Nature Photo of the Month - Ssssss...

I wanted to share our latest Photo of the Month. Even if you're not a fan of snakes (although how can you not be?) I think you'll appreciate this nature pic for its technical merits. Here's what photographer Doris Potter, from St. Laurent, Quebec, wrote to us:

At the Upper Canada Bird Sanctuary near Ingleside, Ontario, I encountered a lovely Garter Snake. I have never met such a friendly snake. He posed for a good 10 minutes and I photographed him from every angle. He repeatedly came closer to me and I kept backing up so as to keep him in focus with my telephoto lens. I regret not putting down the camera just to see if he would come right to my hand. It was a special experience.

Thank you, Doris, for the fantastic nature image. The technical clarity of the shot is impressive -- note how the pattern on the leaves is similar to the scales on the snake. Another nice detail is the shadow the tongue casts as it darts out of the snake's mouth. We loved it!

By the way, this isn't the first time a snake was chosen for our Photo of the Month. Check out this photo pick from the archives.

Killer Whales win habitat protection

Good news to report for Killer Whales in BC this week: the federal government has issued an order that provides legal protection for this endangered species' habitat.

This order comes after a lawsuit was launched by environmental groups in October when the feds decided to not protect killer whale critical habitat after they had formally identified it as part of the Species at Risk Act (SARA) process.

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans had claimed that existing legislation and guidelines were enough to protect the whales' habitat, but environmentalists argued that these provisions were weak, insufficient and clearly not effective given the perilous status of the whales. This order will make it illegal to destroy the critical habitat of the Northeast Pacific Northern and Southern Resident populations of Killer Whales. Other articles on this victory are here and here.

This order is big news for SARA implementation too. The federal government has been very slow to formally identify critical habitat for species at risk, and its track record of actually protecting critical habitat once identified has been downright abysmal. This order is a step in the right direction towards putting into place concrete measures under SARA that will ensure that the habitat needed for the survival and recovery of species at risk is safeguarded.

This news follows close on the heels of another positive development for Killer Whales this week - two new baby whales have been spotted off the coast of Vancouver Island, bringing the total population of the Southern Resident population to 85. Way to go, whales!

National Geographic exposes tar sands and government bias

If you have not seen the March edition of National Geographic, make an effort to do so.

The latest issue of the magazine includes an excellent 24-page spread on the tar sands that includes the typical first class photography for which National Geographic is renowned. Also, check out the web site for a short video that includes interviews and images not seen in the magazine.

Environment Minister Jim Prentice is quoted today as calling the exposé “just one article,” adding “it’s difficult to see the North American marketplace developing in an orderly way for energy without the oil sands being part of the equation.” In contrast to Prentice, the government of Alberta called the article "fair."

Here is what is wrong with Minister Prentice’s statement. Last time I checked, the market place was not developing in an “orderly way.” I have heard economists use words like “collapse,” “convulse,” and of course “severe recession,” so I am not sure what shade the Minister Prentice’s reading glasses are, but they certainly are distorting his view of reality.

In general, economies dependent upon commodities are anything but orderly. They follow a boom and bust cycle. Most people understand that, but to hang our hats on a commodity that is causing our world to heat up, that will eventually run out, and which could contribute to our own demise as a species is ludicrous. Should we not be turning the present economic crisis into an opportunity to transform our economy into one based on ecological sustainability, rather than propping up the old Trojan horses that contributed to the environmental and ecological mess we are in?

I guess this is a rhetorical question because, in the view of our governments, we can not turn back from our addiction to oil, and our subjugation to the powers that control it.

The blind faith of politicians in carbon capture and storage frightens me. The blind faith that technology will solve everything frightens me. Obama himself said that "technology" is the solution on his recent visit to Canada, in reference to carbon capture and storage. Yet, this technology is far from being proven as either viable or safe, though it is talked about by politicians as a "fait accompli" as the solution that will allow us to continue our addiction to oil.

Coming back to the article in National Geographic, it does not take sides, but does not hide the truth either. On the web site, the author of the article ends his video by calling the tar sands "a desecration." That is perhaps the best word to describe what it really is from an ecological perspective. Anyone who has experienced the boreal forest first hand, touched its mosses, drank its waters or been swallowed up in its greenness, knows that the landscapes that result from tar sands operations, where once lay the boreal forest, truly are a desecration.

