Jim Duncan A young The Importance of Barred Owl chick, recently Non-anonymous Birds fledged and about to be Encounters with Banded Owls banded. by Jim Duncan, Manager of the Biodiversity and Endangered Species Section, Manitoba Conservation housands of birds pass through our lives but sometimes a particular individual bird leaves its mark Ton us – like the Ruffed Grouse ‘George’ that stalked my wife and family in our yard for over 8 months. Many of us want to think (or are even convinced) that ‘our pair’ of robins has returned to our home garden. Occasionally a unique feature, such as a raspy atypical song or an injury (such as the one-legged female Red-winged his practice requires Blackbird encountered “T considerable effort, over many years by Bob and is undertaken under Nero in Charleswood), permit and with strict confirms our suspicion. In the world of scientific animal care guidelines...” literature however, anecdotal speculation about the identification of individual birds and their associated biology are routinely and ruthlessly eliminated by editors with thick red pens. Thus to expound any facts or theories on individual birds in such IN THIS ISSUE... venues requires more extreme methods – capturing birds and applying Canadian Wildlife Service bands. The Importance of Non-anonymous Birds .... p. 1 & 5 President’s Corner ..................................... p. 2 & 16 My wife Patsy, a biologist, and I have been banding Great Gray Owls and other owl species in Manitoba for over 25 Member Profile: John Gray ................................p. 3 years, along with colleagues such as Herb Copland, Bob BIG TREES, Little Trees ........................................p. 4 Nero and, most recently, graduate students Alex Froese and Nature Canada Affiliate Award ...........................p. 5 Todd Whiklo. This practice requires considerable effort, and Nature in the News ................................... p. 6 & 11 is undertaken under permit and with strict animal care guidelines to ensure the practice has minimal impact on the Mantario Summer Program ................................p. 7 well-being of the birds. The scientific justifications for this Outdoor Activities ......................................... p. 8 - 9 activity are important but rather dry to repeat here. I’d Invasive Species: Leafy Spurge .........................p. 10 rather relate to the common feeling of excitement that many Bird News ................................................. p. 11 - 13 of you feel when encountering a familiar and well-known individual bird in your backyard. The Hunt Lake Hike ...........................................p. 14 Prairie Day, Our Natural Garden Tour ..............p. 15 (continued on page 5...) President’s Corner by Roger Turenne Little Limestone Lake Provincial Canada Post Publications Mail Sales Product Agreement No. 0040069231. Park worth celebrating n June 24, I had the privilege of accompanying Issued 6 times a year as the official Conservation Minister Bill Blaikie to Little Limestone publication of Nature Manitoba. OLake for the official announcement of the creation of Subscriptions are a benefit of membership. Little Limestone Lake Provincial Park (see photo on page See backpage for membership details. 16). This marks the culmination of a process which started Opinions are those of the writers and not 19 years ago when we first brought the unique characteris- necessarily the organization as a whole. tics of this very special lake to the government’s attention. Office and Library It has not always been an easy journey. For more than a decade we tried to include Little Limestone Lake within the boundaries of the proposed Manitoba Lowlands national park, 401 - 63 Albert St. Winnipeg, R3B 1G4 in the face of strong opposition from the mining industry. When that park proposal Phone/Fax: .......................(204) 943-9029 became stalemated, an effort was begun to make Little Limestone Lake a stand-alone Email: [email protected] conservation objective and turn it into a provincial park. The creation of the Little Website: ............www.naturemanitoba.ca Limestone Lake Park Reserve was an important step forward in 2007. Unfortunately, the boundaries of this reserve included only a 100 m buffer around the lake Office Administrator ............ Susan McLarty and failed to provide adequate protection. Public consultations ensued and scientific Hours: 10:00 am to 3:00 pm studies were made with a view to determining the final makeup of the proposed park. Monday to Friday With the exception of the mining sector, there was broad support for boundary expansion. Last December Minister Blaikie decided to move forward towards park designation, with Nature Manitoba News boundaries little changed from the Park Reserve. With regret, we explained why we could Newsletter Editor ................... Tommy Allen not support a park which failed to provide long-term protection for the lake. Mosakahiken Email: [email protected] Cree Nation, in whose traditional territory the park would be situated, also had a problem Editorial Committee: Tommy Allen with the boundaries for the same reasons. Donna Danyluk There followed a number of informal discussions he MOU contains Roger Turenne between government officials, the local community, “T a government Nature Manitoba and CPAWS to try to resolve the issue, commitment to Advertising Rates: Full page $200, half a against the backdrop of a looming provincial election and page $140. Contact the office for other a legally-mandated deadline of July 6 for any public work on improving sizes & rates. Rate reduced if ad appears announcements. We eventually came to a consensus the boundaries.” 3 times. Classifieds are also available. which was then incorporated into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Manitoba Conservation and Mosakahiken. The MOU Submission deadline is the first day of the indicates agreement with the minister’s park proposal while at the same time acknowledg- month prior to the newsletter publication. ing that more work needs to be done on the boundaries, and sets up a mechanism to do so Deadline for the Sep. / Oct. 2011 issue “no later than 60 days after the establishment of the park.” is Aug. 1st, 2011. Mosakahiken wants the economic opportunities that park establishment would bring to their community. With the election coming, we all felt that it would be good to have a This newsletter is printed on Enviro 100 process in place now which would carry on whichever party emerges victorious in the fall. 20lb paper which is 100% Post Consumer With the park a reality, it will become much more widely known and appreciated by Recycled and FSC certified. Manitobans, making it easier to mount a campaign to stop any future threatening development in the immediate vicinity. 2011/2012 Executive For these reasons, Nature Manitoba, CPAWS, and Mosakahiken Cree Nation endorsed the President ............................ Roger Turenne proposal. The new park establishes core protection for the lake and the MOU contains a Exec. Vice-President ....... Donald Himbeault government commitment to work on improving the boundaries. This means that there is Vice-President .................. James Whitelaw still work to be done. But park designation constitutes a giant leap forward that is worth Treasurer ............................. Sean Worden celebrating. Secretary ..................................Alain Louer I would like to pay tribute to my colleague Ron Thiessen, executive director of the Past President ......................... Les McCann Manitoba Chapter of CPAWS, whose tireless work with Mosakahiken Cree Nation was instrumental in getting us over the final hurdle. I would like to commend Chief Phillip 2011/2012 Board Members Buck for his vision for his community which encompasses not only economic development, but a strong belief that this development should be based on sustainable principles, Christian Artuso, Lewis Cocks, respect for the land, and protection of Little Limestone Lake and the lands around it. Donna Danyluk, Scott Falkingham, Finally, I would also like to commend the Hon. Bill Blaikie who has demonstrated a strong Carol Hitchon, Michele Kading, commitment to protection of Little Limestone Lake and a willingness to listen. This gives Rose Kuzina, Richard Staniforth, us reason to hope that the coming discussions on boundary adjustments will lead to a Michael Sykes happy conclusion. Page 2 Nature Manitoba News Vol. 3, Issue 4 - July / Aug. 2011 by Tommy Allen Photo: Pat Gray Welcome New Members! Passi April 15th - June 14th, 2011: le o Darlene Abreu p n Simone Allard o a Neil Baker e t Celeste Brunel e Sue Genest P Barbara George Ken Gilmour Francis Hanlon & Family David Lane John Glenda Mckim Earl Palansky Ian Robertson & Family Gray Jon Seguire Brian & Vera Toker . Lois Verfaillie A .. Kevin Wolk b e o ur Newsletter Label ut Nat Volunteer Needed Our office needs a new volunteer to ohn has always been traveling to about 20 help label Nature Manitoba News for drawn towards nature; he developing countries in West mailing. This job only takes approx. Jeven remembers using his first pair of Africa, Latin America, South-East Asia, the 3 hours every second month. wooden skis as a child in Winnipeg. His Caribbean and even Russia. He has seen Contact the office at 943-9029 or father was in the Canadian Forces, so many challenges faced in these countries although he was born in Victoria, he in regards to environmental management, [email protected].