MB IBA Program: Year-End Report 2014

2014 Year End Report

Tim PooleManitoba Nature

204-943-9029iba@naturemanitoba.ca

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MB IBA Program: Year-End Report 2014

1. IBA Program Achievements

Thanks to support from Nature Manitoba, Bird Studies Canada, Nature Canada, our volunteer and funders, the Manitoba IBA program continued to build capacity and public awareness in 2014 through:

- The retention of 3 volunteer Caretakers for 3 of Manitoba’s 38 IBAs. Thank you to: Charlie McPherson for Netley-Libau Marsh IBA, Donna Martin for North, East and West Shoal Lake IBA, and Joanne Smith for Riverton Sandy Bar IBA;

- The donation of 100’s of hours of time by IBA Caretakers undertaking grassroots initiatives such as: making and erecting nesting boxes, monitoring bird populations and habitat at their IBA, public outreach, presentations, social media, signage and partnership building;

- The donation of 100+ hours of time by the members of the IBA Steering Committee, who provided invaluable guidance and feedback to move the IBA program forward in 2014. Thank you to: Christian Artuso, Paula Grieef and Carol Scott. Carol left the Committee at the end of 2014 but has been replaced by Bonnie Chartier and Tim Sopuck.

- The completion of a bilingual Manitoba IBA info brochure with provincial IBA map. This has been distributed to program partners and communities near IBAs.

- The completion of a new website for the Manitoba IBA program (importantbirdareasmb.ca) and accompanying blogposts from volunteers and staff.

- The initiation of a program Twitter account (@ManitobaIBA).

- The creation of a logo for the Manitoba IBA Program by Richard Cain (see front page).

- The production of IBA signs for a number of sites informing the public of the existence of the IBA. These have been placed at various points on some of IBA’s (with requisite landowner permission). Over time we hope that signs will be present at all of Manitoba’s IBA’s, although they make take time to reach some of our more remote sites (the sign for Seal River IBA will be delivered by a snow goose).

- The creation of a Volunteer Recruitment package to help widen our volunteer base. Future recruits may either become site caretakers or can take part as roving monitors, recording sightings whilst visiting different IBA’s in the province.

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MB IBA Program: Year-End Report 2014

- The creation of a priority list for recruiting volunteers in 2015. Priority IBA’s are Delta Marsh, Oak Hammock Marsh, Grant’s Lake, Langruth / RM of Lakeview, Proven Lake, Marshy Point, Whitewater Lake, Douglas Marsh, Oak Lake / Plum Lakes, Saskatchewan River Delta and Churchill.

- The design and creation of an Educational Booth to promote the IBA program at community fairs and festivals.

- The completion of 5 presentations on the IBA program.

- Attendance at 2 summer fairs to promote the IBA program to local communities.

- The hiring of two Green Team employees, Marshall Birch and Robyn McDowell during summer 2014.

- The strengthening of partnerships within the Canadian IBA Network through participating in online ‘webinars’.

2. Grassland Bird Initiative

Work has begun on the Manitoba Grassland Bird Initiative which is funded from 2014-16 by Environment Canada's EcoAction Community Funding Program. The initiative had some early success, raising awareness of grassland birds, especially in and around the Southwestern Manitoba Mixed-Grass Prairie IBA. Initial steps to improve education and enhance stewardship of the important grassland habitats have focused on increasing awareness of the issues. Notable achievements in 2014 were:

- A stakeholder engagement project was undertaken by Alexandra Froese of the Manitoba Burrowing Owl Recovery Program. In total, 20 interviews were completed with landowners within the IBA. A further 2 were completed with landowners outside the boundary of the IBA. The subsequent report has indicated there are opportunities to begin long-term monitoring of parts of the IBA in 2015. We hope that we can then identify the important breeding habitats of some of Manitoba’s most threatened species (e.g. loggerhead shrike, Baird’s sparrow, chestnut-collared longspur, ferruginous hawk and Sprague’s pipit).

- Three information booths (Deloraine, Melita and Oak Hammock Marsh) provided information to the public about the IBA program.

- Alexandra organized a presentation in Melita on the threats and identification of grassland birds in southwest Manitoba. Around 30 people attended.

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MB IBA Program: Year-End Report 2014

3. Caretaker Achievements in 2014

In 2014 we had 3 brilliant individual Caretakers in Manitoba. Staff at Oak Hammock Marsh also carried out Caretaker duties. This report is too short to give details of every achievement in 2014 but gives a flavour of their achievements.

