There are lots of beautiful birds you can only see in winter | 24CA News

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This week:

• There are numerous lovely birds you’ll be able to solely see in winter
• Reimagining nature via the Rewilding Arts Prize
• What is a microclimate? And why is it essential?

There are numerous lovely birds you’ll be able to solely see in winter

Everyone is aware of that within the fall, many acquainted birds migrate to hotter, sunnier locations and are not seen once more till the spring.

But because it seems, for a lot of northern birds, “warmer, sunnier places” aren’t essentially scorching spots like Florida or Mexico — they’re locations in southern Canada like Vancouver, Toronto, Halifax and the southern Prairies.

That means winter is the one time when most Canadians can see Arctic waterfowl like long-tailed geese (see photograph above) and buffleheads, tundra birds like snow buntings and snowy owls and boreal birds like frequent redpolls.

Not solely are you able to see species that stay far within the North at different occasions of the yr, however a lot of them additionally congregate in big numbers that make them simpler to see, and there aren’t any leaves in the best way.

Emily Rondel, president of the Toronto Ornithological Club, says many Arctic geese want open water to allow them to dive for meals, and Lake Ontario is commonly the primary open water physique they discover after they fly south. That means hundreds kind teams or “rafts” on the lake that she calls the “winter waterfowl spectacle.”

“It’s really, really exciting to see those species because we don’t get to see them at other times a year,” she stated. “They have all sorts of different, amazing colours and patterns and they’re all really uniquely beautiful … plus I can count on them. I know that they’re going to be there every winter.”

Likewise, in winter, different kinds of Arctic geese and shorebirds reminiscent of snow geese and dunlins flock to locations just like the coasts of B.C. and Nova Scotia.

Meanwhile, Saskatchewan has the very best winter density of snowy owls anyplace on the earth, says Stan Shadick, who runs fashionable snowy owl excursions out of Saskatoon within the winter. His firm, Saskatoon Custom Bird Tours, additionally affords a tour to see willow ptarmigan, one other Arctic species that solely comes inside attain of southern Saskatchewan in winter.

“One of the fascinations of bird-watching is there’s always something different to see,” Shadick stated.

Yousif Attia, a biologist with the conservation group Birds Canada, stated as a result of many Arctic birds congregate in city areas in winter, researchers can get assist from the general public to watch them throughout occasions just like the upcoming Great Backyard Bird Count, which runs Feb. 17-20.

“We can actually count a lot of them all in one place, whereas in the summer, they’re just more spread out,” he stated. Arctic species like long-tailed geese are inclined to scatter throughout largely inaccessible northern lakes, forests and tundra throughout the breeding season.

Monitoring applications present that many birds aren’t wintering as far south as they used to. “We’re seeing more and more winter birds every year, really,” Attia stated. “I would say winter is the best time to get interested in birds.”

Want to attempt winter birding your self? 

Rondel recommends beginning by going out to pure or waterfront areas with an open thoughts. She suggests bringing binoculars or a digital camera to get a better look and making use of chicken identification apps like Merlin. “That makes birding a lot of fun, because it helps you figure out what you’re seeing.”

If you need to take part within the Great Backyard Bird Count, the sightings you file on Merlin or eBird will robotically be counted between Feb. 17 and 20.

— Emily Chung

Reader suggestions

Nancy Mersereau of Montreal wrote:

“I enjoyed Emily Chung’s report on ugly fruit and veg. Food insecurity is a huge issue these days. My idea is that expiry dates on food are often cosmetic as well as random CYA guesses by the manufacturer. Why do canned foods and jam have such short expiry dates? Who dreams these up? Canning, jams and preserving by fermentation (cheese and yogurt) were used in the past to store food long term. There are so many preservatives in breakfast cereal, sliced bread and other highly processed foods that the short best before dates are a ridiculous waste of food. When is the Canadian Food Inspection Agency going to wake up and tackle this enormous waste of food. Next thing they’ll put an expiry date on is salt!”

Lenn Hart:

“My father was years ahead of his time. In the ’60s, he dealt with large families who struggled to get food on the table. So, he purchased day-old bread, buns, etc. through grocers (they had to clear shelves after a few days and restock with fresh). The product was still good and he sold it in bulk at a discount. Anything left after a few more days was sold or given to the local farmers as feed for their animals. Little or no waste.”

David Grigg had a response to a few of final week’s reader suggestions suggesting that supermarkets do not at all times replace the stickers on their fridges after altering refrigerants:

“Great information on refrigeration in supermarkets. Re: sticker updating refrigerant gas: so easy to put an update sticker on the door and proclaim green credits. My car tire and oil change shop never fails to update their servicing right on the windscreen.”

Old problems with What on Earth? are proper right here. 

24CA News has a devoted local weather web page, which could be discovered right here.

