Spring migration monitoring officially ended June 10, throwing us into what will be our busiest time of the year. Traditionally our summers were spent just doing our MAPS program (Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship) – which involves banding breeding birds at four specific locations deeper in the forest, and getting caught up on net repair and data entry from spring. Over the last few years, though, we have been putting more and more on our summer plates. The last two years we were conducting an independent research project looking at the fine-scale habitat selection of Canada warblers using telemetry. We are finished with the field component of that project but the University of Alberta wants to build off our work following similar methods to answer some questions about the effects of industry on Canada warblers. This is one the extras we will be undertaking: helping the U of A catch and radio-tag birds for their project. The other, and bigger, extra is helping a fellow named Kevin from Manitoba to deploy 40 geo-locators on Canada warblers throughout the Provincial Park. Before I dive right into geo-locators though, I’m sure many of you are wondering, ‘what’s the deal with these Canada warblers? Why is the LSLBO so obsessed with them? The Canada warbler was listed as a threatened species a few years ago due to huge population decline (80% decline in the last 40 years). Interestingly this decline is far more pronounced in the eastern half of Canada. All around Lesser Slave Lake, they are actually doing quite well. This puts us in an excellent position to study them; our project focused on the breeding grounds, but as with all migratory species, that is only a tiny part of their range. That is where the geo-locators come in; they will help us piece together the warblers’ entire migratory route. The geo-locators will show us where the birds go, if they stop for any length of time in specific areas and where they ultimately end up spending their winters. Geo-locators are really neat technology, they keep track of the date and time and minutes of light. The data can then be inputted into a computer and based on the date and how much light the locator was exposed to, a latitudinal and longitudinal position point can be calculated. Some units also record the temperature, which, when compared to the location points will give altitudes. Geo-locating technology has been around for quite a long time but units small enough to be used on birds have only been engineered within the last 5-10 years. They need to be small because they have to sit on the bird’s back. Held on by a flexible string harness the geo-locator will stay in place until the bird is hopefully recaptured the following year and the unit is removed so that the data can be retrieved (the locators are too small to have any data transmitting capabilities). What is really exciting is how far this technology has come in only the last few years; when researchers first started using geo-locators on birds they were limited to larger species because the units weighed almost two grams. Now they have locators as small as .3 grams, and that is what Kevin has. This year, in Lesser Slave Lake Provincial Park will be the first time that geo-locators are being used on a Canada warbler and although it will require a heap of effort and time to catch and outfit 40 birds with geo-locators we are stocked to be a part of it!
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4 days ago
29th Annual Slave Lake Christmas Bird Count is coming soon
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 17th ![]()
Join us next Sunday for a fun day of winter birding around Slave Lake. Our goal - to count as many birds in Slave Lake as we can in one day! Don't worry if you are not an expert birder. We work in teams so you will have the chance to learn some tips from our more experienced participants. This annual census of winter bird populations will take place in over 2000 locations over the holiday season and it is the longest running Citizen Science program in North America. ![]()
Even if you can't join us, you can still help us out. Send in your tips on the locations of the busy bird feeders around town. Or keep track of the birds that visit your backyard feeder that day and send in your data. ![]()
To sign up for the Slave Lake Christmas Bird Count, contact us at 780-849-8240 or email info@borealbirdcentre.ca. We would love to have you join us! ![]()
Not from Slave Lake? Check out the CBC map at Birds Canada for a count near you!
www.birdscanada.org/bird-science/christmas-bird-count
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3 weeks ago
LESSER SLAVE LAKE BIRD OBSERVATORY SOCIETY![]()
NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
5:00 pm. December 7th, 2023
Location: Boreal Centre for Bird Conservation. ![]()
All members and supporters of the Lesser Slave Lake Bird Observatory Society are invited to attend our upcoming Annual General Meeting on Thursday, December 7th, 2023. ![]()
The meeting will take place at the Boreal Centre for Bird Conservation. However, members will be able to attend the AGM virtually via ZOOM if they have pre-registered for the meeting. ![]()
PLEASE RSVP to Patti Campsall, LSLBO Executive Director via email at executive.director@borealbirdcentre.ca or you can also phone 780-849-8240![]()
Meeting ZOOM link, AGM Agenda and other meeting documents will be send out prior to the meeting to all registered attendees.![]()
Interested in becoming more involved in the LSLBO or joining our Board of Directors? Please contact Patti Campsall to find out all the ways you can help support our programs!
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2 months ago
As we wrapped up 30 years of bird banding at the LSLBO this fall, Robyn Perkins, - LSLBO Bander in Charge shared some of her fall migration experiences with the CBC Radio Active show last week. Wonderful job Robyn!
www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-52/clip/16014728
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