Willow Beach News Archive June 2010
Willow Beach Field Naturalists News
Northern Map Turtle, Ganaraska River Port Hope Photo © Bruce Parker
Percy Creek Watershed Day July 17
On Saturday, July 17, 2010, come to Percy Creek and check its streams for water flow. Help build a better understanding of how water and fish are moving through Percy Creek.
Bring your family and friends or meet new people by joining a Stream Team!
Location:
Alderville Black Oak Savanna Address 8467 County Road 18, just west of Highway 45 in Alderville
To find out more click on the link below.
June Sightings of Interest
Northern Map Turtle Found in Port Hope
WBFN member Gary Little found a large Northern Map Turtle sunning itself on a rock in the Ganaraska River in Port Hope. The turtle is listed as a species of special concern both in Ontario and Canada. For more information on Northern Map Turtles and other turtles in our area click here.
Photos © Bruce Parker
While not visible in these photos Northern Map Turtles have fine yellow lines on their shells that look like the contour lines on a topographic map. However what is clearly visible in these photos is the low shell with the serrated rear margin which are identifying characteristics of this species.
Chuck-will's-widow
While participating in the Carden Challenge on the Carden Alvar, Dan Bone and a group of birders heard a single calling Chuck-will's-widow from 10:45 to 11:00 p.m on Doyle Road east of Victoria Road (City of Kawartha Lakes Road 35) on the night of June 19th. Some birders from WBFN travelled to Carden on Monday June 21st and were treated to the sounds of this rare visitor to Ontario. According to the Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Ontario 2001-2005 the only documented nest of a Chuck-will's-widow was found at Point Pelee National Park in 1977.
Chuck-will's-widow Photo © Barry Cherriere
To hear a brief portion of a recording of the Chuck-will's-widow that was made on June 21st by Bruce Parker - Click here
The Ontario Field Ornithologists 2010 Baillie Birdathon Celebrity Birder - WBFN Member Margaret Bain
Read Margaret's report about her Baillie Birdathon which she conducted in Northumberland County by clicking on the link below.
Margaret Bain 2010 Baillie Birdathon Report
Willow Beach Field Naturalists Scholarship - First Recipient Chosen
Willow Beach Field Naturalists will present for the first time in 2010 a $1000 Education Scholarship to Megan Reid from Port Hope High School. Megan is an enthusiastic and active environmental leader in her school has participated in a number of environmental projects and programs during her high school years. Watch for more details in an upcoming feature on the Education Page.
WBFN Annual Education Award Winners 2010
WBFN has supported Port Hope and Cobourg area elementary and secondary schools for the last eight years with an education program that endeavors to foster the interest of young people in the natural world and enhance their knowledge of current environmental issues.
The winning schools for the 2009-2010 Education Awards program were St. Mary's Catholic Elementary School, in Campbellford, 
Plainville Public School, and Notre Dame Catholic Elementary School in Cobourg. The winning proposals involved waste reduction programs, an extensive school naturalization project and the purchase of equipment and resources for environmental education programs.
Go to the Education Page to read about the winning proposals.
St. Mary's Elementary School Students with Teacher Joshua Charpentier and WBFN Executive member Carole Payne. Photo © Bruce Parker
Northumberland Summer Bird Count
Photos From Area 1 © Bruce Parker
WBFN Participates In Whimbrel Tracking Project
Whimbrel At Darlington Beach Photo © Jean Iron
WBFN Vice-President Ben Walters presented a proposal to the WBFN Executive last February to participate in an important scientific study involving migrating Whimbrels. Ben had learned about the project at a presentation he had attended and the Executive decided to proceed after hearing the details.
