Garry Budyk has just sent these interesting behavioral notes:
March 3rd: At home in East Kildonan , I observed a male House Finch doing a spirited courtship dance around a female , with the female following his movements carefully and responding by lowering her head and opening her mouth wide . No food was exchanged but the interaction went on for several minutes . It seems much too soon for a serious mating attempt , but it may show how early House Finches begin their pair bonding and courtship rituals .
March 7th: I observed a male House Finch feeding the female
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Friday, March 5, 2010
Atlas Launch - April 9 - 11 Schedule
Manitoba Breeding Bird Atlas - Launch and Free Public Workshop:
Location:
FortWhyte Alive, Winnipeg
Dates and Times:
Dates and Times:
Friday 9th April 7pm – 9pm
Saturday 10th Apri1 10am – 4pm
Sunday 11th April 10am – 4pm
Saturday 10th Apri1 10am – 4pm
Sunday 11th April 10am – 4pm
SCHEDULE:
Friday April 9th 7pm – 9pm
Reception with the Minister of Conservation, Silent Auction and "meet the owl" with Nemo, Pepper and their favourite perch, Jim Duncan.
Saturday April 10th 10am - 4pm
All day registration available. View our maps and maybe select an atlas square or meet your regional coordinator
10:00am: Atlassing Presentation: Learn about breeding bird atlases –their history and their purpose and how you can get involved
11:00am: Enjoy the photography and stories of naturalist, photographer and author Bob Taylor as he showcases beautiful Manitoba
2:00pm: An outdoor workshop on how to atlas for birds – bring your binoculars and a pencil and clipboard!
3:00pm: An outdoor workshop on how to use hand-held GPS units – useful for recording the location of birds
Friday April 9th 7pm – 9pm
Reception with the Minister of Conservation, Silent Auction and "meet the owl" with Nemo, Pepper and their favourite perch, Jim Duncan.
Saturday April 10th 10am - 4pm
All day registration available. View our maps and maybe select an atlas square or meet your regional coordinator
10:00am: Atlassing Presentation: Learn about breeding bird atlases –their history and their purpose and how you can get involved
11:00am: Enjoy the photography and stories of naturalist, photographer and author Bob Taylor as he showcases beautiful Manitoba
2:00pm: An outdoor workshop on how to atlas for birds – bring your binoculars and a pencil and clipboard!
3:00pm: An outdoor workshop on how to use hand-held GPS units – useful for recording the location of birds
Sunday April 11th 10am - 4pm
10:30am: Atlassing Presentation: Learn about breeding bird atlases –their history and their purpose and how you can get involved
2:00pm: An outdoor workshop on how to atlas for birds – bring your binoculars and a pencil and clipboard!
3:00pm: An outdoor workshop on how to use hand-held GPS units – useful for recording the location of birds
Registration will be available the whole weekend! Workshops will be held in small groups so you can see first hand how to “atlas” for birds. Staff and experienced volunteers will be on hand to explain the project and answer questions. Drop in whenever you can!
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Screech-owl pair bonding
In the last few days some Winnipeg Eastern Screech-Owls have been engaged in pair bonding including an observation of a pair copulating on March 1st (probable breeding). With the warmer temperatures, it is worth listening for owls already! Can you tell which is the male and which is the female in the pair of Eastern Screech-Owls in the photo below by atlas coordinator Christian Artuso?
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Part of a team
The beauty of a breeding bird atlas is that ANYONE can participate and EVERYONE can build their skill set. Whether you are simply documenting a robin nesting under your eaves trough or a hawk nest you spotted on the road, or submitting a photograph of a species you can’t identify, or signing up to cover a grid square (20 hour commitment) or maybe conducting point counts or going wilderness camping with a supplied recording device, we need YOU!
The Manitoba Breeding Bird Atlas has 14 administrative regions. You can view a map of the regions below or go to: http://www.birdatlas.mb.ca/mbdata/regions.jsp?lang=en for a larger version and a list regional coordinators whom you can contact for more information or how, when and where to atlas and to sign up for a square.
And, if you are not from Manitoba, we would be delighted to invite you to come here to participate in this conservation initiative and to enjoy a truly remarkable wilderness experience. Anyone can participate as an individual or as part of a team. In fact, we want to get everyone involved as part of the largest team of all – people who care about the environment and who are actively engaged in protecting their environment in all sorts of ways. If looking for birds in prairie grasslands or experience the enormity and richness of the remote boreal forest appeals to you, please get in touch and we will provide logistical support and information. You may even be able to attend some of our training workshops or special events to learn more about “atlassing” for birds.
