Very busy with fieldwork lately but here’s a preview of a post that will be going up in the next day or two ; )
Fundraiser for Frontenac Bird Studies
Frontenac Bird Studies is a program of Migration Research Foundation – a non-profit organization dedicated to avian research and monitoring. Since its inception the FBS program has been successfully delivered through the annual support of environmental grant makers and private donors. The Frontenac Biothon was created as an event that would raise important funds for our work and make a beneficial contribution to science and conservation at the same time. Our inaugural biothon in 2010 was a great success as our three teams of nature nuts recorded 441 species, which included a pair of Red-headed Woodpeckers – a threatened species and only the second breeding record for Frontenac Provincial Park!
This year our teams will have their sights on the 500 species barrier when we take to the woods and lakes on June 11-12, 2011. Our biologists will be identifying all plants, mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles and insects encountered but will have a specific focus on rare species and designated Species at Risk. The Frontenac Arch is such a biodiverse region that we are guaranteed to have some exciting finds to share after the event!
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How you can Help
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While our biothon teams have all the fun battling bugs, swamps and steep terrain – it’s the sponsors that make the event happen! Frontenac Bird Studies is a program of the Migration Research Foundation – a registered charitable organization in the U.S and Canada. All sponsors receive a tax-creditable receipt for donations over $10. You can sponsor the Frontenac Biothon by mail (see below for details) or online through Paypal. 100% of donations will go directly to support FBS programs.
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Sponsor a Frontenac Biothon Participant
Seabrooke Leckie & Dan Derbyshire
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Julia Marko Dunn & Chris Dunn
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Steve Gillis & Karina Dykstra
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You can also sponsor the biothon by cheque through regular mail. Please complete the cheque to Migration Research Foundation. Simply include the name of the biothon participant you wish to sponsor on the memo line of the cheque and send the envelope to our address below.
.Frontenac Bird Studies
2386 Bathurst 5th Concession
RR7, Perth, ON.
K7H 3C9
Northern Map Turtles
The Northern Map Turtle (Graptemys geographica) is a common inhabitant of medium to large lakes in Frontenac Provincial Park and is listed as a species of Special Concern by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC). The Frontenac Arch region is also home to significant populations of Blanding’s Turtle (Emydoidea blandingii) and the Eastern Musk Turtle (Sternotherus odoratus), both of which are listed as Threatened species by COSEWIC.
The map turtles are easily the most frequently encountered turtle species during our fieldwork, followed by Blanding’s, Snapping and Painted. Unfortunately I have yet to encounter the Eastern Musk or “Stinkpot” Turtle in the park, which isn’t that surprising given their small size and strictly aquatic habits. Hopefully I’ll luck into one this summer. Click here for a very interesting account of this unique species by researchers at the Queen’s University Biological Station of nearby Opinicon Lake (~20km northeast of FPP office).
Frontenac Bird Studies in 2011
Year three is underway….
Despite lingering winter-like conditions our third season officially kicked off with an early Louisiana Waterthrush belting out its song from a creek near Canoe Lake Road on April 19, 2011 – a great start! Our first two years of Frontenac Bird Studies were very productive and we’re excited to begin our 3rd, which is shaping up to be our busiest field season so far.
The blueprints for 2011
In 2010 we launched inventories of two rare breeding warbler species within our core study area. We examined over twenty potential breeding sites for Louisiana Waterthrush last season, which produced several locations occupied by singing males, two previously unknown breeding sites and also a nest with four eggs in Frontenac Provincial Park. The results from 2010 have raised many more questions that compel us to investigate this species on an annual basis. This year we will increase our coverage by visiting previously unexplored habitat and also revisit occupied sites to bolster our data on productivity and fidelity. Perhaps the most exciting result of 2010 was our inventory of Prairie Warblers in the rock barrens of Frontenac Provincial Park. We have received word that the Frontenac colony is the largest away from the Georgian Bay core population. In 2011 we will be undertaking a detailed study of the Prairie Warblers in the park, which will involve extensive nest searching and colour banding to examine demography, ecology and stability of the population. In addition to these projects we will be operating our network of Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship (MAPS) stations for a third consecutive year – Rock Ridge (RRID), Maplewood Bog (MABO) and Blue Lakes (BLAK). Lastly, as time permits we will be conducting area searches for Species at Risk and habitats that haven’t been adequately covered by our operations to date. In particular we will be looking for Red-headed Woodpecker (Threatened), Short-eared Owl (Threatened) and Golden-winged Warbler (Threatened) in Frontenac Provincial Park. It’s going to be a busy season for sure!
Frontenac Biothon 2011
Frontenac Bird Studies is made possible through the support of our many volunteers, sponsors and private donors. In July 2010 we held our first annual fundraiser, the Frontenac Biothon, which successfully raised funds for our work and also contributed to science and conservation at the same time. Over 400 species were documented and a pair of Red-headed Woodpeckers were discovered, a rapidly declining species and only the second breeding record for the park. This year our biothon team will be sifting through the flora and fauna of Frontenac Provincial Park for 24 hours on June 11-12.
Thanks to everyone who supported the biothon in 2010! We hope you will consider sponsoring one of our biothon participants this year. Please visit our biothon page for more information or to make a donation.
FBS on the Social Networks
As always, you can follow our progress throughout the spring/summer field season via our blog and twitter. You can now also find us on Facebook!
Sincerely,
Dan Derbyshire
Project Lead, Frontenac Bird Studies
2010 Report Completed
Has it really been five months since our last update? While we’ve not done any work in-the-field (sadly) we have been active behind the scenes with data management, reporting, fundraising and planning. Funding permitting we are presently on course for another exciting season in 2011. Stay tuned for the reawakening of frontenacbirds.ca as the ice and snow gives way to early spring….
Frontenac Bird Studies 