Article that was in The Gazette in the Spring of 2002 for the Canadian Nature Federation
By Clara Hughes
At first I felt apprehensive when the Canadian Nature Federation approached me to write an article on the subject of birds for International Migratory Bird Day. I’m an Olympic athlete in two sports, but an amateur birder in every respect. I do, however, know when a kingfisher is on the riverbank without having seen it. From a silhouette alone I can recognize a flycatcher. I know where I can expect to see waxwings, and though I haven’t managed to see a Pileated woodpecker up close, I can recognize one only from a fleeting glimpse. I am passionate about birds. Their mere presence has provided me with countless hours of entertainment, wonderment and joy, especially while I ride my bicycle throughout the rural areas of the world.
I didn’t become interested in birding on my own; a friend introduced me to it. He pointed out a kestrel to me one day and I proceeded to look at it through the wrong end of the binoculars. At the time I thought it was funny, but looking back on it now I realize I must have appeared completely unaware of how to view the natural world around me. Now I wish I could give others this marvelous gift, and what better venue to pass along my interest than International Migratory Bird Day.
For me, watching birds has become an organic experience. Training for something like the Olympics, on the other hand, is anything but organic. One becomes entrenched in the numbers game: watching heart rate, wattage output, speed, cadence, distance and intensity. It is often my longer, less intense rides, which I can turn into bird watching sessions.
I find many of these rides taking me through the eastern Townships of Quebec. It is an area I have chosen to live in, not so much for what is has to offer, but for what it
doesn’t….pollution, traffic, and urban development. These are just a few of the factors that negatively affect our native birds and their habitats. The Important Bird Area Program, a joint initiative of the Canadian Nature Federation, Bird Studies Canada and Birdlife International, addresses many of these issues through research, education and habitat restoration. The Community Action Fund is the granting arm of the IBA Program and over the last three years has helped facilitate bird conservation in over 120 communities throughout Canada.
A couple examples of the projects that the CAF has helped establish are the ‘Eagle Watch Volunteer Interpreter Program’, a community based volunteer group who educate visitors and residents about wintering Bald Eagles and their relationship within the ecosystem of the Squamish River IBA and the ‘Lesser Slave Lake Bird Observatory’ in Alberta, which is pursuing a community based stewardship program to safeguard critical bird habitats from the threat of shoreline development. In Ontario, the ‘Wilds of Pelee Island’ are starting a three-year restoration plan for eight farms on Pelee Island to ensure the survival of the Yellow-breasted Chat, a species at risk. The endangered Piping Plover is another species receiving conservation help from the ‘Nova Scotia Piping Plover Guardian Program’, who continues to educate the public about the issues threatening this species. Even a Newfoundland theatre troupe is getting on the conservation band wagon-they will be highlighting the disparity that has arisen between the local traditions of harvesting birds and the more modern trend towards seabird tourism.
I am thankful that there are programs in place like the Important Bird Area Program that work towards conserving the birds that I marvel over daily. When I set out on my bicycle from home, the first five kilometers are filled with an incredible variety of species. Surrounding my house are the omnipresent Chickadees and Nuthatches; the early flocks of Redpolls and Purple Finches, the Downy and the Hairy woodpeckers, the Sapsuckers and the White Winged Doves. I walk down our steep rocky drive to the dirt road that parallels the shallow flowing Missisquoi River and here I may see a Kestrel or two on the power lines or a Yellow-shafted Flicker hovering above on the power line where dirt turns to pavement, as if it’s waiting to greet me. In the flooded area by the river there might be a Blue Heron or a pair of geese nearly hidden by the tall dried grasses. On the river I delight in seeing the Common Mergansers with their punk-rock hair, looking cool in the water. Further down there is a small flock of Bohemian Waxwings, American Goldfinches, and the list goes on and on.
Yes, these first five kilometers are a mosaic of sights and sounds so magical I almost forget that I am hard at work.