Also, try our radio present and podcast. The Great Bear Sea is the identify of a deliberate new community of marine protected areas alongside B.C.’s coast. On this week’s episode of What On Earth, we’ll hear how the community might help shelter the ocean from the results of local weather change, and assist draw down carbon as nicely. What On Earth airs on Sundays at 11 a.m. ET, 11:30 a.m. in Newfoundland and Labrador. Subscribe in your favorite podcast app or hear it on demand at CBC Listen.

The Big Picture: Rewilding Arts Prize

Plenty of the protection round local weather change and biodiversity loss is kind of unfavourable, for apparent causes. But for a lot of environmentally engaged individuals, the growing severity of the issue has opened up an area to assume in a different way about our relationship with the pure world.

One instance of that is the Rewilding Arts Prize, a brand new initiative established by the David Suzuki Foundation and Rewilding journal that celebrates Canadian artists “who are using artistic means to creatively visualize and bring attention to issues of rewilding in our lives and communities.” More than 550 artists utilized, and the jury not too long ago introduced six winners (every receiving $2,000).

They embrace Quebec multidisciplinary artist Khadija Baker (photograph above), whose set up Performing Community Garden includes her sporting an outfit constructed of handmade paper and vegetation and alluring passersby to take a plant, every of which is known as after an individual “lost or displaced through violent situations of various local communities.” 

There’s Toronto-based Amanda McCavour, who creates large-scale embroidery installations with sturdy ecological motifs. The work of Vancouver theatre firm The Only Animal emphasizes humanity’s elemental reference to nature, whereas Vancouver’s Natasha Lavdovsky finds creative methods to show lichen into artwork.

There’s additionally Anishinaabe artist Amber Sandy, who, amongst different issues, makes luggage out of birch bark, deer and moose conceal as a strategy to honour conventional practices that have been disturbed by colonialism. And Justin Tyler Tate creates what he calls “Post-Anthropocene structure” — improvised constructions in nature that increase questions reminiscent of: “Which non-human species are its intended users?”

Hot and bothered: Provocative concepts from across the net

• A bunch of University of Ottawa college students is coping with hovering meals costs by dumpster diving behind supermarkets earlier than procuring inside. They clarify why and the way they do it.

What is a microclimate? And why is it essential?

Microclimates exist throughout us. It could also be a aspect of a metropolis that at all times appears to be a bit of hotter or at all times will get extra snow.

Think about Calgary, with its rain shadow from the mountains and chinook winds, or downtown Vancouver, which typically is hotter and sees much less snow than surrounding areas.

Microclimates can vary in scale from the city warmth island impact that encompasses a complete downtown proper right down to the edges of your yard which can be capable of develop various things. 

When you take a look at a microclimate, there are quite a lot of elements at play, however in easy phrases, it comes right down to temperature and moisture. 

“A microclimate actually is the way … the solar energy is used by the surface,” stated Sylvie Leroyer, a analysis scientist with Environment and Climate Change Canada. 

Leroyer stated that the elements resulting in a microclimate could be complicated, together with every little thing from how porous the bottom is and the way a lot shade an space will get to the quantity of reflection off the bottom and modifications in elevation. Water our bodies may also play a job by moderating temperature and affecting wind patterns. 

“During the day, you would have wind circulation coming from the water toward the land that is warmer, and in the evening it’s the reverse,” she stated. “All those effects interact together so that at the end, it can be quite complex.”

Microclimates can have a major impact on the vegetation and animals inside them. 

Mhairi McFarlane, director of science and stewardship with the Nature Conservancy of Canada, says that variations in microclimates are sometimes extra apparent in mountainous or coastal areas. But even in flatter areas, small undulations can create their very own microclimates that assist with species range. 

“You can expect to see different animals and different plants and different places because of these very small variations in moisture and light.”

McFarlane stated wetter, shadier areas will host completely different species than excessive, dry, sunny spots on the highest of a bit of hill or perhaps a actually slight incline. 

And microclimates can evolve, both on their very own or with an out of doors disturbance. 

“If you have a natural hollow, then water will gather in there and that means that plants, for example, that have adapted to … having their feet wet will grow there,” she stated. “As they grow, parts of them die. They’ll also drop seeds into the water and soil and that will kind of change that microclimate over time.”

Every yard may have its personal microclimates, and understanding them is essential to having a profitable backyard, says Helen Shook, a analysis technician who runs GardenLine, a free assist service provided by the University of Saskatchewan.

It begins with the positioning of a yard. Shook stated that typically the south aspect will likely be drier, whereas the west will get scorching solar in the summertime and the north is commonly shadier and windier. 

But that is just the start. You even have to think about issues like slope. 

“Low-lying areas tend to be areas where water will accumulate but also frost will sort of settle and be at the bottom of a slope,” Shook stated.

In city areas, your neighbours will have an effect on your microclimate, too. 

“In city properties, we have neighbours with houses, with garages, we have fences, and all of those things will slow wind speed down,” she stated. “Taller buildings can be a little bit of an issue, because depending on how high they are, they can actually funnel wind down and create a very turbulent area.”

— Christy Climenhaga

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Editor: Andre Mayer | Logo design: Sködt McNalty