MB009 – NETLEY-LIBAU MARSHCaretaker – Charlie McPherson

Achievements in 2014- Almost 1000 hours time contributing to IBA-related activities- 40 hours spent building and installing bird boxes within the IBA.- Time spent advocating marsh improvement with the Lake Winnipeg Foundation.- Attended a workshop at the University of Winnipeg on Netley-Libau Marsh with

the Lake Winnipeg Foundation. Delivered presentations at preliminary meeting at the Manitoba Hydro Building in Winnipeg and the 2nd and 3rd meetings

- Delivered a presentation on the IBA Program at Oak Hammock Marsh.- Delivered a presentation to the Selkirk Birdwatchers Club.- Meeting with the Rural Municipality of St. Andrews to discuss mitigation for the

marsh.- Produced a Netley-Libau IBA Facebook page.

Bird Highlights- 4 monitoring trips in 2014 including Goldeye Lake and Folster’s Lake- 2 summer trips, highlights included:

o 100 Western Grebes, including youngo Forster’s Tern colonyo 4 pairs of Bald Eagle

© Charlie McPherson

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MB IBA Program: Year-End Report 2014

o 26 Red-necked grebe- 2 fall trips, highlights included:

o 3000 Canada Gooseo 1000 Snow Goose

Habitat changesFlooding across Lake Winnipeg has been a problem in 2014. Water levels are perpetually high at Netley-Libau Marsh due to Lake Winnipeg Regulation. Discussions are ongoing involving the Lake Winnipeg Foundation as to how to restore the marsh.

Other ActivitiesCharlie continues to advocate Netley-Libau Marsh whenever the opportunity arises and will continue phone and word of mouth advocacy throughout the season. He also makes occasional trips to the northwestern corner of the marsh to monitor flooding and assess mitigation potentials.

MB038 – NORTH, WEST AND EAST SHOAL LAKESCaretaker – Donna Martin

Achievements in 2014- 3 checklists submitted to eBird. - In September, Donna participated in World Shorebird Day, counting shorebirds

and other species in the IBA.- Secured a donation from Rona of two pressure treated posts and hardware to

erect 2 signs on the north side of the IBA.- Received a Lumber donation from Starr Building for North West and East Shoal

Lake IBA worth approximately $400 to build some bird houses. Thanks to Sandra Cote for helping Donna Secure this donation.

American White Pelicans and Double Crested Cormorants© Charlie McPherson

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MB IBA Program: Year-End Report 2014

- Created a Facebook page for the North West and East Shoal Lake IBA linking to the Manitoba IBA website. See here.

- Created a brochure for the IBA. Currently on hold.- Wrote a blogpost for the Manitoba IBA website on the Least Bittern in the North

Shoal Lake (Least Bittern).

Bird HighlightsOver 9 trips, a good picture has been built up of bird numbers in at least part the parts of the IBA surveyed. Piping Plover, the original trigger species have been absent for a number of years. The main highlight were the confirmed breeding Least Bitterns. Other highlights included:

- Herring and Ring-billed Gulls are thought to breed in the IBA but again, no colonies have been found yet.

- Evidence of breeding Willet.- Red-necked Grebe bred successfully albeit in low numbers.- 2 adult Least Bitterns were observed in the summer. Following this, 5 juveniles

were counted in the fall. - Black-crowned Night Heron are present, although there is currently no evidence

of breeding.- American White Pelican present in low numbers throughout the summer and

higher numbers in the fall. There may be a breeding colony.

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MB IBA Program: Year-End Report 2014

Habitat ChangesHigh water levels in 2014. Donna is new to the IBA Program and is not currently able to comment on any longer-term trends.

Other Activities- There have been issues with finding locations for the standard IBA signs around

the North, West and East Shoal Lakes IBA. Donna spent many hours phoning, emailing and visiting various people to request permission to put the signs up. Eventually she was allowed to put a sign up on Route 416.

- Looking ahead to 2015, there will need to be discussions on how best to survey the Least Bittern during the breeding season.

MB091 – RIVERTON SANDY BARCaretaker – Joanne Smith

Achievements in 2014- IBA signs and ‘Caution ground-nesting bird’ signs placed in parking area. - Placed information box with the IBA brochure in the parking area.- Delivered a presentation on the IBA alongside a presentation delivered by a

representative of the East Interlake Conservation District. Audience of 25.- Set up Facebook page for Riverton Sandy Bar.

