The Piping Plover: Seeing Only Two Or Three Pairs Per Year
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Tracy Maconachie Tracy A piping plover chick (about 10 days old) following dad (July 2005, Grand Beach). have significantly dropped. Now, Grand Beach is the only remaining breeding ground on the east-side of Lake Winnipeg, The Piping Plover: seeing only two or three pairs per year. Key identifying features to look for are a solid black neckband A Little Bird in Big Trouble (most obvious on the breeding male), a solid black band by Shauna Hewson & Ken Porteous, between the eyes, and bright orange legs. Adults use a charac- Manitoba Piping Plover Recovery Program teristic “peep-lo” call to warn chicks when predators are close. omehow the beach hardly seems fully genuine Females lay a clutch of four eggs in a small cup-shaped scrape without it. None the less many of our beaches have on the ground, and incubate the eggs for roughly 28 days. “Slost this little gem of a resident.” So said Herbert K. Although these nests are well camouflaged with pebbles, they Job in Birds of America, published in 1936. are often located on open sand or gravel, and are extremely vulnerable to disturbance. Human recreation poses a serious For many years, Grand Beach has been a famous nesting site threat to nest success, so special measures have been taken to for piping plovers. This endangered shorebird stands 17 cm conserve piping plover breeding zones in Canada and the high, and is often seen feeding on small insects along the United States. At Grand Beach, a team of dedicated guardians water’s edge. Listed as endangered both federally and provin- watch over and protect piping plover nests every year to ensure cially, the piping plover has almost disappeared from Manitoba. that Manitoba’s chicks survive and become breeding adults. In the 1980s over 100 pairs bred along our lake-shores and river sandbars, but in the past twenty years those numbers (continued on page 16...) In This Issue... The Piping Plover: A Little Bird in Big Trouble .......p. 1 & 16 Bird News ............................................................p. 12-16 President’s Corner ....................................................... p. 2 A Swift Look at 2012 and 2013 ............................p. 14-15 Member Profile: Brian Hydesmith ................................ p. 3 Peg City Car Co-op ...............................................p. 16-17 Encounters of the Natural Kind .................................p. 4-5 Roger’s Rant ............................................................. p. 17 Mantario Summer Program 2013 .............................p. 4-5 Have You Heard of Henteleff Park? ........................... p. 18 Nature in the News: Parks, Peat & Boars .................p. 6-8 ONGT 2013 & Gardens at FortWhyte Alive ............... p. 19 Wildlife Society & Prairie Conservation Awards .......p. 8-9 ‘Ghosts of the Cities’ Rarely Seen ............................. p. 20 Review: Restoring Ecological Health to Your Land ........ p. 9 Some Good Orchid-hunting Spots ............................. p. 21 Outdoor Activities .................................................p. 10-11 93rd A.G.M. Awards and News ...........................p. 22-23 President’s Corner by Donald Himbeault Canada Post Publications Mail Sales Product Agreement No. 0040069231. Issued 6 times a year as the official publication of Nature Manitoba. Subscriptions are a benefit of membership. See backpage for membership details. Opinions are those of the writers and not Reflecting on the past year... necessarily the organization as a whole. t is hard to believe a year has gone by since I first became President. In that Office and Library time, I have seen so many things happen in our organization, such as outdoor 401 - 63 Albert St. Winnipeg, R3B 1G4 Itrips, birding events, Discovery Evenings and workshops, Mantario Summer Phone/Fax: ......................... 204-943-9029 Program, Grey Hares events, newsletters and all the other things our society is Email: [email protected] into. It’s great that all these things pretty much get done without any interven- Website: ............www.naturemanitoba.ca tion on my part. Still, I seem to have accumu- lated some 400 or so different emails in my Office Administrator ............ Susan McLarty Nature Manitoba folder, so perhaps I’m not t is great to Office Assistant.............. Deanna Dodgson that redundant after all. “Ireport that our Hours: 10:00 am to 3:00 pm membership numbers Mon/Tue and Thu/Fri Making my job easier, however, is the great group of people on our Board. Within the have not suffered Nature Manitoba News Board we have expertise in environmental any overall decline sciences, government relations, caving, birding, over the past year.” Newsletter Editor ................... Tommy Allen education, web site design, trip leading, finan- Email: [email protected] cial management, fishing, backcountry canoe- Editorial Committee: Tommy Allen ing, and I am sure many more talents and experience that I have yet to learn Donna Danyluk about. This diversity