Press Release
Mississippi Valley Field Naturalists
April 23, 2002
Submitted by Cliff Bennett
MVFN Holds Successful Spring Bird Count
An exercise in saturation birding occurred on Sunday, April 21 when twenty -one members and friends of the Mississippi Valley Field Naturalists met in Appleton to take part in the club’s first annual Square Bashing bird census. The skies were clear but a brisk northern wind reddened everyone’s face and hands. Organized by MVFN Past -President Cliff Bennett, the event was an introduction to the second year of the five year Ontario Breeding Bird Atlas (OBBA) programme.
The whole province is divided into ten km. squares for the purpose of conducting the OBBA. MVFN has undertaken to cover one of these sections, identified as the Appleton square.The early morning Sunday birders were divided into six teams and each team was assigned a series of twelve point counts. With topo map and count sheets in hand, they set off to stop at each point, count everything heard or seen, compile their results and return to base. With so many counters in the field at one time, very few birds escaped notice.
The final tally for the count include forty-eight species of birds, totaling 3265 individuals. Collecting the highest score were Canada geese, with 2034 counted, followed by red-winged blackbirds, a mere 228. In spite of the cold wind, most birds were active with their mating rituals. An exception was a colony of purple martins in Appleton. They were huddled by their holes on the leeward side of the martin house, soaking up the sunshine but not moving one feather.
Over the next two months, individual birds listed at specific points in the square will be followed up, in the search for successful breeding evidence. During the 1980 ‘s OBBA , ninety-seven species were confirmed breeders in the Appleton square. So far, during the first year’s efforts, MVFN has listed twenty-seven confirmed as breeding. Special thanks go out to all those who took part in Sunday’s square bashing exercise.
The next MVFN event, Saturday, May 11, will be a walk in the forest to study edible wilds, conducted by noted authority on the subject, Martha Webber. For more information call Sarah Coulber, 256-2162 or visit the MVFN website at mvfn.ca.