American White Pelican© Donna Martin

Willet© Donna Martin

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MB IBA Program: Year-End Report 2014

Bird HighlightsRegular visit to Riverton Sandy Bar, even in the depths of winter! Piping Plover have bred here in the past but not in 2014. Bird highlights included:

- Red Knot, a trigger species on October 10. - 130 American White Pelican in early June.- 300 Ring-billed Gulls in late May.- 1500 Franklin’s Gulls in July- Shorebirds noted included Least Sandpiper, Killdeer, Marbled Godwit, Ruddy

Turnstone, Black-bellied Plover, American Golden Plover, Sanderling, Dunlin, Hudsonian Godwit, Stilt Sandpiper, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Greater Yellowlegs, Pectoral Sandpiper and Baird’s Sandpiper.

- 48 Western Grebe in early June.- 1000 Snow Goose and 1000 Canada Goose during fall migration

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MB IBA Program: Year-End Report 2014

Only 1 juvenile Common Tern and one juvenile Ring-billed Gull were seen on Riverton Sandy Bar in 2014. High water levels during summer affected the availability of breeding habitat for colonial birds.

High Water LevelsHigh water levels were certainly an issue in 2014. In June it was possible to walk to the end of the sand bar. A storm on July 1st flooded the bar and left most of it only accessible by boat or canoe. The water levels only abated by October. There was certainly high mortality of colonial nesting birds given that gull carcasses were washed up on the shores of Patricia Beach on the far side of Lake Winnipeg.

Habitat ChangesThere is a possibility that White-sweet Clover is encroaching onto the sandbar. Vegetation encroachment was identified in 2001 as a possible issue at this IBA. Also potential damage to habitats and disturbance to birds from ATV’s. Flooding of the sandy bar is obviously an issue for ground-nesting birds. This relates directly to issues raised by Charlie McPherson at Netley-Libau Marsh. Conversations with an elderly couple revealed that the habitat on Riverton Sandy Bar has changed hugely over the years. Blue-green algae was observed during the fall.

Other Volunteer AchievementsRichard Cain produced a logo for the Manitoba IBA Program. The image of the American White Pelican was selected to represent our program. Manitoba is the most important place in North America for this species, being home to one third of the global breeding population.

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MB IBA Program: Year-End Report 2014

4. Volunteer Hours

Volunteer Volunteer Hours per Activity Total Hours

NotesTravel Monitor Outreach Steward Report Data

MgmtOther

Steering Committee

12 116 128 - Committee meetings- Hiring for Coordinator position

IBA Caretakers

153 155 205 492 20 24 4 1053 - Combined hours for 3 IBA Caretakers (not including Oak Hammock Marsh)

Total Volunteer Hours: Manitoba IBA Program 1181

5. Budget Summary

A number of funders contributed to the successful delivery of our program. We thank the following funders from 2014:

EcoAction Community Funding Program: Environment Canada Shell Canada TD Friends of the Environment Foundation Nature Canada Province of Manitoba Urban Green Team Private donations

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MB IBA Program: Year-End Report 2014

We had a budget of $57,403 to spend in the 2014/15 fiscal. Two thirds of this budget paid the salaries of all staff working on the program whilst the remainder covered everything from travel to printing brochures. This is summarized in the graph below.

How is our budget spent?

Material and supplies Overhead Promotional & Printing

Rentals / Fees Salaries and wages Travel - Site Visits

6) Priorities for 2015- Recruit caretakers and volunteer monitors for 9 IBA’s (Delta Marsh, Oak

Hammock Marsh, Grant’s Lake, Langruth / RM of Lakeview, Proven Lake, Marshy Point, Whitewater Lake, Douglas Marsh, Oak Lake / Plum Lakes, Saskatchewan River Delta and Churchill). We already have volunteers in place at Grant’s Lake WMA, Marshy Point, Churchill and Saskatchewan River Delta.

- Completion of EcoAction grant, including the production of a land managers guide for grassland bird conservation and monitoring of parts of the Southwestern Manitoba Mixed Grass Prairie IBA.

- Increased profiling of the work of existing caretaker activities through social and local media.

- Finding funding to continue program beyond March 2016.

7) And finally

Finally, a big THANK YOU to Coordinator Diana Teal, who led the IBA program from November 2013 to December 2014. Diana has returned to Toronto with her husband. Diana achieved a huge amount in a short period of time, taking the overall program forward so that now we are in a position to recruit new caretakers in 2015.

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