Year’s best bird, book, film and more
The World Outdoors celebrates another year of bird watching by announcing the third annual best-of-the-year in Southwestern Ontario birding list.
London’s Bird of the Year: Another cold winter resulted in ice cover across the Great Lakes so winter waterfowl had to move to find other open water in January, February, and March. Fortunately for Londoners, this meant that a harlequin duck was on the Thames River. Many of us ended up trying for the bird several times before finally seeing it, but it obliged us by hanging around for several weeks.
London’s Nature Book of the Year: The fifth edition of the Guide to the Natural Areas of London and Region co-edited by Nature London’s Roslyn and James Moorhead is a really useful guide that should be in every nature lover’s collection. It includes updated information about more than 100 natural areas within 80 km. of downtown London.
London’s Birding Educator of the Year: Cathy McCrae is a teacher with the Thames Valley District Board of Education. Her grade 3 and 4 students at Masonville elementary school gain a great foundation in environmental stewardship through the academic year, but McCrae’s contributions to the birding community don’t stop there. She volunteers as a board member with Nature London and is also that organization’s field trips co-ordinator. She has planned and led dozens of events, from spring migration trips on the Bruce Peninsula to London’s Christmas Bird Counts for Kids. Her eager- ness to share a passion for birds and the natural world is an asset for the city.
Best Bird Movie of 2015: The Messenger, a Canadian featurelength documentary directed by Su Rynard and produced by Joanne Jackson premiered at Toronto’s Hot Docs film festival in April. It is a powerful and important film that describes the plight of forest songbirds. By extension, songbirds are bio-indicators that reflect the health of our broader ecosystems. Since the spring, the film has been well received at other festivals across North America. This movie was released in the U.S. this month and will be released in Canada in early 2016.
Best Birding Milestone: In the spring, London birder Gord Payne notched his 400th bird species seen in Ontario. There are only 292 species known to have bred in the province. Another 198 have been documented as migrants or vagrants. Payne’s 400th bird was a gray kingbird in Essex County. He has since added a little egret and a pink-footed goose in the Ottawa area.
Southwestern Ontario Conservation Victory of the Year: The Thames Talbot Land Trust announced late in the summer that it will be purchasing the 93-hectare Hawk Cliff Woods this spring. It is an important Carolinian property at Hawk Cliff in Elgin County that is home to many bird and plant species at risk. Fundraising for the ongoing stewardship of the property continues through the “Soaring Higher: Hawk Cliff & Beyond” campaign.
Photographer Kudos 2015: Through the year, many bird photographers have generously shared their images in print and online to enhance this nature column. Thanks are extended to Ann Badjura, Bill Cornell, Brandon Holden, Darwin Kent, Mich MacDougall, Richard O’Reilly, Ellen Smout, and Don Taylor.
Nature notes
Each year, the Carolinian Canada Coalition celebrates individuals and groups across Southwestern Ontario who are contributing to conservation strategies for healthy ecosystems. The organization is now inviting nominations for their 2016 conservation awards. Details and nomination forms can be found by searching on “Carolinian Canada Conservation awards.” The deadline for nominations is Jan. 11. Extending from Windsor to Toronto, our Carolinian zone covers a quarter of a percent of Canada’s land area but is home to about 33 per cent of the county’s at-risk flora and fauna.
Bird Studies Canada reported earlier this month that the status of the Louisiana waterthrush has been changed to “threatened” by the national Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. The number of breeding pairs in Canada has fallen to under 250. This is attributed to the spread of an invasive insect that has plagued Eastern hemlock, a significant part of the bird’s breeding habitat. Climate change is expected to amplify this result.