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Birding Stories
Hybrid gull occurrence vary from rare to common and field identification can be difficult. Learn more.
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People often ask me what they can do for bird conservation. Join the atlas project! It is fun and the results are part of a foundation for conservation in British Columbia for years to come. - Rob Butler, Atlas Coordinator Endorsements The Canadian Intermountain Joint Venture (CIJV) Management Board recognises that the Atlas will provide a critical foundation to bird conservation in British Columbia, and unanimously endorsed the project at their Board Meeting on 20 November 2007.
British Columbia is an important part of the Pacific Coast Joint Venture. The BC Breeding Bird Atlas will provide much needed information for conservation planning. The PCJV Management Board fully supports this effort." - Tom Dwyer, US Co-Chair of the Pacific Coast Joint Venture. |
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31 August 2010: Volunteer Support Application deadline December 1st Atlassers are reminded to get their Atlas volunteer expenses in to the BSC Delta office before December 1st in order to receive a 2010 donation tax-receipt. You are eligible for a tax receipt for the atlas expenses you incur while surveying. Here's how it works: 1) Find the Volunteer Support Application form here: http://www.birdatlas.bc.ca/download/2010Taxrlf-BC.pdf 2) Fill in your information and the distance travelled and total mileage cost (no gas purchase receipts, please). 3) Add other expenses (e.g., food, accommodation) and submit these receipts with the form. 4) Add any additional donation you would like to make to Bird Studies Canada on top of your expenses. 5) Total the donation, and 6) Mail in the form to BSC Delta office along with a personal cheque equal to (or greater than) the total on the form. We will send you back a cheque to reimburse your expenses (minus any
additional donations) AND a tax-receipt for your donation of the same
amount that may be used for your personal tax purposes. Deposit your
reimbursement cheque soon after you receive it. BSC will delay
depositing your personal cheque for a few weeks so you have time to get
your reimbursement cheque into your bank account. |
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30 August 2010: Autumn 2010 Atlas newsletter request for submissions
Please share your stories, tips, photos, and ideas for the next newsletter. Submissions DUE SEPTEMBER 30. Email stories/ photos to cdicorrado@bsc-eoc.org Find previous newsletters here |
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27 August 2010: Atlassing season over for another year but data entry is at full throttle. Once again the season is over so quickly, though you still may be able to find a few late breeders or a fledged young being cared for by parents. I still have a young family of late-nesting Barn Swallows outside my window. Be very careful as migration is underway and those migrants shouldn't be recorded. The 1st migrant Lincoln's and White-crowned Sparrows have quietly appeared and a 400-strong gaggle of Canada Geese and two White-fronted Geese landed in the slough this morning. Atlassers have begun to enter data online or are mailing in forms. Volunteers have already entered over 74,000 bird records during 6,500 hours of field work. 4346 point counts have been entered too. That's equal to over two weeks on non-stop point count surveys! You may still have data to enter and are encouraged to get your data in as soon as possible so the regional coordinators can begin data review. If you still have data from past years, you can mail that in to the Atlas office. |
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What is an Atlas
Mapping birds is quickly becoming a world-wide phenomenon. It is fun to participate of course, but the results are an invaluable foundation of information for conserving birds and their ecosystems. Not long ago, atlases were books of maps but more recently atlases have on-line versions that are interactive. The BC Breeding Bird Atlas will be on-line and we hope to have a book too. To find out more, click here.
Join the atlas!
Anyone can participate in the Atlas. All you need is a pair of binoculars and some birdwatching experience or
the desire to learn about birds. You need to be able to identify birds correctly but you do not need to be
expert - all records are welcome. All data are entered on-line and the results will appear on this web site.
After you register to the Atlas, you will receive the instructions and forms necessary. You should also get in touch with the regional coordinator in the area(s) that you are interested.
The coordinator will recommend an area (10x10 km square) where you should plan to spend at least 20 hours over the 5 years of the project. You are also strongly encourage to report observations done outside of your square, anywhere else in B.C.
A statement from our patron
I have had a life long interest in birds. They have brought joy to an increasing number of people around
the world but especially in Canada. In recent years I have noticed an alarming decline in many
species I once considered a common part of my world. Bird populations are of course the proverbial canary in
the coal mine. The health of their populations relates to the health of humans. The
Breeding Bird Atlas puts scientific muscle behind vague impressions. It also stimulates public awareness and
even that sense of joy I had in my youth. — Robert Bateman, Patron of the Atlas. Photo by Birgit Freybe Bateman.
Bird of the Month
Pacific Wren,
photo: Darren Irwin
Say 'hello' to BC's "newest" species: Pacific Wren. The Winter Wren, as you know it, has been split and now only exists in BC's northeast, and "Pacific" basically in the remainder. A paper by Toews and Irwin (2008) splits the wrens based on a contact zone where the two species don’t hybridize. The "eastern" Winter Wren sounds different and it's closest relative is the Eurasian population.
View species maps
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