a Big Clean-up
Photo: Ted d'Eon
30 September 2011 – Dozens of broken lobster traps and buoys,
hundreds of plastic oil and pop bottles, and a plethora of rope will no
longer clutter and degrade the nesting habitat for hundreds of terns,
including the endangered Roseate Tern, on the tiny North Brother Island off
West Pubnico, Nova Scotia. North Brother Island is part of the Brothers
Islands provincial Wildlife Management Area and a globally significant
Important Bird Area (IBA). Ted d’Eon, caretaker of the Brothers IBA and
tern colony, led a clean-up crew of local volunteers and staff from
Environment Canada’s Canadian Wildlife Service and Bird Studies Canada
on 15 September 2011. Though only 1/3 of a hectare in size, North
Brother is the largest of three known Roseate Tern breeding colonies in
Canada. Around 38 pairs of Roseate Terns nest bill-lengths apart from
600 pairs of Common and Arctic Terns. Ted and the group hope to
coordinate another clean-up event to remove litter deposited by winter
storms before terns arrive next spring. To learn more about Ted’s
remarkable stewardship efforts at the Brothers IBA,
select this link.
2011 Ontario SwiftWatch Season Comes to an End
30 September 2011 – The 2011
Ontario SwiftWatch season is drawing to
an end, and the majority of Ontario’s Chimney Swifts are undergoing
their annual migration to the Upper Amazon Basin in South America. The
program has grown considerably this year, with new SwiftWatch groups in
Sault Ste. Marie, North Bay, Brockville and surrounding area, the
Niagara Peninsula, and Toronto. Ontario SwiftWatch now operates in 15
communities, collecting casual observations and standardized data from
over 100 volunteers across the province.
Information collected by Ontario SwiftWatch volunteers continues to
reveal new nest and roost sites and increase our knowledge about Chimney
Swifts and their habitat in Ontario. Please continue to submit any
Chimney Swift observations from 2011, as this information is invaluable
in directing conservation and stewardship efforts for Chimney Swifts in
Ontario and throughout their Canadian range. We appreciate all of your
hard work, and look forward to seeing your results from the 2011
SwiftWatch season. This project is undertaken with the financial support
of TD Friends of the Environment Foundation.
Duck Day – An Overwhelming Success!
30 September 2011 – Long Point Waterfowl (LPW) hosted their first
annual Duck Day celebration on Sunday September 25 at their Research and
Education Centre near Turkey Point, Ontario. The weather cooperated, and
over 500 people (200 plus kids!) came out to enjoy the afternoon, visit
the many booths (representation by over 25 organizations, carvers,
artists, and vendors), listen to presentations, watch retriever
demonstrations and a raptor show, and participate in nature hikes. Hot
dogs, sausages on a bun, and assorted beverages were provided throughout
the afternoon, courtesy of LPW. The kids received gifts, won prizes from
entering scavenger hunts and other contests, learned more about nature,
proudly carried around the decoys they had painted, and filled the air
with their enthusiastic duck calling! To view Duck Day photos,
select
this link.
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