Several birding courses are run each year which are of interest to both beginners and more advanced birders. Mostly these occur during winter and early spring/summer but there is a very good home study course you can sign up for any time.
Details of all upcoming courses will be posted on this page as soon as available -
BPQ Winter Bird Course 2010 – Details of Lectures
Time: 7:30 to 9:30 p.m.
Place: Knox Presbyterian Ch, 6225 Godfrey Ave, NDG
Cost: $15 per lecture for BPQ members and $20 for non-members
Download an application form, or pick one up at a monthly meeting.
What a Hoot - Owling 101
DATE: 10 February
Would you like to improve your ability to locate owls of the most common species in this region of the province? This workshop will give a general overview of each species’ natural history, which will provide the framework for determining the optimal habitat, weather conditions, and time of day and year for viewing. We will consider other clues that may be useful for locating owls, and carefully examine our own actions in terms of which are appropriate during both the searching and observation stages of 'owling'. Guaranteed to be a hoot!
Kristen Keyes graduated from Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario, with an Honours Bachelor of Environmental Science. She then spent some time volunteering and traveling in southern Africa before starting her Master’s at the Macdonald campus of McGill University. Kristen is working under the supervision of Dr. David Bird and Dr. Marcel Gahbauer, and is investigating movement patterns and habitat use by the Short-eared Owl during both the breeding and wintering seasons. Although most of her fieldwork is focused on Amherst and Wolfe Islands near Kingston, Ontario, she is also collecting feathers from across North America to investigate continental movement patterns through the use of stable isotope analysis. Kristen has had the good fortune to work with several professional and amateur owl biologists from whom she has learned a great deal ... which she is quite keen to share!
Raptor Identification? No Need to Despair!
DATE: 24 February
Many birders find raptors a particularly tricky group of birds to identify, but it doesn't have to be that way! With many birds, plumage and size are emphasized as the keys to identification, but for raptors these are not necessarily the best features to consider. Rather, shape and behaviour can be more reliable for many species, and this presentation will emphasize the key points to keep in mind for each of the species regularly seen in Quebec.
Marcel Gahbauer began birding at a very young age while growing up in Toronto. Originally more interested in passerines, he started getting involved with raptors as one of the official counters at the High Park Hawk Watch. Upon completing his Ecology degree from the University of Toronto, he began a multi-year study of Peregrine Falcons in southern Ontario, which eventually expanded to include Quebec and several north-eastern states, and became the focus of his PhD at McGill University. Along the way, he co-founded the Migration Research Foundation, which operates McGill Bird Observatory and other research programs including an ongoing study of Short-eared Owls in eastern Ontario. Marcel is currently Executive Director of the Migration Research Foundation and is based in Calgary as a senior wildlife biologist for Stantec, where he contributes to a variety of environmental assessments, monitoring programs, and review of wildlife survey and modeling techniques.
Breeding Bird Atlas Techniques, and their Application to Day-to-Day Birding
DATE: 10 March
Breeding bird atlases are probably the single most important bird science project that most birders can participate in. They contributed significantly to our understanding of bird diversity, distribution and population changes. 2010 will mark the beginning of the second Quebec Breeding Bird Atlas project, more than 20 years after the first was begun. It is an excellent opportunity for people of all skill levels to contribute to the conservation of birds in Quebec. It is also a great way to improve one's birding skills in general and to learn techniques that can be used at any time when looking for breeding birds.
One of the biggest hurdles encountered by breeding bird atlases is getting people to actively participate in the project when it starts. This course is intended to introduce people to breeding bird atlas techniques and concepts, and to provide people with the confidence they need to participate in the atlas from day one. After briefly talking about the upcoming Quebec atlas we will dive right into the nitty-gritty of atlasing. We will cover such topics as:
-
What are the main goals of your atlasing efforts?
-
Where should you look for birds?
-
What is a good way to get started (sizing up the area you want to atlas)?
-
What is breeding evidence and how is it determined?
-
When are the best times to atlas?
-
Point counts. What are they and how are they done?
-
Last but not least, how we can apply atlasing techniques to our every-day birding.
Lance Laviolette has been involved with conservation and birding organizations nationally and provincially for most of his life. He is a past Director of Nature Canada and is a Director and former Vice President of BPQ. Lance is a member of the National Science Advisory Council of Bird Studies Canada, is co-chair of the Canadian Migration Monitoring Network Steering Committee and is the Records Editor for the Nova Scotia Bird Society's quarterly publication, Nova Scotia Birds.
Gardening for Birds - or How to Lengthen Your Life-list in Comfort
DATE: 24 March
Richard and Jean Gregson are serious birders who also have a lifelong passion for serious gardening. With forty-plus years of creating gardens in Montreal and England that have wildlife attraction as a major objective while still trying to look like a garden they have amassed a wealth of essential information and a Montreal garden list of around 120 species. This presentation will look at some of the challenges of gardening for birds in Montreal, and some of the benefits too. We will discuss garden design, selection and placing of feeders, the choice of bird-friendly plants that you want to look at too and the importance of water in the enterprise. Whether you garden on a patio or a smallholding this will be information you will enjoy putting into practice.
Biographies - Richard is a biologist by profession who learned his gardening in England where he and Jean created a large wildlife-friendly (and productive) garden on the edge of the eastern fenland. Coming to Montreal in the nineties they discovered that many of the skills they had learned and developed translated remarkably well to this colder climate and have amassed a more than respectable garden bird list here by dint of applied ‘plantsmanship’ and careful observation: Richard is the BPQ Webmaster and Chair of the Sanctuaries Committee, while Jean is our Treasurer.
HOME STUDY:
The second edition of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology Home Study Course in Bird Biology has now been completed. Sign up for this fun, comprehensive, college-level course to learn about bird behaviour, ecology, conservation, and much more, in your own home, at your own pace. Written by leading ornithologists and carefully edited by Lab staff, the course includes more than 1,000 pages of text; detailed illustrations, figures, and black-and-white photos; a CD of bird sounds; exam questions, and instructor support. When you complete the course, you'll receive a graduation certificate signed by Lab director John Fitzpatrick.
The cost is $250 for Lab members, or $285 for non-members (includes Lab membership). Order by phone (607) 254-2452, at Cornell's secure Web server at www.birds.cornell.edu/homestudy or by mail (send a check or money order to Cornell Lab of Ornithology-HSC, 159 Sapsucker Woods Road, Ithaca, NY 14850-1999). For more information, including a course overview, author and staff profiles, FAQs, and a fun bird "quiz," visit the Home Study Course web site. Receive a free brochure by calling (607) 254-2452.