Birders and ethics

Crazy twitchers!

Birdwatchers behaving like paparazzi

Sightings of rare bird species trigger middle-class flash mobs, armed with cameras and tripods

http://www2.macleans.ca/2012/03/20/the-flocking-instinct/#more-245741

The Lost Bird Project

The McGill Wildlife Association is pleased to announce the screening of the film, The Lost Bird Project (for only the second time in the Montreal area) in Room R2-045 of the Macdonald-Stewart Building from 10:00 – 11:00 AM, Thursday, March 29, 2012. 

Admission is free.

This moving documentary is about the creation of 5 large bronze sculptures of North American birds, which have been driven to extinction ---- Passenger Pigeon, Great Auk, Heath Hen, Carolina Parakeet and Labrador Duck.

The film follows the sculptor, Todd McGrain, who negotiates for permission to place the large sculptures in the last places where the birds were sighted.  

Spotted Owls vs. Barred Owls Conservation

Is it worth Culling Barred Owl to potentially save the Spotted Owl?

http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2012/02/wildlife_officials_weigh_an_et.html

Poisonous Birds!

Hey,

For all you wildlife nerds out there.. The Pitohui genus of birds actually secretes a neurotoxin to protect itself.

Check it out!

http://www.avianweb.com/hoodedpitohui.html

Snowy Owl Trip

"Ooooh Aaaaaahh.. Look at that Snowy Owl!!!"

"Amazing"

"It's soo close!"

These were just some of the comments made by some of the sixteen McGill Wildlife Association members who joined the Snowy Owl Trip upon seeing a Snowy Owl for the first time!

TRIP SUCCESSFUL!

The trip left from MacDonald Campus at around 9:30am to head towards the agricultural town of St-Clet where I had heard of some Snowy Owl sightings. Our first stop happened when I spotted a feeder attracting small birds - Black-capped Chickadees, Blue Jays and Dark-eyed Juncos. I was looking for our first Northern Shrike of the day.. but no luck at that location. Continuing on towards the area where the Snowy Owls were seen, I kept an eye out for other open-area birds. We stopped near a barn where we saw Snow Buntings on top of the roof mixing it up with some House Sparrows. We were also looking out for Gray Partridge, however, despite our efforts, we missed seeing them.

After driving around agricultural fields for at while around the St-Clet region, QC region, we headed to St-Isidore ON to try and find some Snowy Owls in a different area. We took the exit off the 417 and first right and BINGO! There she was was just sitting on a telephone pole, completely disregarding all the photographers and birders looking at her!

We saw 2 individuals around the agricultural fields near St-Isidore and what a sight! The group of sixteen hard-core birders had their fill of the owls and we headed off just on a quick loop around to see if any other birds were nearby. We saw a Rough-legged Hawk, a Red-tailed Hawk and a flock of 100+ Snow Buntings eating grit/salt from the roadside. Another highlight hiding in with the Snow Buntings was 4 Lapland Longspurs.

Another successful trip organized by the McGill Wildlife Association executive team! The trip took a total of 6 hours, since I wasn't able to find any Snowies in St-Clet but we persevered and found a couple!

Thanks to everyone who came out for an awesome trip!

Trip Totals:

Snow Bunting 200-300

Lapland Longspur 10

House Sparrow 30

Dark-eyed Junco 15

American Tree Sparrow 5

Morning Dove 5

Rock Pigeon 20

Black-capped Chickadee 10

Blue Jay 15

White-breasted Nuthatch 2

Hairy Woodpecker 1

Snowy Owl 2

Red-tailed Hawk 9

Rough-legged Hawk 4

Northern Shrike 1