Bluesfest gets go-ahead as bird’s nest removed
Killdeer den carefully handled by experts
OTTAWA • The Ottawa Bluesfest killdeer and the four eggs in its inconvenient “bluesnest” are on the move.
Whether that means a relocation to an adjacent new site out of harm’s way, or a three-hour drive to the Woodlands Wildlife Sanctuary in Minden, Ont., wasn’t immediately clear Tuesday evening.
Woodlands executive director, Monika Melichar, arrived in Ottawa Tuesday evening after Bluesfest organizers got the OK from Environment Canada to move the nest, which sits right where the main stage of the huge annual event is to be erected.
The National Capital Commission tweeted photos Tuesday evening showing the nest being carefully carried on a homemade platform, about the size of a briefcase, covered with small rocks.
Melichar met with a bird expert from Ontario Wildlife Rescue later Tuesday to figure out a strategy.
“They’re going to try to move the eggs first. If they can and the mother finds them, they’ll leave them,” Woodlands volunteer Christina Carere said earlier Tuesday. “If they can’t, we’re on our way with an incubator and we’ll bring them back to Minden.”
Woodlands stepped up to help the city’s famous killdeer because Ottawa’s own Wild Bird Care Centre on Moodie Drive isn’t licensed to handle migratory birds (an oversight that is being corrected, the centre said Tuesday).
If the incubator is needed, Melichar will keep the eggs at about 32 C for the drive back to the sanctuary.
If the Bluesfest killdeer has stayed with her eggs and kept them warm, the odds are very good her babies will hatch successfully. Woodlands often incubates turtle eggs and has successfully incubated wood duck eggs earlier this year, Carere said.
“If they can get her to follow the nest, then we’re golden. Nothing is better than a natural parent.
“If they have to steal the eggs from her, putting them in an incubator is not the same thing.”
Hatching the eggs in captivity runs the risk that the babies will imprint on humans, which can make it difficult to release them back into the wild.
The Woodlands Wildlife Sanctuary is run entirely by volunteers and financed completely by donations.
The Bluesfest killdeer drew international attention, with stories on CNN, National Public Radio, the Washington Post and The Guardian. The bird even had its own Twitter account, tweeting it was “excited for our new home.”
Bluesfest crews first noticed the bird on Friday when workers started to prepare the site for the 11day festival, which begins July 5 on the grounds of the Canadian War Museum at LeBreton Flats.
Bluesfest contacted the National Capital Commission, which hired a security guard to stand around the clock watch on the nest.
Though killdeers are common, they are still protected under Canada’s Migratory Birds Convention Act, which prohibits “damaging, destroying, removing or disturbing” nests without approval.
In a briefing Monday, Bluesfest executive director Mark Monahan conceded the nest “is one of the most challenging problems we’ve been presented with.”
Killdeer typically lay four to six eggs in their ground nests in May or June and incubate them for three to four weeks until they hatch.
The Ottawa Bluesfest features top music acts, including Bryan Adams, Foo Fighters, Shawn Mendes and rapper Ghostface Killah.
The festival attracts more than 250,000 fans and contributes $31 million to the local economy, according to its facts and figures page on the internet.
THOUGH KILLDEERS ARE COMMON, THEY ARE PROTECTED UNDER CANADA’S MIGRATORY BIRDS CONVENTION ACT, WHICH PROHIBITS ‘DAMAGING, DESTROYING, REMOVING OR DISTURBING’ NESTS WITHOUT APPROVAL.
ONE OF THE MOST CHALLENGING PROBLEMS (PRESENTED US).