Taking Strides to Protect Habitat for the Piping Plover

Photo: Brendan Toews

We’ve talked about the Piping Plover quite a bit over the past few years. Many of you will remember the inspiring story of Annie Buckton – her fundraising efforts to protect the Piping Plover, a bird she grew to love during summer vacations on Sauble Beach, earned her the Nature Canada 2011 Charles Labatiuk Volunteer Award.

Here at Nature Canada, we have been working alongside Annie to protect this migratory bird. In our latest effort, we submitted comments on the proposed Species at Risk Act (SARA) Action Plan for the Ontario population of Piping Plover to the Canadian Wildlife Service at Environment Canada.

The Plover, like 84% of Canada’s at-risk species, is threatened with extinction because of loss of habitat. It is also one of Canada’s most studied birds with two distinct populations – one which ranges from Alberta to Ontario (Charadrius melodus circumcinctus), and the other along the Atlantic coast and Gulf of St. Lawrence (Charadrius melodus melodus). Unfortunately, Piping Plover breeding habitat often overlaps with popular areas for human recreation and is often destroyed by activities such as sunbathing, boating, and ATVs, as well as cottage and resort development.

Piping Plover populations living in Atlantic Canada and those living in the prairies, and around the Great Lakes are classified as endangered under SARA. The Act requires a recovery strategy and an action plan to be prepared for each species legally listed under SARA. The list is compiled using recommendations from the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC), an independent body of experts responsible for assessing and identifying species at risk.

After combing through the proposed Action Plan (AP), we concluded that while it is generally good, it could be strengthened to better respond to the apparent expansion of the Piping Plover population in the Great Lakes region. As this Great Lakes population increases, the long term goals of the Plan should be updated to reflect the change in the Piping Plover’s distribution. However, we also agree with Environment Canada that not enough is currently known about the growing Great Lakes population – and so we suggested that yearly surveys be conducted to collect new breeding information in places like Manitoulin Island.

For more on Nature Canada’s comments on the proposed SARA Piping Plover Action Plan, read our letter to the Canadian Wildlife Service at Environment Canada.

Celebrating Canadian Leaders in Nature Conservation

Congratulations! Annie Buckton, Robert Bancroft, Myrna Wood and Nature Manitoba are Nature Canada's 2011 Conservation Award Winners.

Annie Buckton

These awards honour individuals or groups for making significant contributions to the preservation and protection of Canada’s wildlife and wild spaces.

“In Canada, nature is embedded in our culture, our economy, our national identity. These awards celebrate some of the people who devote their lives to protecting nature in this country,” said Ian Davidson, Nature Canada’s executive director, “I am truly inspired by this year’s award winners. Their passion for preserving Canada’s natural treasures has raised the bar for what can be done to protect Canada’s iconic wildlife and wild spaces for generations to come.”

In their own special way, each award winner has helped nature conservation in Canada.

Annie Buckton, age nine, is the 2011 Charles Labatiuk Volunteer Award winner. Like so many of us, Annie watched and read stories about the horrific oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico last year. She was moved by the plight of the Piping Plover, a bird she grew to love during summer vacations on Sauble Beach, and one of the many Canadian migratory bird species winging their way into the disaster zone.

Annie found a way to help – she convinced a local art gallery and several area artists to stage an art exhibition to raise funds for clean-up efforts in the Gulf.

Robert Bancroft

This year, Nature Canada is recognizing Robert Bancroft for his lifetime service to nature conservation by presenting him with its preeminent award, the Douglas H. Pimlott Award.

A writer, researcher, and teacher, he has used his expertise in wildlife biology to educate the public about the protection of nature. His influential voice in Nova Scotian conservation, and his actions have had a nationally significant impact in helping to preserve a unique feature on the Canadian landscape, our cherished Acadian Forest.

The recipient of the Nature Canada Volunteer Award, Myrna Wood, shares her fellow award winners’ deep love and respect for nature. Driven by a personal mission to conserve her community’s natural heritage, Wood has worked tirelessly to protect Prince Edward County’s wildlife and habitat.

Myrna Wood

She was instrumental in developing a conservation plan for an Important Bird Area (IBA), and has since been an ardent advocate for the birds that depend on the Prince Edward County South Shore IBA for habitat.

Protecting essential habitat has earned Nature Manitoba the Nature Canada Affiliate Award. This grass-roots organization is making a difference in their part of the country by protecting and preserving some of the province’s most vulnerable natural treasures, and connecting people to nature through its year-round indoor and outdoor programs.

After decades of survey work, Nature Manitoba helped create a prairie preserve in southeastern Manitoba, ensuring the survival of grasses, flowers and wildlife unique to this area. More recently, it has worked closely with provincial conservation partners and the Mosakahiken Cree Nation to protect Little Limestone Lake, by far the largest and most impressive marl lake in the world.

“Like this year’s award winners, Nature Canada is devoted to the cause of protecting wildlife and habitats in Canada, and engaging people to help build a Nature Nation – a place where threatened species are protected, habitat is conserved, and people embrace a culture of conservation in their everyday lives,” said Davidson. “These conservation heroes are examples to us all.”

Piping Plover Art Exhibition Update

This past fall, nine year old Annie Buckton, fearful for the Piping Plover’s survival after learning that it would be passing through the oil-stricken Gulf of Mexico during its annual migration, raised funds through an art exhibition to support clean-up efforts in the affected areas. The Piping Plover is a small endangered shorebird that nests at Sauble Beach where Annie spends summers with her family at their cottage. Over the years, Annie watched as each season a dedicated group of volunteer guardians safeguarded the birds’ nests at the beach.

