by Anne Mills, BERT MILLER NATURE CLUB, May 14, 2022, VOL. 3 ISSUE 19
The Bert Miller Nature Club is sponsoring a Migratory Bird Day to be held on May 14 at Waverly Beach Park at the south end of Helena Street at Lake Erie. The event will be held from 9 am to 3 pm and the public is invited to come out to learn about spring bird migration and birds that can be observed in the area. It will be a fun and informative event for families and individuals. Naturalists will be on hand to help point out birds in the park; binoculars and charts will be available to help with identification. There will be games and activities for children as well as a button-making area.
World Migratory Bird Day is celebrated around the world and events are coordinated by Environment for the Americas internationally and in Canada by Nature Canada. It is interesting to think that others located across the United States, Mexico, Costa Rica, Venezuela and Columbia are also taking part in events related to the migration of birds along the Americas Flyway (South America to North America and back). The theme for 2022 is “Dim the Lights” in recognition of the harm caused to migrating birds by light pollution. Birds mainly migrate at night and lights from buildings can disorient the birds so that they may fly into the building. Bird strikes can be greatly reduced by turning out lights, closing curtains, putting special tape on windows and advocating for municipal guidelines to reduce light pollution.
The celebration of Migratory Bird Day is also part of the Bird Friendly City initiative, a certification process introduced by Nature Canada. To date, there are five cities across Canada that have been certified as Bird Friendly (Toronto, London, Regina, Calgary and Vancouver) and there are currently about thirty other cities that are in the process of becoming certified. In Fort Erie, the initiative is being undertaken by a team of volunteer naturalists from the Bert Miller Nature Club and other groups, working with the Town of Fort Erie staff. The aim is to have Fort Erie certified as a Bird Friendly City.
The Bird Friendly initiative can help to reverse the trend of decreasing bird populations over the last fifty years. The certification process follows a standard that shows each city how to provide a safe environment for birds including 1) reducing human-related impacts such as window collisions, light pollution, pesticide use, plastic pollution, and cat predation; 2) protection of habitat and natural areas; and 3) community education. Becoming a Bird Friendly City would be an achievement to be proud of and could increase revenue for local businesses from bird and environmental tourism. The Niagara River in the area of Fort Erie is already designated as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by Birdlife International with Canadian partners: Birds Canada and Nature Canada. As an IBA and a Bird Friendly City, it makes sense that this area will be recognized by the general public as a bird hot spot, similar to Point Pelee, Ontario.
Come be a part of the celebration of Migratory Bird Day at Waverly Beach Park on May 14. Have fun spotting a bird you have not seen before and learn how you can help to protect birds, provide habitat in your garden and reduce human-related impacts on them.
