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Surveying coastal waterbirds in British Columbia
A portion of this west coast route passes along the coastline of Vancouver Island and the large marine foreshore areas of the Fraser River Delta, beside the Greater Vancouver area of British Columbia (BC). Contained within this region is the Important Bird Area (IBA) of Boundary Bay, which includes Semiahmoo Bay. Here the diverse coastal ecosystems support an abundance of marine and terrestrial flora and fauna and in the winter months are home to thousands of water birds and shorebirds. Due to its favourable climatic conditions and geographical location the Greater Vancouver area is a region of economic prosperity and urban growth, with approximately 50% of BC’s 4 million plus population living within 100km of this area. However, human development has influenced the natural environment and the effects on overwintering waterbirds are of concern. In response Bird Studies Canada initiated the Coastal Waterbird Survey in the winter of 1999/2000 to monitor the abundance and distribution of overwintering waterbird populations on BC’s coastlines and help conserve them. The program is a Citizen Science venture that relies on individuals and groups of naturalists to collect and submit data on a monthly basis. In September 2005 A Rocha Canada joined the Coastal Waterbird Survey to monitor a 2km stretch of coastline along Semiahmoo Bay from the mouth of the Little Campbell River to the United States border. This area is the marine end of the Little Campbell Watershed, which is the study region of the A Rocha Canada BC centre. The survey was conducted around the 2nd Sunday of every month until April 2006, by which time the migratory species had moved onto their inland and/or northern summer sites. The monitoring focused on recording migratory waterbird species, but also documented a range of shorebirds and some residential species. For consistency and identification accuracy, surveying was undertaken over a 2 hour period around high tide, as this is when the birds are closest to the shore. To gather distribution data the study documented the location of the birds within the marine foreshore by dividing the area into three sections:
* Distances were approximated and consistency was considered as the most important factor.During the 8 month period of the survey 44 bird species were recorded, including some notable one-offs: Peregrine Falcon, Osprey & American Kestrel. The peak months for numbers of migratory waterbirds, particularly American Widgeon, Mallards, Northern Pintails and Green-winged Teal were October to December, with these numbers decreasing in the New Year. Off shore there were consistently large numbers of the Surf, White-winged and Black Scoters throughout the survey. The 44 species recorded consisted of; 2 loons, 3 grebes, 1 cormorant, 1 heron, 3 geese, 5 dabbling ducks, 10 diving ducks, 5 birds of prey, 5 shorebirds (waders), 5 gulls, 1 tern, 1 guillemot, 1 kingfisher and 1 crow.
(To access the data of A Rocha Canada’s survey site select; Area; ‘Lower Mainland’, Region; ‘White Rock’ and Site; ‘7. Little Campbell River – Peace Arch Park’) A Rocha Canada will be continuing this surveying work in subsequent years to monitor the waterbird populations in this locality. This work will continue to build A Rocha Canada’s connections to the wider bird monitoring research being undertaken by Bird Studies Canada to track the welfare of Canada’s west coast waterbirds and the efforts to protect and conserve their numbers. *** Project leader: Glen Carlson. For further information contact canada@arocha.org Partners: Bird Studies Canada For further information about Semiahmoo Bay go to: www.birdsonthebay.ca/ |
