Resources The Pacific Flyway American Birding Association www.americanbirding.org The north-south BC Field Ornithologists www.bcfo.ca routes migrating BC Nature www.bcnature.ca birds follow along BirdLife International initiated the Important Bird Area Bird Life International www.birdlife.org Program to identify, protect and monitor a network of vital the west coast of Bird Studies Canada www.bsc-eoc.org BOUNDARY habitats for conservation of bird populations and biodiversity North and South BAY  worldwide. The IBA Program is now in 200 countries with Centre for Wildlife Ecology http://www.sfu.ca/biology/wildberg/ Boundary Bay America are referred 11,000 designated IBAs. to collectively as the Cornell Lab of Ornithology www.birds.cornell.edu IBA site designation is scientific rather than legal and does Pacific Flyway. Georgia Basin Habitat Atlas www.georgiabasin.net A Special Place not concur with formal boundaries. Strict scientific criteria must Boundary Bay, a major stop over be met for a site to be listed on the IBA database. 600 sites have Important Bird Areas of Canada www.ibacanada.ca in the spring and fall, can count been designated in Canada and of 271 sites nominated in British Bird Life International www.birdlife.org 50 different species of shorebirds Columbia, 84 have been approved as Important Bird Areas. National Audubon Society www.audubon.org numbering in the hundreds of thousands. The Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network Nature Vancouver www.naturevancouver.ca To travel between wintering grounds in designated the Fraser River estuary as a “Site of Hemispheric North Cascades Audubon Society South or Central America and nesting Importance” in 2004, one of an international series of protected www.northcascadesaudubon.org areas north in the high Arctic, shorebirds, areas linking key sites for shorebirds. Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary waterfowl and songbirds stop to rest and www.reifelbirdsanctuary.com feed, gaining the energy and fat needed to fly Monitoring and Research is essential to determine whether sites are providing healthy habitat for birds and if bird Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network to the next point which may be thousands of www.manomet.org/WHSRN/ kilometres away. populations remain stable. The Canadian Wildlife Service and Simon Fraser University conduct studies on Western Sandpiper, Wild Bird Trust of BC www.wildbirdtrust.org Dunlin, Harlequin Duck, Snow Geese and Brant. Local Community Involvement: Friends of Semiahmoo Bay Society leads the Birds on the Bay program, stewards nest boxes and conducts habitat surveys and restoration projects in r e Boundary Bay. Local birders participate in the Breeding Bird p i p d n Survey, Beached Bird Survey, Christmas Bird Count, Nocturnal a S rn Owl Survey and Raptor counts. te es W Friends of Semiahmoo Bay Society is a non-profit, stewardship group working in Did you know? conservation, education and restoration in Bounday Much of the world’s population of Western Sand- Bay and the Fraser River delta. You can be Great Blue Heron piper fly from theY ukon Delta to Boundary Bay involved, register to volunteer at making their way to wintering grounds in Panama www.birdsonthebay.ca. Bay, Central America and as far south as Peru. Boundary Bay is famous for this tiny shorebird, Thank you Project Partners, Canada’s Top Rated which weighs just 25 gms and measures 10 cm long. Sponsors and Community Volunteers. Together we can make a real difference. Important Bird Area Rufous Hummingbirds fly between Mexico and BC, moving north with the flowering red currant Map/Text: Anne Murray, Dr. Mary Taitt. Photos: Hank Tseng, Margaret Cuthbert in spring. Some continue as far as southern Alaska. Design: Beacon Hill Communications Group Hummingbirds can travel 50 km in a day, for a dis- tance of over 2000 km each way. printed on 100% recycled paper. Thank you Buchanan Printing www.birdsonthebay.ca www.birdsonthebay.ca www.birdsonthebay.ca Boundary Bay and Watershed BOUNDARY BAY, Sturgeon Bank and Robert’s Is Boundary Bay protected? Bank make up the Fraser River Estuary Important Bird Savannah Sparrow Richmond Sandhill Crane Birds have migrated to Boundary Bay for 10,000 years to Area, officially designated inO ctober 2001. As the top S. Arm Fraser R. feed and rest during long journeys; others winter here. as Fraser River rated IBA in Canada (Important Bird Area BC017), it Estuary BURNS BOG Serpentine R. remaining natural areas are developed, where will the birds exceeds global, continental and national standards for Sturgeon Surrey go? Legal protection in the IBA is patchy. The Alaksen Bank Delta the diversity and numbers of birds supported. Langley National Wildlife Area is officially designated a Ramsar ALAKSEN Ladner SERPENTINE NIWA FEN Key species found in Boundary Bay that meet IBA Mud Site, meaning it is a wetland of global importance. It in­ criteria are: Western Grebe, Red-necked Grebe, Great REIFEL REFUGE Bay cludes the Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary. Boundary Bay Blackie Spit Nicomekl R. Blue Heron ssp. fannini, Trumpeter Swan, Snow Goose, Tsawwassen Crescent Beach and Sturgeon Bank have provincial protection as Wildlife Beach Northern Pintail, American Wigeon, Mallard, Black- Grove White Rock Management Areas but currently are not designated by the Roberts Bank Little Campbell R. provincial government as Ramsar sites although they meet bellied Plover, Western Sandpiper, Dunlin, Glaucous- BOUNDARY BAY Wood Duck Long Billed Dowitchers REGIONAL PARK Semiahmoo Bay CANADA the criteria -30 fold for waterfowl and 60 fold for shore­ winged Gull and Barn Owl. Blaine USA Boundary Drayton birds. Bay Harbor Pt. Roberts California Cr. Birch Dakota Cr. Bay Strait of Georgia Whatcom County Birch Bay l r e w s O n a d g e r r e a M E d t e or od Facts about Boundary Bay h o S H Boundary Bay’s four major habitat zones include expansive bay and special salt tolerant plants, such as salicornia, arrowgrass Why so special? eelgrass beds, mudflats and salt marshes that provide habitat to and saltgrass are found. Invasive English cordgrass, Spartina anglica What you can do The Fraser River Estuary is habitat to millions of a myriad of macro-algae, epiphytic micro-algae, marine inver­ now threatens the intertidal mud flats and remaining salt marshes. to make a difference birds migrating along the Pacific Flyway. tebrates and fish that in turn feed many species.D eep waters beyond low tide provide habitat for birds, fish and marine mammals. The estuaries of Boundary Bay’s many tidal rivers and creeks • Birds need peace and quiet. Enjoy the beach away • The Estuary and adjacent uplands support over pro­vide biologically rich habitat for wildlife. Watercourses are from the tidal area where the birds are feeding. 333 different species of birds. Boundary Bay’s watershed includes rare and endangered fringed by marshes with plants tolerant of the brackish water. If they are tired or hungry on their long journey • It supports one of Canada’s highest numbers ecosystems – Coastal Douglas-fir forest and a wet domed peat they will fall into the sea and perish. bog. Important but threatened natural habitats are mixed conifer/ Upland forests provide important habitat for songbirds, and diversity of wintering waterfowl, more than deciduous forests, old fields, hedgerows, farmland, wetlands, wild woodpeckers, hawks and owls. During spring and fall, dozens • Keep dogs on a leash and away from birds on mud- 100,000 utilize Boundary Bay with an additional salmon and nutrient bearing streams and estuaries. of warblers migrate through the woodlands; songbirds from the flats, beaches and fields. Pick up your pets feces. estimated 50,000 Brant. mountains winter in pond side bushes. • Learn about healthy living with nature and ways • Boundary Bay supports one of Canada’s largest Dozens of bird species can be seen in deep waters and along the to prevent pollution. rocky shore feeding on fish, crab, mussels and other marine life. Much of the original freshwater marshes of the Fraser Delta winter populations of raptors with 22 species • Look but leave – shells, eelgrass, sea weed, drift recorded. Raptors are attracted to populations have been drained and dyked. Remaining cattail marshes are alive Eelgrass beds form the rich food base for fish, shellfish and in spring with nesting birds. wood; all contribute to the food web. of voles and wintering songbirds utilizing the waterfowl in shallow waters. Waterfowl and shorebirds feed on grasslands and salt marshes of the Bay. • Carry a bag and pick up litter when walking the the many sea invertebrates and eggs attached to the ribbon like In winter, grassy fallow fields and flooded crop fields sub­ beach. • A key Canadian nesting population of Barn Owls leaves and the eelgrass blades themselves. stitute for original marshes. Thousands of waterfowl descend on is concentrated in the Fraser River Delta. Notable the fields every winter. Voles populate old fields and are crucial • Learn about gardening for wildlife and how to help heronries of Great Blue Heron ssp. fannini are The mud flats and beaches have over 130 different micro food for wintering raptors. The shrubby hedgerows of the Fraser protect natural areas. adjacent to Boundary Bay. organisms that shorebirds probe for with their long beaks. Sandy Delta are home to dozens of species of birds. • Volunteer with a local stewardship group; you can gravel beaches are critical spawning habitat for ‘forage fish’; at make a difference. • 18 species of gulls are recorded in Boundary Bay. high tide sand lance and surf smelt swim in and lay their eggs. Burns Bog lies between the Fraser River and Boundary Bay. One third of the water in the bog drains into the bay and many Little of the original salt marshes remain in Boundary Bay due shorebirds fly into the bog at high tide or in stormy weather. www.birdsonthebay.ca to dyking. They occur where marine waters wash the shores of the Greater Sandhill Cranes arrive to nest in the bog each year. www.birdsonthebay.ca