Perhaps the tar sands were developed at a time when we knew less or cared less about ecology, when climate change was not understood, and when hundreds of square kilometres of boreal forest were consider “empty", "monotonous" or even "nothing” except to the First Nations families living on the land. Now we know better, don't we? We cannot blame the companies for operating there, but we must have pause to take stock of where we are, and what the end game is before it is too late. This is why a moratorium on tar sands expansion should occur now.

What's the value of bird diversity?

North American scientists have demonstrated that more diverse bird populations can help to buffer people against infection from West Nile virus, according to recent research highlighted in BirdLife International's News section today. The article (available in full from PLoS ONE, here) demonstrates a link between high bird diversity and low incidence of West Nile virus in humans in eastern North America.

According to the authors, these results "illustrate an important ecosystem service provided by biodiversity, further supporting the growing view that protecting biodiversity should be considered in public health and safety plans." The study contributes to our growing understanding of the importance of preserving bird diversity - the many benefits include maintaining important ecosystem services (like buffering humans from infectious diseases) that have direct impacts on humans.

We are sometimes faced with the question of why it matters to ensure that all of our bird species are conserved. Why, for example, does it matter if we have Canada Warblers or Olive-sided Flycatchers left in Canada, if we have lots of other similar species with overlapping habitats and niches? Well, abundant bird diversity can mean more fully realized delivery of ecosystem services, like pest control from these insectivorous birds, or contributing to a buffer against disease. But we shouldn't forget the myriad intangible benefits of biodiversity, often having little relationship to direct or measurable benefits to humans, but that could be seen as at least as important as those ecosystem services.

I bring up Canada Warblers and Olive-sided Flycatchers for a reason: the Government of Canada is currently consulting on whether to add these (and many other) declining species to their official list of species under the Species at Risk Act. It is only through this listing that at-risk species receive the formal protection and recovery benefits offered by this legislation. It seems that all too often government hears about why a species at risk should not be listed, but they don't hear enough from those that support the legal listing. If you value bird biodiversity (for whatever reason), and want to make sure that it is maintained in Canada, I urge you to add your voice to the consultation. Go to the Species at Risk Public Registry and fill out their online comment form. Comments are due March 20, 2009.

(Photo: Olive-sided Flycatcher, by Jeff Nadler)

The canary in the coal mine is a Purple Finch

An important new analysis on the effects of climate change on birds was released this week by our BirdLife partner in the United States, the National Audubon Society. The analysis of four decades of Christmas Bird Count observations reveals that North American birds are moving northward and inland towards cooler temperatures in response to a changing climate.

Specifically, 58% of the 305 widespread species that winter on the continent have shifted significantly north since 1968, some by hundreds of kilometres. The ongoing trend of movement of these species is closely correlated to long-term winter temperature increases. The evidence is striking for some species: Purple Finch, Pine Siskin and Boreal Chickadee have dramatically shifted their home ranges by hundreds of kilometres further north in the boreal forest over the past four decades.

Even more alarmingly, some groups of species are running out of places to go in response to a changing climate. Only 38% of grassland bird species demonstrated significant shifts -- the grassland habitat for species like Eastern Meadowlark, Vesper Sparrow and Burrowing Owl is already significantly depleted making the strategy of climate adaptation through range shifts for these species impossible.

What are the Canadian implications of these startling findings? Here are three:

1) The effects of global warming are being felt now. Species are being impacted in tangible, measurable ways. We can't continue to assume that the effects of global warming are theoretical, or so far away as to be impractical to act on. We are already seeing the effects to birds.

2) Conservation decisions need to incorporate consideration of climate change adaptation. Protected areas networks are essential, but they must be big enough to allow species to adapt to a changing climate. Promises by the governments of Quebec and Ontario to protect half of their boreal forest habitat are a good step in this direction, and one that will help with climate change mitigation too.

