It’s 6am on the Carden Alvar, and nearly sixty people have gathered in the early morning light, many with binoculars or cameras in hand. Some are groggy, others bright-eyed and eager—but we’re all excited to see what the day has in store.
This is the Annual Carden Bird Blitz, when birders of all stripes come together to record as many bird species as they can find within a short period of time. The data they collect will be submitted to organizations like Ontario Parks and the Natural Heritage Information Centre, and will help scientists and conservation groups target their efforts to protect bird species.
Birds in Ontario are facing many threats, including habitat loss, climate change, and migration disruptions. That’s why efforts like the Bird Blitz are integral to knowing which bird species are doing well in an area, which are notably absent, and which invasive species (like the European Starling) might be increasing.
The day starts with instructions, safety precautions, and a funny anecdote or two from Couchiching Conservancy’s Conservation Biologist Toby Rowland—then, it’s off onto the Alvar! Each team navigates to their assigned area of the Alvar, where they’ll stop at multiple ‘stations’ marked on their map. At each station, they’ll record all the birds they hear or see over the course of five minutes. They also keep track of which birds they see between stations, and any signs of nesting.
When identifying birds, some teams rely on their sight and hearing alone, while others also pull out their phones to consult an app called Merlin. Merlin, developed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, accesses your phone’s microphone to identify birds by call. It can be especially good at recognizing individual voices when many birds are signing at once. It has been known to make the occasional mistake, however, so birders usually confirm its suggestions with their own observations.
Once each team has visited all their stations, it’s back to the parking lot; to compare notes, brag about rare sightings, and have a cold drink after a few hours in the sun.
Notable species recorded during this year’s Blitz include the Northern Mockingbird, Upland Sandpiper, and Black Billed Cuckoo!
To the untrained eye, the Carden Alvar might look like a large swath of fallow farmland, or an incongruent patch of Serengeti savanna dropped just East of Lake Simcoe. But Alvars are a natural, and incredibly important—though rare—part of the Ontarian landscape.
They form from large patches of Limestone bedrock, on top of which grow a huge array of grasses, lichens, shrubs, and wildflowers. Diverse plant life means a huge varity of animals, including insects—and since many birds feed predominantly on insects or plant seeds, the Alvar is like a never-ending buffet! Some birds call it home year-round, while others stay for the Summer before returning South for the Winter.
In the open savanna, it’s common to hear the throaty buzz of a Grasshopper Sparrow, or the high, squeaky keen of a Killdeer. In the marshes, you can spot the long beak and mottled feathers of a Wilson’s Snipe, and hear the Red-wing Blackbird warning others away from its nest. Usually, the Alvar itself is closed to walkers (save for select trails) for exactly this reason; it’s an important breeding ground for birds, many of whom nest on the ground. Today, however, it’s been opened to Bird Bllitz participants, in the hope that the data collected will contribute to the protection of birds and Alvar habitat in the future.
By 11am, the Blitz’s volunteers are piling into their cars and heading off for an early lunch—or a well-deserved nap—while Conservancy staff pack up from the day’s excitement. Although the threats facing many species and ecosystems around Ontario can feel dire, joining a group of eager birders on an early morning adventure certainly helped to remind me that the world is full of passionate, dedicated people—and that there are endless ways to take action and help protect the lands and species you love!
The Carden Alvar (Mud Inspired Photography)
Article by: Izzy McEwen, Community Engagement Ambassador