British Columbia Field Ornithologists

During the International Ornithological Congress held in Vancouver this past August, a number of BCFO’s Young Birders each participated in a very popular and well-attended public presentation.

Following up on this public success, the group was profiled in a Gen Why? TV short feature highlighting the Young Birders Program and this talented, and exciting group of young people.

See our young birders here.

All the Young Birders featured in the video linked above are recipients of BCFO’s Young Birder Award, part of BCFO’s Young Birders Program.

Flesh-footed Shearwater photographed by Young Birder Bridget Spencer on a recent Young Birders Program pelagic trip out of Tofino.

As many readers already know, we now have a new BCFO Checklist of British Columbia Birds (August 2018). The checklist’s publication coincided with the 27th International Ornithological Congress just held in Vancouver August 19 – 26th. Each delegate to the conference received a special commemorative edition of the checklist included in their registration package.

The checklist is the result of the concerted efforts of many people, but our particular thanks should be extended to the members of the BCFO Bird Records Committee, and committee chair Nathan Hentze.

BCFO is now pleased to announce the general availability of the new checklist.

Distribution

BCFO members will receive their copies, at no cost, by mail shortly.

We are now accepting orders, in increments of 50 copies, @ $2.00 per copy plus shipping for the twenty-four page, stapled booklet.

Please enter your order in the Leave a Reply box below and include your name, address, delivery location, and an email contact address for us to follow up with payment requirements and advice on shipping costs.

We anticipate receiving orders from businesses, nature clubs, NGO’s, other organizations, and perhaps individuals who will act as local distribution contacts in more under-serviced areas of the province.

We are doing our best to make the checklist available as widely as possible, but at this time, we are unable to fill individual orders, or supply the checklists in smaller batches.

However, the checklist is available for immediate download here, albeit not in the handy stapled booklet form of the printed copy.

For those outside the Lower Mainland, Wild Birds Unlimited will, on request, include a checklist with orders which it ships to customers.

For Lower Mainlanders, copies of the checklist will be available at the Reifel bookstore, and in the two Wild Birds Unlimited stores in Vancouver and North Vancouver.

Below are sample pages to illustrate the organization and set up of the checklist.

Sample checklist page.

The BCFO Bird Records Committee continues its hard work reviewing sightings of the province’s rare birds. The latest set of decisions includes three new species added to the provincial main list.

Photo: Liron Gertsman

Follow the link here or use the drop down menu above – BRC Public.

The September issue of BC Birding is now available in the Members’ Area. In its 34 pages it carries news such the recent triumphs of BCFO Young Birders, reports on the Hope meeting, information on upcoming two-day trips, trip reports on distant and not-distant places, all the usual features, and 43 great photographs. Be sure not to miss the tale of Harold the Hirundine Hero.

Photo: Ian Harland

BC Field Ornithologists Young Birders are staged to deliver four incredible talks at the West Exhibition Hall http://www.vanbirdfest.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Program@AGlance.pdf on Thursday, Aug. 23rd from 1:30-2:30

Adam Dhalla “Shade-Grown Coffee in Costa Rica & its Positive Impact on Birds”

Toby Theriault “Seabirds and Plastic Pollution”

Ian Harland “The Artistic Side of Bird Photography”

Liron Gertsman “The Importance of Photography for Conservation”

Moderated by Melissa Hafting. Please come out to support BCFO youth. Admission to the Expo is only $10 and includes all talks at the Community Theater, access to Exhibitor booths, Artist for Conservation Silent Skies mural and more…

As part of the parallel programs running in conjunction with the International Ornithological Congress 2018, happening later this month in Vancouver, BCFO members are invited and encouraged to participate in the Stewardship Roundtable.

Hosted by the Stewardship Centre for BC and Bird Studies Canada, the Roundtable on Friday, August 24, 2018 will be a forum and showcase of innovative practices championed in our province and beyond.

Please register by August 12th. Registration is only $20 and includes access to sessions described below, coffee, lunch, and a networking and poster session. Visit the website https://stewardshipcentrebc.ca/register-for-srt/ for further information and to register.

The program includes the following offerings covering a range of interests.

Birds and Building Collisions: Learn about how and why birds collide with windows. What factors influence the risk of collisions, and what practical solutions exist. Join the discussion with architects, practitioners, municipal planners and more.

Cats and Birds Living in Harmony: Navigating the issues around cats’ impacts on birds demands a non-traditional approach; the human dimension is a key part of finding solutions. Participants will learn best stewardship practices, not only for the welfare of cats and birds, but also for managing the many challenges facing individuals and communities.

Climate Change Adaptation for Birds and Wildlife: This session outlines how climate impacts continental-scale bird migration and the ways communities and municipalities are responding.