Here are few highlights of the exhibition:

• Number of artwork featured in the exhibition: 34
• Number of artists who participated in the exhibition: 21
• Money raised through artwork sales: $580 (9 pieces)
• Money raised through cash donations $55.00

In addition, Lake Huron Shoreline Coastal Conservation based out of Goderich, moved and inspired by Annie’s story, led a fundraising campaign with local businesses which raised approximately $1,000 for Annie’s Piping Plover cause.

Artists who contributed art pieces to the Piping Plover Art Exhibition are:

Mike Schwan Owen Sound, ON

Grant Murray/ Karen Murray Lion’s Head, ON

Dianne Sutter Shallow Lake, ON

Susan Gunter Hamilton, ON

Sharon Barfoot Sauble Beach, ON

Susan Enzensberger/ Glen Urquhart Kincardine, ON

Linda Bester Shallow Lake, ON

Cyndi Burgess Southampton, ON

Don Cavin Sutton West, ON

Jo Ann Strugeon Southampton, ON

Anna Nicholson Brantford, ON

Lynda Wills Southampton, ON

Carol Schmidt New Market, ON

Kate Kilty New Market, ON

Hannah Weaver New Market, ON

Michelle Van Nee New Market, ON

Steurat Scott Public School New Market, ON

Rhonda Uppington New Market, ON

Annie Buckton, New Market, ON

The proceeds from this exhibit and sale will go to Nature Canada to be directed to the National Audubon Society of the United States to support clean-up and recovery efforts in the Gulf of Mexico. Nature Canada and the Audubon Society are both members of BirdLife International, a global partnership of conservation organizations that strives to conserve birds, their habitats and global biodiversity, working with people towards sustainability in the use of natural resources. A special thank you to all contributed or helped raise funds for the Piping Plovers.

Photos were provided by the Southampton Art Gallery

Young girl takes up Piping Plover cause

Here’s an inspiring story. Annie Buckton is a nine-year-old girl from the small community of Southampton, ON, who spends summers at her family’s cottage at nearby Sauble Beach. There her fondness for nature and wild things developed, especially for the Piping Plover, an endangered bird species native to the area. This fall, as the Plovers wing their way into the disaster-struck Gulf, Annie has found a way to help, as her mother writes in a letter to Nature Canada:

Like so many of us, Annie watched and read stories about the horrific oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico earlier this year. Every day, she would ask her parents if the spill had stopped and every day she received the same grim answer – not today. Annie and her family traveled to the Gulf of Mexico last March and the magnitude of the disaster weighed heavily on her. As a nine year old, Annie couldn’t conceive the catastrophic havoc the spill would wreak on the ocean’s ecosystem, the damage to the livelihoods of fishermen, resort owners, land owners and all the endless industries that are indirectly affected. But what Annie did comprehend and what would consume her thoughts endlessly was what will happen to the wildlife, the water and shores? She watched in horror as the Audubon society plucked endangered species from the oily muck and attempted to clean them up and find new homes for them.

Things really hit home, however; when Annie and her mother read a story about the potential tragedy facing the Piping Plovers. For years, Annie has observed a dedicated group of bird lovers and environmentalists watch over the birds, protecting them from predators. The Piping Plover is just one of the many Canadian migratory bird species flying into the Gulf this season. Piping Plovers spend their winters mainly on the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States, Mexico and Cuba, particularly on beaches, mudflats, sandflats, bays, lagoons and inlets. Their spring migration peaks during mid-April; while many individuals would have already left the Gulf when the leak at Deepwater Horizon began, some may have been caught in the spill.

Although the fall migration peaks in August and September, plovers can begin to leave their breeding grounds as early as June or July if nest conditions have been unfavourable. These birds are heading straight to a region where their habitat and food sources may have been compromised and are still at risk from oil contamination.

Annie’s mother picks up the story:

This sad story broke Annie’s heart and led her to ask her mother a question that brimmed with the innocence and idealism of youth, “Mom, do you think I could paint a picture of a Piping Plover, frame it and ask that it be put it up in the Southampton Gallery for sale, and then I could give the money to save the Plovers?” Her parents, touched by the notion, called the Southampton Art Gallery, spoke to the Directors of both the gallery and the school and they in turn suggested they all take Annie’s idea one step further and invite talented local artists to join Annie and mount an exhibition and sale with proceeds going to efforts in the Gulf.

With the support of Annie and her family, the Southampton Art Gallery is hosting a month long exhibit in the Guest Gallery this Sunday, October 10 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. EST. The exhibit and sale will continue until November 4. Coincidentally the Gallery’s event launch day is also the same day that that has been declared by 350.org as the day “to do something that will help deal with global warming in your city or community. “

Artists from all genres are encouraged to follow Annie’s lead. The Gallery is looking for additional pieces of artwork to be donated to the exhibit for the sale. Proceeds will go to Nature Canada to be directed to the National Audubon Society of the United States to support clean-up and recovery efforts in the Gulf. Nature Canada and the Audubon Society are both members of BirdLife International, a global partnership of conservation organizations that strives to conserve birds, their habitats and global biodiversity, working with people towards sustainability in the use of natural resources.

Southampton Art Gallery is located at the corner of highway 21 and Main Street in Southampton, Ontario. For more details please call 519-797-5068 or 1-800-806-8838.