3) We need concerted, global and national action on global warming. The Audubon report points out:

It took legions of bird-loving citizen scientists to document how North America’s birds are responding in the face of global warming. It will take action by America’s millions of bird enthusiasts—and their elected representatives—to address the problem of climate change while there’s still time.

The same can be said for Canada's bird enthusiasts who tirelessly contribute to Christmas Bird Counts every year. It can certainly be said too about our elected representatives. We need both citizen action and concrete policy action to reduce the dramatic impacts that global warming is having on our bird populations. As this report on the Audubon analysis states, "When it comes to global warming, the canary in the coal mine isn't a canary at all. It's a purple finch." Now that we know about the Purple Finch, let's do something about it.

Photo: Boreal Chickadee by Jeff Nadler

Ottawa and Alberta charge Syncrude for killing the ducks last year

At last the federal government under the Migratory Bird Conservation Act and the provincial government of Alberta under the Alberta Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act have moved to prosecute Syncrude for the death of 500 waterfowl in April 2008. If successful, Syncrude could face fines of up to $800,000 CAD, which works out to $1600 per duck. The Globe and Mail reported today that this fine represents less than one hour of production removed from the mining activity. After sitting on the fence for ten months, it seems likely that the combined governments’ actions were triggered by the charges filed against Syncrude in December by a private individual with the backing of several environmental groups. (UPDATE: Globe story is no longer free to view, but you can get details here and here.)

A Syncrude spokesperson is reported as saying that this is the first time that anything like this has occurred in the decades that the company has been operating in the region. Syncrude is one of several companies that are mining the bitumen from the Athabasca region of north eastern Alberta. Part of the process of mining involves separating the tar-like oil from the sand particles. This process involves treating the bitumen with heated water and chemicals to remove most of the oil. The watery waste products from this process are pumped into lake-like settling ponds that presently cover about 140 square kilometres, mainly adjacent to the Athabasca River. These massive reservoirs are filled with toxic oily water, which, from the sky appears like any lake to migrating birds. Companies are obliged to employ tactics to scare the birds from the ponds. Most companies use noise-making devices such as air canons. However, due to the sheer scale of these toxic reservoirs and the massive scale of migration over them by ducks, waterbirds, swallows and shorebirds, all of which are attracted to water, one can only wonder if this event is not the tip of the iceberg.

In fact the scale of the problem and challenge that this industry has created is mind-boggling. One can only hope that this prosecution will lead to some reduction in risk to birds. But we can not stop by hoping. It appears to have required the intelligent use of the justice system and the media by one very determined individual and several determined organizations to incite the federal and provincial governments to act on clear violations of their own laws. Nature Canada believes that there should be a moratorium on future tar sands expansion and that protecting birds from these hazards and the boreal forest in Alberta and Saskatchewan should be a priority before consideration of any future tar sands developments.

Put in a Word for Suffield!

As we reported last week, the Joint Review Panel established to consider the proposal by EnCana to drill 1275 shallow gas wells in the National Wildlife Area has recommended denying approval of the project.

The Panel found that EnCana’s project would likely result in significant adverse effects on species at risk and consequently interfere with the conservation of wildlife.

Write to Ministers Prentice and MacKay and ask them to prevent further development at Suffield.

Image: Nature Alberta Winter 2009, Vol 38, #4

Turns out the Red Knot is not alone in its plight

This weekend, the New Jersey Star-Ledger published an interesting article highlighting the plight of two species of shorebirds, Red Knots and Semipalmated Sandpipers, that refuel in Delaware Bay before continuing on their migrations:

Tiny and easily overlooked among the hordes of more spectacular shorebirds streaming up and down the Atlantic Coast, the semipalmated sandpiper is suddenly standing out in the fragile ecological ballet that unfolds annually at the Delaware Bay.

The little brown bird, named because of its partially webbed feet, is providing new insight into the link scientists have drawn between the plummeting population of the more celebrated red knot sandpiper and dwindling number of horseshoe crab eggs on the New Jersey and Delaware shores.

A team of five researchers with New Jersey Audubon and a Dutch scientist, wrapping up a month of field work last week in the South American wintering grounds of the semipalmated sandpiper, announced that they have found evidence the species also is in serious decline -- and likely for the same reason as the red knots.

