Owen Sound Field Naturalists: Monarch Tagging, Bird Migration, and Fall’s First Goldenrods
Local naturalist John Dickson shares late-summer highlights from Grey and Bruce, including monarch tagging, bird banding, Peregrine Falcon sightings, and the bounty of a mast year.
COMMUNITY CONTRIBUTION
The Owen Sound Field Naturalists Club (OSFN) is getting busier now, with various hikes taking place and monthly speaker events starting on September 11 at 7 p.m. Acclaimed author and artist Allen Smutylo will be the first guest of the season — one to add to your calendar.
You can check out upcoming activities at www.osfn.ca, as well as information about the Young Naturalist Club, aimed primarily at ages 7–12.
Monarch Tagging at Isaac Lake
OSFN’s Audrey Armstrong held a Monarch butterfly tagging program at Isaac Lake on Sunday, August 24, and shared this report:
“A group of eight OSFN members joined Audrey Armstrong, Willy Waterton, and Patti Byers for a fun afternoon of chasing butterflies with nets and learning about monarch butterflies in migration.
As Citizen Scientists, we tag monarchs for Monarch Watch and apply tiny round tags with unique numbers to help scientists learn more about monarch behaviour and migratory patterns. This is when the long-lived super generation begins their 4,000 km journey to Michoacán, Mexico. We know monarch numbers are in decline and on Sunday we tagged only five monarchs, compared to almost 50 in 2021.
People want to help monarchs and the best way to make their world better is to create habitat. If you plant milkweed in your garden, females will find it and lay eggs on your plants so you will have an opportunity to witness their magical life cycle in your own backyard.”
Bruce Birding Club Fall Season
The Bruce Birding Club (BBC) is ready to kick off its fall season, with two scheduled hikes most months on the first and third Wednesdays. Outings are usually in Bruce County, with a few in Grey and occasionally in other counties too.
There is no cost to join, beginners and seasoned birders are welcome, and the club offers many learning opportunities. Many members are actively birding year-round.
If you are interested in joining, email James Turland at jaturland@gmail.com for the schedule and to be added to the mailing list.
Migration at Bruce Peninsula Bird Observatory
The Bruce Peninsula Bird Observatory’s Stéphane Menu is back on site and guiding operations as migration season begins. Here is an excerpt from his weekly blog:
“On August 15, the nets were open for the first time for the fall migration monitoring — the first of 78 straight days when a dedicated team of volunteers and the bander-in-charge will get up before sunrise to count, catch, and band birds.
We’ve been fortunate to greet a new family at Cabot Head: Peregrine Falcons have bred nearby and raised two young this year (females, based on their size). The young have been very vocal, advertising their presence by long harsh calls, making it easy for us to detect and admire them. Over the last few years, there were signs of Peregrine Falcons establishing a territory around West Bluff, but it is the first year there has been tangible evidence of successful breeding. What a delight!”
For more, please visit www.bpbo.ca.
Summer Fieldwork in the North
OSFN’s Erik van den Kieboom spent the summer in the north and shared highlights of his work:
“This summer I had the opportunity to work with Birds Canada and collect data for the Ontario Breeding Bird Atlas in the southern boreal forest. With this year being the fifth and final year of the project, our goal was to find the highest possible number of breeding bird species in every atlas square we visited. In one and a half months, I visited 15 squares, conducted 81 point count surveys, and saw approximately 150 species of birds. Some highlights included a Great Grey Owl, a Black Tern colony, a Black-backed Woodpecker nest, and a Black-and-white Warbler nest.
In addition to the birds, there were also a few interesting sightings — bears, moose, some cool turtles and snakes. The bugs were pretty bad this year, but easy enough to prevent too many from biting.
This fall I am volunteering with the Hilliardton Marsh Research and Education Centre as a bird bander. The station is located in the boreal forest region of Ontario, just north of New Liskeard. The banding process involves catching birds with mist nets we’ve set up around the property. We then place a metal band on the leg of each bird with a unique identification number. Finally, we record some information about the bird, including its age, sex, mass, and wing length, before releasing it back into the wild.
Currently we are catching a number of warbler and flycatcher species that will soon be passing through southern Ontario. Besides songbirds, a large number of waterfowl and shorebirds also stage here in the marsh before heading further south for the winter. Keep an eye out for any birds this fall with a silver band on their leg — there’s a chance they may have come from here. I was camping in a tent this summer but here at the station we have small cabins to stay in.”
Other Signs of the Season
In addition to all the activity with birds and butterflies, many naturalists are enjoying late-season wildflowers as we enter the time of asters and goldenrods. Others are exploring astronomy under the night skies, or scouting fungi and mushrooms in forested areas.
I now have three different patches of wild asparagus that I like to watch at various stages, including when they produce bright red berries.
It also looks like it will be what some call a “mast year,” with not only most fruit trees producing abundantly but also nut trees such as black walnut, oak, and horse chestnut, all of which I have seen heavily laden this year.
Thank you to sponsors of The Owen Sound Current Writers’ Fund, who make these community contributions possible. Contributions from the community do not necessarily reflect the opinions or beliefs of The Owen Sound Current and its editor or publisher.
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