Whimbrel Scanner Installed at Presqu'ile Provincial Park Photo © Ben Walters
This spring, as Whimbrel migrate from their wintering grounds in northwestern South America some of them are being equipped with satellite transmitters and 8.5g VHF radio transmitters on the coast of Virginia. As part of a project with the Center for Conservation Biology, run out of the College of William and Mary, and the Nature Conservancy in Virginia the Willow Beach Field Naturalists have rented and deployed a radio receiver at Presqu’ile Provincial Park to help track Whimbrel on their migration to the Arctic. With the support of Don Tyerman, Biodiversity Specialist, and David Bree, Natural Heritage Education Leader, a constantly scanning ATS (Advanced Telemetry Systems) receiver was installed in a greenhouse behind the Park maintenance shed on May 20, 2010. The receiver has approximately a 5km scanning radius and rolls through the pre-programmed radio frequencies that the Whimbrel are transmitting approximately every 5 seconds. There are also tracking receivers at Colonel Sam Smith and Tommy Thompson Park (the Leslie Street Spit). In 2009, 10 of the 38 Whimbrels outfitted with transmitters in Virginia were “captured” by the receiver at Tommy Thompson Park. Two of those birds averaged a flight speed between 65 and 81 km/hr after leaving Virginia. The observations of Whimbrel outfitted with satellite transmitters yielded some very interested information about Whimbrel migration – they do not follow the expected patterns (What else would be expected from nature?).
.... Ben Walters
Whimbrel at Presqu'ile Provincial Park Photo © Bill Edmunds
For more information on the Whimbrel tracking project click on each of the following links:
http://www.ccb-wm.org/programs/migration/Whimbrel/whimbrel.htm
http://www.ccb-wm.org/news/2009_SeptDec/wintering_whimbrels.html
http://www.ccb-wm.org/news/2009_MayAug/whimbrel_connections.html
Whimbrel Migrating Along The Toronto Waterfront Photo © Jean Iron
For up to date tracking information of Whimbrels outfitted with satellite transmitters click on the following link:
http://www.seaturtle.org/tracking/?project_id=369
To view a Whimbrel with a visible satellite antenna that was photographed on the Leslie Streee Spit in Toronto Sunday May 23 click on the following link:
http://outdoorontario.net/birds/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=5630
To read more about one of the Whimbrels in the tracking project featured in the May 2010 Toronto Ornithological Newsletter:
Whimbrel Resting at Presqu'ile Provincial Park Photo © Bruce Parker
Nature News
Identifying Birds with Dendroica
From Bird Studies Canada Latest News May 21 2010......
On International Migratory Bird Day, a new web-based bird identification tool called Dendroica was introduced by the Honourable Jim Prentice, Canadian Environment Minister.
The interactive website was developed to help students, volunteers, professionals, and the general public improve their birding skills by learning to identify birds by song or sight, particularly so that they can participate in nature survey and monitoring programs. This innovative technology will enhance birders’ ability to collect information for a large variety of Citizen Science programs, such as those administered by Bird Studies Canada and our partners.
The site includes bird species from Canada, the United States, and Mexico, and features photographs and sound recordings. Registered users can select lists of species to study, such as all the breeding (or non-breeding) species in a particular region, or species with a particular song type. Knowledge acquired on the website can be tested with the quiz function.
Select this link to explore the Dendroica resource.
Presqu'ile Provincial Park
Warblers and Whimbrels Weekend
Willow Beach Banding Group participated in the annual Presqu'ile Provincial Park Warblers and Whimbrels Weekend on May 22 and May 23. This was the 13th year that Elizabeth Kellogg and Roger Frost have been part of the annual migration activities in the park. With assistance from Katsu Sakuma this year, they demonstrated how bird banding is done and why it is important. Over the two days they were able to band 23 birds representing 16 different species. Elizabeth and Roger put on banding demonstrations at Presqu'ile during the spring and fall as well as other locations including Darlington Provincial Park, Thickson's Woods and at the Alderville Black Oak Savannah. Watch for an upcoming feature on the Willow Beach Banding Group.
Elizabeth Kellogg explains the process of bird banding.
Photo © Bruce Parker
Lincoln's Sparrow one of the species banded during the weekend.
Photo © Katsu Sakuma
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