In the 1980s, about 2 million semipalmated were counted by researchers on the 4,000-mile coastline of Suriname and neighboring French Guiana, where scientists say 85 percent of the world's population of the bird winters annually. Last month, only 400,000 of the birds were found in aerial surveys by the New Jersey Audubon expedition.

"We had already found a 50 percent decline over 15 years by 2006. Now, this is a 70 to 80 percent decline since the survey in the 1980s. I think it's alarming," said David Mizrahi, the team leader.

The problem, he said, appears to be in the Delaware Bay -- also the controversial source of the red knot's troubles.

The area has been called the East Coast's Serengeti because of the natural marvel that unfolds each spring. For eons, most of the Atlantic Coast population of horseshoe crabs have arrived at the bay to lay the eggs of a new generation.

In turn, millions of shorebirds migrating from southern wintering grounds land to feast on those eggs -- a crucial meal as they continue their trek to northern breeding grounds.

"About 80 percent of the world's population of red knots go through the Delaware Bay on their return north. About 60 percent of the world's population of semipalmated sandpipers come through at the same time," Mizrahi said.

"There just doesn't seem to be a major change down in the wintering areas of either the red knot or the semipalmated sandpiper to explain a decline in either species. The Arctic breeding grounds of the red knot also have not changed ... But what we do know is that there have been changes in the stopover area both birds share in North America," he said.

New Jersey and Canadian biologists have insisted for years that a decline in horseshoe crab eggs in the Delaware Bay is causing the decline in red knots, which fly 10,000 miles from wintering grounds as far south as Tierra del Fuego. Where the birds once found 50,000 eggs per square meter, there are now 20,000.

Biologists also have concluded the red knots are arriving in Arctic breeding grounds too underweight to mate.

This is further evidence of the importance of an integrated, hemispheric approach to conserve "Canadian" birds like the Semipalmated Sandpiper. Protection of the shorebird's Arctic breeding grounds is essential, but so too is working together on research and conservation initiatives along migratory pathways and at wintering habitats to ensure that we are addressing all the threats that these shorebirds face. The decline of this little, and little-known, bird is yet one more sign that we can't keep stressing habitats without having large-scale and long-term effects on many interconnected species.

Wild Mustangs, Oil and Gas, and Woodland Caribou

As I perused my latest issue of National Geographic, a passage caught my eye from an article about the wild mustangs of the American West:

Horses will likely be around as long as there are humans to attach themselves to a saddle. What is less sure is whether there will always be enough wild to allow mustangs to run in secure, functional, genetically viable herds. Driving home from the Rock Springs gather, through Pinedale to Jackson, I'd seen acres of the High Plains turned over to oil and gas development, rigs towering out of the frozen sage, the outskirts of towns bristling with man camps and trailer parks for the roughnecks. Oil field traffic hurried out on a web of roads, seeming to skim along on a silver-rimmed mirage. Roadkill, mostly pronghorn and mule deer, lay bleaching on the verges in unprecedented numbers.

Until maybe 20 years ago there used to be a herd of wild horses out here too, kicking around the edges of town in the spring and getting rounded up periodically by local ranchers. No one I spoke to could remember the exact moment they disappeared. (full article)

As in the western states, so too in Canada's boreal forest region competing interests exist in constant tension: tar sands developers and other energy providers seek to meet our (and our southern neighbour's) seemingly unending energy demands, common as well as endangered species seek open range to sustain their populations, and all of us need healthy ecosystems to provide irreplaceable services such as clean water, air, and soil.

With so many competing interests, and so much at stake -- huge financial investments, species extinctions, healthy environments -- it's essential that large, precedent-setting developments, such as the Mackenzie Gas Project or drilling inside Suffield Wildlife Area, proceed only if each of these competing interests can be addressed. It's not enough to say that a project will provide jobs, or open new markets; if the cost is extinction for some species and a degraded environment for all, then the costs are too high.

As I read about the oil and gas leases gobbling up the open range of the mustangs, I wondered, is this what is in store -- indeed already happening -- to species such as the woodland caribou? And will we remember the exact moment when the caribou's fate was sealed?