A giant owl floats on silent wings through the boreal forest as it seeks something to eat: mice, chipmunks and other small mammals. The bird is a dapper fellow dressed in a grey suit and bow tie.
Harold Fisher, an expert in hawks and owls, recognizes it as a great grey owl. A retired math teacher from Prince Albert, he will talk about owls at an Earth Day event organized by the Yellowhead Flyway Birding Trail Association (YFBTA) 小蓝视频 held April 22 at St. Gerard Parish Hall in Yorkton.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Also making presentations will be: Kelsey Marchand, who will talk about turtles; Kenton Lysak, grasslands, and Ray Poulin, snakes.
Fisher calls himself a citizen scientist. He has been interested in nature and owls since he was a child growing up on a farm south of North Battleford. As a boy, he would scrabble to a nest, take out one of the nestlings, climb down the tree trunk, and hand it off for banding to his mentor, Spencer Seeley. Fisher hasn鈥檛 changed much over the years. He still climbs trees and nesting platforms in order to band birds.
In addition to banding nestlings, Fisher uses a net in the winter to capture and band saw whet owls.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e elusive,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou can spend your entire life in the woods and not see a single one.鈥� He bands 250 to 300 saw whet owls a year, which is about 3,000 in the last 10 years.
As a citizen scientist, Fisher keeps careful notes ofthe bird鈥檚 weight, dimensions and location during migration and breeding seasons. He also notes the age, a fact he can determine if the owl has been banded as a nestling. His data, along with that of other birders, is valuable for research about the species of birds and the fluctuations in their populations. Scientists use the data to analyse the effect of climate change and human intervention on bird populations.
聽Scientists know the Fisher acreage as the Nisbett Banding Station. The name and location allow them to locate the source area for the data. Every fall, people come to observe and help with the banding. Girl Guides and 4-H groups visit to discover the joy of owls.
鈥淧eople are fascinated with owls,鈥� Fisher said. 鈥淚鈥檓 not sure why. It may be that they have these big eyes. It may also be the contrast between owls as creatures of the night and human 小蓝视频s as creatures of the day.鈥�
Ray Poulin to talk
About snakes
As much as people may be captivated with owls, they seem less taken with snakes. Ray Poulin, a second Earth Day presenter, adds that, although adults may be nervous, generally children seem fascinated.
Poulin is the curator of vertebrate zoology at the Royal Saskatchewan Museum.
The bull snake is at six to eight feet in length the largest of the nine species of snakes found in Saskatchewan, he said. Although its size might make it look a little threatening, it鈥檚 really not.
There are four species of rattle snakes in the southwest and southeast of the province, he said. 鈥淭hey use that rattle to tell you they鈥檙e out and about. Just back away and they won鈥檛 pursue you.鈥�
Poulin is the curator of Snakes Alive, an exhibit that features all the snakes found in the province. A few weeks ago the museum was happy to announce the arrival of a 鈥渇amily鈥� of nine little garter snakes.
鈥淭he museum has seen its largest attendance in the last 20 years probably because of people鈥檚 fascination with snakes,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hrough the exhibit, people learn not to judge a species until you know something about it. That鈥檚 an important factor in promoting conservation.鈥�
Poulin is an enthusiastic advocate of the natural world, a direction that began as a child growing up in southern Ontario.
鈥淚鈥檝e been collecting critters since I was four years old,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 think I was born a biologist.鈥�
As a university student, Poulin鈥檚 first summer job was working with a biology professor at the University of Windsor. His responsibility was to spend his time looking through a microscope at aquatic insects, Even though others might find the work tedious, he loved it.
鈥淭hat was a good indicator what I was to do in my career.鈥�
Poulin continued as a student at the University of Regina and then at the University of Alberta. On completion of his studies , he obtained what he called his dream job at the Royal Saskatchewan Museum where he has studied mayflies, burrowing owls, lizards and that most fascinating of insects, the dung beetle.
Kelsey Marchand
to discuss turtles
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Kelsey Marchand will introduce participants to the turtle, another topic for the Earth Day symposium. The turtle is a reptile 鈥渃utified鈥� in the cartoon world of the Ninja Turtles and Disney鈥檚 Robin Hood. After all this animated charm, we鈥檙e simply programmed to like turtles. 聽
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥淭urtles are fascinating in that they can persist in a variety of environments,鈥� she said. 鈥淚n Canada, you wouldn't necessarily expect to find reptiles and amphibians, let alone turtles, because they spend the majority of their lifetime trapped under ice during the winter. Their active season, where they will bask, forage and mate is only about four to six months every year.鈥�
Yet they exist and even thrive in aquatic areas where the water remains unpolluted and free of garbage.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Marchand added that there is a stereotype that turtles are slow moving and in some cases, that is fact but it is also true that some turtles can move incredibly fast. That might be one fact that people might learn from Marchand鈥檚 discussion about turtles.
鈥淚 love to do talks like the one in Yorkton,鈥� Marchand said. 鈥淚t gives people an opportunity to learn about wildlife in a way that they may not have had the opportunity to do before. In addition, I'm able to share my passion for turtles and the outdoors, in hopes of inspiring other generations to do the same.鈥�
Marchand developed a love of the outdoors, playing in the back yard, and going on hikes and camping trips, but her love of turtles and field biology really began in her second year of college when she had a co-op work term with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry. She is presently in a master鈥檚 program at the University of Regina where of course, she continues her study of that fascinating reptile, the turtle.
Kenton Lysak
to discusses grasslands
The topic of the fourth presentation is the conservation of an environment that allows all three of these species to thrive. The speaker, Kenton Lysak, is a senior interpreter with the Meewasin Valley Authority wherehe is actively involved in developing environmental education and stewardship programs in Saskatoon.
Lysak grew up on a three-generation farm outside Theodore. His mentor in all things nature was his grandfather, Glenn Wiseman.
鈥淚 was always at the creek, my hands muddy, my eyes focused on the birds, the animals and the insects. At Cherry Dale Golf Course, I had to be told to pick up my club and quit looking at the ants.鈥�
Like Poulin and Marchand, Lysak鈥檚 interest in the environment as a career began with his first summer job working at an ecology camp for children in Saskatoon.
鈥淚 kept returning to that job,鈥� he explained. 鈥淚 continued to learn so much about nature and I was interested in passing on my enthusiasm to the kids at the camp.鈥�
Lysak completed an honours degree in biology at the University of Saskatchewan and then moved onto studies at the master鈥檚 level.
鈥淚 worked on Sable Island during the summer of my master鈥檚 degree. My job was to study the food web of the area. I tried to figure out how the 350,000 seals brought nutrients to the land, how those nutrients were used by the plants and how those plants then contributed to the success of the wild horses on the island.
鈥淚 developed a special relationship with the herd. I could identify each of the horses on the island. When the foals were born, the mares brought them to me, as if showing off their new offspring. It was something I鈥檒l never forget.鈥�
From his studies, Lysak has learned the importance of habitat conservation.- particularly prairie habitat.
鈥淕rasslands habitat is the most endangered in the world. Seventy per cent of it has changed in the last 100 years,鈥� he said. 鈥淲ithout that habitat, prairie plants, animals and insects are threatened. We need to protect habitat if we are to see positive conservation in Saskatchewan.鈥� 聽