If you cannot come to Manitoba, there are currently four Breeding Bird Atlas projects ongoing in Canada. In addition to the Manitoba Breeding Bird Atlas, you can look at:
British Columbia http://www.birdatlas.bc.ca/english/index.jsp
Maritime Provinces http://www.mba-aom.ca/english/index.html
Québec http://www.atlas-oiseaux.qc.ca/index_fr.jsp
The Manitoba Breeding Bird Atlas has 14 administrative regions. You can view a map of the regions below or go to: http://www.birdatlas.mb.ca/mbdata/regions.jsp?lang=en for a larger version and a list regional coordinators whom you can contact for more information or how, when and where to atlas and to sign up for a square.
And, if you are not from Manitoba, we would be delighted to invite you to come here to participate in this conservation initiative and to enjoy a truly remarkable wilderness experience. Anyone can participate as an individual or as part of a team. In fact, we want to get everyone involved as part of the largest team of all – people who care about the environment and who are actively engaged in protecting their environment in all sorts of ways. If looking for birds in prairie grasslands or experience the enormity and richness of the remote boreal forest appeals to you, please get in touch and we will provide logistical support and information. You may even be able to attend some of our training workshops or special events to learn more about “atlassing” for birds.
If you cannot come to Manitoba, there are currently four Breeding Bird Atlas projects ongoing in Canada. In addition to the Manitoba Breeding Bird Atlas, you can look at:
British Columbia http://www.birdatlas.bc.ca/english/index.jsp
Maritime Provinces http://www.mba-aom.ca/english/index.html
Québec http://www.atlas-oiseaux.qc.ca/index_fr.jsp
Declines in bird populations
A short while ago, the Manitoba Breeding Bird Atlas Coordinator, Christian Artuso, was asked to write an article on the decline of songbirds for the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. Here is his assessment of the situation: http://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/commentary/fast-facts-manitobas-silent-spring
You can also download a pdf of that same article by clicking on the above link, scrolling down to the bottom and then clicking under where it says “Download Related Material”
Hope you enjoy this article!
Canada Warbler - Threatened, COSEWIC 2008. Photo by Christian Artuso.
You can also download a pdf of that same article by clicking on the above link, scrolling down to the bottom and then clicking under where it says “Download Related Material”
Hope you enjoy this article!
Canada Warbler - Threatened, COSEWIC 2008. Photo by Christian Artuso.
The Manitoba Breeding Bird Atlas
Welcome to the Manitoba Breeding Bird Atlas!
This is an exciting new project to engage as many people as possible in environmental monitoring. We firmly believe that by getting involved in the process of monitoring ecosystems that people will learn to better appreciate the environment and better understand the amazing biodiversity that exist right in our own backyard.
The Manitoba Breeding Bird Atlas will give you a chance to be part of documenting the distribution and abundance of all bird species that breed in Manitoba. Over five years (2010 – 2014), we will put together the most comprehensive data set on Manitoba’s birds ever assembled; a data set with numerous conservation applications and with enormous power to inform our conservation decisions and priority setting exercises. To do this we, we need to cover every corner of this province and to do that we need you!
If you’d like to get involved, please visit http://birdatlas.mb.ca/ . You can also stay tuned to this blog, or become a follower. We will document the progress of the Manitoba Breeding Bird Atlas here, with a liberal sprinkle of photographs and images!
This is an exciting new project to engage as many people as possible in environmental monitoring. We firmly believe that by getting involved in the process of monitoring ecosystems that people will learn to better appreciate the environment and better understand the amazing biodiversity that exist right in our own backyard.
The Manitoba Breeding Bird Atlas will give you a chance to be part of documenting the distribution and abundance of all bird species that breed in Manitoba. Over five years (2010 – 2014), we will put together the most comprehensive data set on Manitoba’s birds ever assembled; a data set with numerous conservation applications and with enormous power to inform our conservation decisions and priority setting exercises. To do this we, we need to cover every corner of this province and to do that we need you!
If you’d like to get involved, please visit http://birdatlas.mb.ca/ . You can also stay tuned to this blog, or become a follower. We will document the progress of the Manitoba Breeding Bird Atlas here, with a liberal sprinkle of photographs and images!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
