2003-2004 Community Action Fund ALBERTA COMMUNICATIONS AND PROGRAMMING STRATEGY KIMIWAN LAKE NATURALISTS KIMIWAN LAKE IBA, ALBERTA Kimiwan Lake is a large freshwater lake situated beside the town of McLennan, Alberta, about 135 km northeast of Grande Prairie. A variety of waterfowl including diving ducks, Canada Geese, White-fronted Geese, and Tundra and Trumpeter swans use Kimiwan Lake during the summer moulting and fall migration periods: in the fall, as many as 20,000 individuals can be seen in one day; on some summer days, moulting waterfowl number from 5,000 to 20,000. On the south shore of the lake in the town of McLennan, a well-developed wildlife-viewing site and interpretive centre with boardwalks, viewing platforms and interpretive signage is staffed full time through the summer months. Here, opportunities for education and promotion of local conservation issues are numerous. The Kimiwan Lake Naturalists are working to increase the profile of the IBA and secure future habitat. Educational material including information on Kimiwan Lake, and resident shorebirds and waterfowl are being developed and distributed to visitors. CHAPPICE LAKE IBA AND PIPING PLOVER MEDICINE HAT INTERPRETIVE PROGRAM CHAPPICE LAKE IBA, ALBERTA Chappice Lake, an alkaline water body, is important habitat for staging, moulting and nesting waterfowl. The surrounding land provides critical nesting habitat for several grassland avian species including the Ferruginous Hawk, Burrowing Owl, Long-billed Curlew, Spragues Pipit, Bairds Sparrow, and Upland Sandpiper. An abundant supply of ground squirrels in the area attracts many foraging raptors. The Medicine Hat Interpretive Program was established in 1982 as a partnership between Society of Grasslands Naturalists and the City of Medicine Hat Parks and Outdoor Recreation Department. In attempt to influence the perception of many that consider the Lake to be of little or no ecological, economic and aesthetic value, they are producing a three-dimensional, interactive multimedia display to educate, raise awareness, and encourage the appreciation and understanding of Chappice Lake species and habitat. MURIEL LAKE COTTAGE OWNER IBA/WILDLIFE AWARENESS PROJECT MURIEL LAKE ALBERTA IBA ACTION GROUP MURIEL LAKE, ALBERTA Muriel Lake located northeast of Edmonton near the Saskatchewan/Alberta border supports a large population of nesting colonial waterbirds. An increase in human activity has both a direct and indirect impact on nesting birds: shorelines and lakes are hotspots for recreational activity, and where there are humans, there are gulls to prey on eggs and fledglings. The goal of the Muriel Lake Awareness Project is to inform local cottage owners about, and request their assistance in preventing undue disturbance at important wildlife sites. Personal interviews will be conducted with cottage owners so the Action Group can better understand the barriers to conservation. Information will be distributed on Piping Plover ecology and management activities planned for Muriel Lake to increase the level of public participation. LAC LA BICHE IBA AND LAKESHORE SURVEY OF BIRDS AND HABITAT LAC LA BICHE BIRDING SOCIETY LAC LA BICHE IBA, ALBERTA Lac La Biche, a large lake in the southern boreal forest region of central Alberta, is known for its numerous bays, marshes, and rocky offshore islands. These offshore islands and marshes support significant concentrations of several colonial waterbirds during the nesting season, including one per cent of the world’s estimated population of California gulls, and just over one per cent of the world’s estimated population of western grebes. Recent declines in the number of commercial fish have been blamed on pelicans and cormorants although they mainly eat non-commercial species. It is thought this belief has led to the destruction of some nesting colonies in the past decade. Some areas of the lake are further used heavily for recreation, and development along the shorelines and on some of the islands has occasionally led to the inadvertent disturbance of nesting colonies. In 1999, the Lac La Biche Birding Society took on a conservation planning and stewardship role for the IBA. With 25 members involved in various bird conservation and monitoring programs and school and public education initiatives, the Society also promotes the wealth of this important habitat though the Lakeshore Survey of Birds and Habitat project. This project is the second phase of an original lakeshore survey and a follow-up to the objectives outlined in the conservation plan for management, monitoring, and conservation of the Lac La Biche IBA, which include the verification of colonial and non-colonial bird species numbers within the IBA. The bird and habitat conservation goals of the project include the identification of California gull and western grebe nesting sites, provincially and federally significant avian species, and other birds that inhabit the IBA. Nesting sites will be recorded