helps immensely in our work as a Board, as many different Roger Turenne items come before us, ranging from legal issues to environmental concerns. Advertising rates are available by It is great to report that our membership numbers have not suffered any contacting the editor. Rates are reduced overall decline over the past year, thanks to a steady inflow of new members if the ad appears at least two times. to compensate for the inevitable attrition that happens in all organizations. It Classifieds are also available for only 15$. seems that our best method for getting new members is by doing the things we do, like our indoor programs or field trips, which always seem to snag a Submission deadline is the first day of the few new sign-ups. The desired goal, of course, is to grow our organization; month prior to the newsletter publication. however, this task is not straightforward, as given our diverse activities, our Deadline for the July / Aug. 2013 issue is members join Nature Manitoba for many different reasons, so there is no June 1st, 2013. single “hook”. The common ground is that people become members of our This newsletter is printed on Enviro 100 organization not just because they have a love for nature but also because they 20lb paper which is 100% Post Consumer want to be around a group of people that have a similar passion. They also Recycled and FSC certified. like to be part of a collective voice for nature in our province and beyond. The Board is committed to keeping our programs accessible and our fees 2013 / 2014 Executive affordable, while at the same time being sure to keep the organization President ....................... Donald Himbeault financially sustainable. This means operating very close to the edge of the Exec. Vice-President .................Jack Dubois budget, and when you do that, sometimes you go over. Such was the case Vice-President .................. James Whitelaw this past year, and measures are being taken to get back on track, such as Treasurer ..................................Nikolas Cyr temporarily reducing the office hours to 4 days a week, and a renewed push Secretary ..................................Alain Louer on some of our fundraising activities. Past President ..................... Roger Turenne Considering the achievements of this past year, I want to thank all of the many volunteers, who, in ways large and small, contribute to the work of Nature Man- 2013 / 2014 Board Members itoba – those who have volunteered to be Trip Leaders for our outdoor program Jerry Ameis, Christian Artuso, – those who submit articles and photographs for our Newsletter – the committee Scott Falkingham, Michele Kading, members who organize speakers for our indoor programs and manage the Rose Kuzina, Les McCann, events – those who organize and guide for the summer Mantario program, and Rommel Molod, Richard Staniforth, help maintain the cabin – and all the others I haven’t thought of. THANK YOU! Sean Worden Page 2 Nature Manitoba News Vol. 5, Issue 3 - May / June 2013 by Tommy Allen Photo: Ashley Cyr Welcome New Members! Feb. 15th, 2013 – Apr. 15th, 2013 Pass le io Patricia Atkinson p n Chantell Berube, Chris Kane o a & Russell Kane-Berube e t e Todd & Zena Bjarnason P Dries Desender Paul, Kimberly, Adam, Gregory & Nikolas Holloway BRIAN Gerry Duynisveld & Rita McKay Janet Smith HYDESMITH Chana Thau & Michael Eleff Paul Turenne . Cynthia Worsley A .. b e ou ur Nature Manitoba’s rian was t Nat trips to a friend’s born in Win- cabin on Florence GIANT Bnipeg, but his Lake, crossing the 3 km dad, once a farm boy, portage between South Cross thought the kids would benefit from a and Nora lakes. One longer trip took GARAGE rural childhood. They moved to a home them to the shores of Mantario Lake. At just outside of Brandon along the Little dusk, a canoe appeared and the paddlers Saskatchewan River valley. And not just came over to invite Brian and Liz to a SALE any ‘ole home, it was the historic summer “cabin and sauna” that was supposedly home (ca. 1914) of Lieutenant Governor nearby on the lake, but Brian and Liz Saturday May 4, 2013 J. D. McGregor. There, Brian enjoyed declined, not believing it existed. Later in plenty of outdoor time with his family – the evening, the same paddlers returned Volunteers needed! hiking, canoeing, cycling and reassured them that this We need help with Friday’s setup and cross-country skiing. anoeing is the place was real, leading to and Saturday’s big garage sale. He grew up with a strong their first visit to the Man- “C quintessential Contact the office at 204-943-9029 appreciation for nature and experience of the tario cabin. the outdoors. or [email protected] Canadian summer.” Years later, Brian’s love of for details or to sign-up. Brian completed a BA at canoeing has strengthened. Brandon University in Political Science, He says, “Canoeing is the quintessential NEW LOCATION: Philosophy, and German. While studying, experience of the Canadian summer.” He he volunteered at the student newspaper became involved in the Mantario Program Holy Cross School and taught skiing on weekends.