Co-Benefits of Agricultural Lands as Bird Habitat: Productive agricultural land tends to overlap with important habitats for birds and other wildlife. This session explores some ways farm and ranch lands can continue to support healthy populations of aerial insectivores, grassland birds, waterfowl, and raptors.

Urban Habitat for Wildlife and Birds: Humans place pressure on urban landscapes, including private backyards and public parks. Join us for a discussion of the challenges and opportunities to improve habitat for wildlife and birds while restoring these areas.

Wildlife Management Areas/Important Bird Areas and Shorelines: In this session we explore how social and economic structures can be incorporated into conservation planning within WMAs, IBAs, and along shorelines. We will address this topic through two lenses: green infrastructure and
traditional food and cultural practices.

For just $10 more, participants can also attend the evening event, “Birds of a Feather,” featuring key note speaker Purnima Barman. Purnima promises to be an amazing and inspirational speaker. She recently won the Whitley Awards (dubbed the “Green Oscars”) for the conservation of the Greater Adjutant Stork and its habitat. https://www.huffingtonpost.in/2017/05/17/assam-conservationist-purnima-barman-has-won-the-green-oscars_a_22096493/ “Purnima has mobilised followers into the ‘Hargila Army’, an all-female team of conservationists dedicated to protecting the greater adjutant stork which, through this programme, are offered sustainable livelihood, training and education opportunities. The project is giving marginalised women a voice. Together they are changing local perceptions and numbers of stork nests have risen from 30 seven years ago to over 150 today.”

BCFO’s Bird Records Committee (BRC) is presently finalizing details of its soon to be published 2018 Checklist of BC Birds.

July is the target date for publication, and we are looking for a cover photograph or image for this completely revised and newly formatted checklist. With the work of the BRC continuing apace, many new birds have been added to the database since the last checklist was published in 2007.

Given that the Steller’s Jay is BC’s provincial bird, and also the featured bird in our BCFO logo, it can’t be a surprise that we’re looking for a Steller’s Jay photograph or graphic image suitable for the cover of the checklist booklet.

Only BCFO members are eligible to submit photographs or images and all members are encouraged to do so. The final decision will rest with the BRC, which will work with a small committee of members to make the final recommendation.

There are no prizes on offer here, just the chance for fame, international recognition, and kudos from all around if your image is selected.

Please submit photos or images at 1000 pixels in the longest dimension. A larger file size may be requested for final printing, which will be in colour.

The deadline for submissions is 07 July 2018 and submissions should be emailed as an attachment to: bcbrc.chair AT gmail.com (replace AT with @; no spaces) under the subject Steller’s Jay.

Last weekend’s (June 1 – 3) Annual General Meeting held in Hope featured many highlights. There was not only excellent birding, but efficient and effective meetings, lots of friendly socializing, a wonderful facility with delicious food supplied by the Hope Golf and Country Club, and outstanding field trips.

Intimating the good times ahead, sights and sounds of nesting Merlins, right outside the conference centre, greeted delegates as they arrived.

Important business was conducted, including the adoption of a new constitution and by-laws. BCFO is now fully compliant with the new BC Societies Act. Our new President is Marian Porter from Saltspring and new Vice-President is Gary Davidson from Nakusp. Otherwise, the Board of Directors remains unchanged.

Our Saturday afternoon talk was a highly engaging look at the nesting behaviour of Turkey Vultures as filmed and described by David Manning in his presentation “The Old Man and the Vultures”. Our banquet speakers Kelly Pearce and Scott Denkers entertained the crowd with a talk entitled “The Bird Blitz Legacy” which covered both the history of and data collected during the Manning Park and Skagit Valley Bird Blitzes.

A total of 105 species of birds were seen over the weekend, with highlights including a Black-chinned Hummingbird in Hope and Northern Waterthrushes at Silver Lake and Manning.

Look for more detailed reports on the conference, the field trips, and the outstanding pre-conference two-day trip to Princeton in the next issue of BC Birding.

Chipping Sparrow – Princeton Two-day Trip. Photo: George Clulow

The June 2018 issue of BC Birding, our newsmagazine, is now available in the Members’ Area. Hard-copy subscribers will receive their copy by post as soon as possible.

This colourful 32-page edition includes some BCFO news, updates on the IO Congress, numerous encounters of the avian kind, reports on several overseas trips, all the usual columns and features, and 42 remarkably fine photographs.

Looking for rare birds? Well, the BCFO Bird Records Committee certainly is. Or, to be more accurate , the BRC is looking for reports of rare British Columbia birds that you may have seen, or know about, but just haven’t got around to reporting to the committee yet.

As an incentive, BCFO is announcing today a contest to win free memberships in the organization. Open to everyone, details of the contest are linked here, or you can follow the drop-down under BRC above. On the contest page you’ll also find a sample completed Rare Bird Report Form, and a handy set of guidelines to support your documentation of rare bird sightings.

Start digging out those notes and photos!