and mapped to evaluate imminent and future threats to area birds and their habitat. As no recorded survey of the area has been completed, this data will provide crucial information to guide the direction of future conservation activities and community education. IBA CONSERVATION EDUCATION: SHARING THE KNOWLEDGE LESSER SLAVE LAKE BIRD OBSERVATORY LESSER SLAVE LAKE PROVINCIAL PARK IBA, ALBERTA The non-profit Lesser Slave Lake Bird Observatory (LSLBO) is operated by a dedicated group of volunteers who work from a research site in Lesser Slave Lake Provincial Park where they monitor migratory land birds and contribute to bird conservation in the Americas. During the past three years, the LSLBO, with the help of the IBA Community Action Fund, has raised community awareness regarding the Lesser Slave Lake Provincial Park IBA. With the town of Slave Lake and several small communities located along its southern shore, the lake is under considerable pressure from the cumulative development of houses, cottages, marinas, and municipal properties. This has contributed to the loss of riparian vegetation and shoreline forests—the most productive areas for nesting and foraging water birds—as well as the disturbance of colonial bird and raptor nests. The LSLBO recognizes that influencing human behaviour, an inherent goal of any environmental education and public outreach program, can improve the environment. As part of their ongoing education campaign, they are hiring a conservation coordinator to encourage involvement and stewardship in the surrounding communities. The coordinator will implement a number of programs including workshops, mall display presentations, the distribution of media kits, and education of local individuals, businesses, and organizations. At the Bird Observatory, this specialist will welcome and educate visitors about the IBA program, ongoing monitoring research, and the importance of the Lesser Slave Lake Provincial Park IBA.   BREEDING BIRD SURVEY OF BIG LAKE BIG LAKE ENVIRONMENT SUPPORT SOCIETY BIG LAKE IBA, ALBERTA Big Lake, immediately to the east of Edmonton, has been recognized as one of Alberta’s 20 most important waterfowl habitats, supporting large numbers of ducks and tundra swans, and nesting colonies of eared grebes and black terns. It is also thought to support a large colony of Franklin’s gulls. Big Lake IBA has recently been designated a “conservation natural area” within the Alberta Lands and Protected Areas program, and the Big Lake Environment Support Society (BLESS) was named the official volunteer steward of the lake. A breeding bird survey has not been conducted at Big Lake in 25 years, making it difficult to determine the impact of human activities and declining lake water levels on waterfowl, particularly fledgling survival. The primary objective of BLESS’ Breeding Bird Survey is to predict the success of offspring survival by monitoring nesting waterfowl, particularly Franklin’s gulls, as it is unknown whether they still frequent the lake. The survey will also develop an inventory of spring and fall migratory birds, with particular attention to tundra swans, that visit Big Lake in 2003.     TRUMPETER SWAN HABITAT STEWARDSHIP PROGRAM DUCKS UNLIMITED CANADA GRANDE PRAIRIE IBA, ALBERTA In the early 1900s it was thought that trumpeter swans had been extirpated from Canada. In 1918, however, a small flock was discovered in the Grande Prairie area, and numbers have since increased from 78 birds to more than 350. Disturbance and habitat degradation, primarily due to agricultural and country residential development, are major threats to swans in this area. Scientists believe that new trumpeter swan pairs are less likely to establish themselves on lakes where humans reside. They are extremely sensitive to noise pollution and as a result, inadvertent disturbance can cause adult swans to abandon their nests and cygnets. County residents have been conscientious of this sensitivity, protecting the swan’s breeding and staging habitats. Many new residents, however, are unaware of this sensitivity and the tradition and history of trumpeter swans within the county. To tackle this issue and encourage landowner involvement in swan habitat conservation, Ducks Unlimited Canada in collaboration with partnering organizations, is continuing the Trumpeter Swan Habitat Stewardship Program within the County of Grande Prairie. As part of the program, a conservation coordinator will be hired to contact landowners with the goal of securing wetlands, riparian shorelines and native uplands at risk from development. The value of riparian areas will be communicated and lakeshore landowners, youth and the general public will be educated about the impacts of human activity on lake and riparian habitat. Through community education, the coordination of site visits, and conservation agreements, a harmonious relationship can be attained between landowners, program proponents, and the trumpeter swan.   back to map