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The Bluesfest killdeer have scored a backstage pass.
Biologists finished moving the “bluesnest” early Wednesday morning, dragging it metre by painstaking metre to a new location out of harm’s way at the rear of the festival’s main stage. The move, which began Tuesday night and resumed at dawn Wednesday, was “textbook perfect,” according to Monika Melichar, executive director of the Woodlands Wildlife Sanctuary in Minden, Ont.
“Moving the nest was great. It’s been attempted for other species, but no one’s ever attempted it for killdeer before,” Melichar said.
“We started at the crack of light. I do believe we woke her up. We gave her her Timmies and said, ‘C’mon. Let’s go!’ ”
Bluesfest and the National Capital Commission called Melichar for help after work crews discovered the killdeer couple had made its nest on cobblestones right where the festival main stage was to be set up. The bird, though common and widespread in Canada, is protected by the Migratory Bird Act.
Melichar is licensed to handle migratory bird eggs and has a specialized incubator to hatch the eggs in case the parents abandon the clutch.
“They accepted the new spot very quickly. They did revisit the original site. We were almost done and one of them ran over and started looking at where they had originally had the eggs. I was like, ‘No! No!’
“I guess they were just trying to figure out, ‘How the heck did that happen?’ ”
The new nest was built by NCC biologists and placed on a mat that could be dragged to its new location, behind the main stage between a caravan of trailers away from the festival crowds. The location will be out of sight of the public, but monitored closely by Bluesfest staff and a 24/7 security guard hired by the NCC. On Wednesday, the guard shooed away TV news crews trying to get a shot of the birds’ new home.
NCC biologists created this ‘faux nest’ for the Bluesnest killdeer. Photo: Wilson Hum
Melichar praised Bluesfest executive director Mark Monahan for the care and respect given to the birds.
“He didn’t have to do that. He could have done something underhandedly,” Melichar said. “I was asked, ‘What prevented him from just picking up the eggs and throwing them in the bush?’ It would have been so easy.
“But he did the right thing. He had absolute patience with us. I can imagine how frustrating it must have been for him, to have all these people waiting, all these trucks waiting. But he just wanted to make sure everything was done properly and with the best interest of the birds in mind.”
Woodlands Wildlife Sanctuary is run entirely by volunteers and funded through private donations. Bluesfest made a “generous contribution,” Melichar said. Ottawa’s own Wild Bird Care Centre on Moodie Drive couldn’t help because it doesn’t have an incubator and because of an oversight in its operating licence — since corrected — that didn’t allow it to handle migratory bird eggs.
Both killdeer parents take turns incubating the eggs, which take about 26 days to hatch. If and when the young hatch, they’ll spend a few hours on the nest drying their feathers, then immediately leave the area. The parents show them what food to eat — killdeer eat insects, grasses, seeds and berries — but the youngsters feed themselves.
It’s not known how the birds will react to the crowds and noise of Bluesfest. Melichar is ready to return to Ottawa with an incubator if the parents end up abandoning the nest. If that happens, she’ll have to act fast: Once incubation has begun, the eggs can’t be allowed to cool. Minden is about 300 km west of Ottawa.
Bluesfest officials, meanwhile, are scrambling to get back on schedule with setting up the festival site, said spokesman AJ Sauve. There’s been talk of a “killdeer cam” and killdeer merchandise, but for now the priority is getting ready for opening night on July 5.
The “bluesnest” drew international attention to the festival, with stories on CNN, the BBC, the Washington Post, London’s The Guardian and others. Will Bluesfest capitalize on the attention?
“You don’t really capitalize on it, but you benefit from it,” Sauve said. “We realize that this is a unique story, and I’m glad we took the right approach and did the humane thing.”
bcrawford@postmedia.com
Twitter.com/getBAC
查看原文...
Biologists finished moving the “bluesnest” early Wednesday morning, dragging it metre by painstaking metre to a new location out of harm’s way at the rear of the festival’s main stage. The move, which began Tuesday night and resumed at dawn Wednesday, was “textbook perfect,” according to Monika Melichar, executive director of the Woodlands Wildlife Sanctuary in Minden, Ont.
“Moving the nest was great. It’s been attempted for other species, but no one’s ever attempted it for killdeer before,” Melichar said.
“We started at the crack of light. I do believe we woke her up. We gave her her Timmies and said, ‘C’mon. Let’s go!’ ”
Bluesfest and the National Capital Commission called Melichar for help after work crews discovered the killdeer couple had made its nest on cobblestones right where the festival main stage was to be set up. The bird, though common and widespread in Canada, is protected by the Migratory Bird Act.
Melichar is licensed to handle migratory bird eggs and has a specialized incubator to hatch the eggs in case the parents abandon the clutch.
“They accepted the new spot very quickly. They did revisit the original site. We were almost done and one of them ran over and started looking at where they had originally had the eggs. I was like, ‘No! No!’
“I guess they were just trying to figure out, ‘How the heck did that happen?’ ”
The new nest was built by NCC biologists and placed on a mat that could be dragged to its new location, behind the main stage between a caravan of trailers away from the festival crowds. The location will be out of sight of the public, but monitored closely by Bluesfest staff and a 24/7 security guard hired by the NCC. On Wednesday, the guard shooed away TV news crews trying to get a shot of the birds’ new home.
NCC biologists created this ‘faux nest’ for the Bluesnest killdeer. Photo: Wilson Hum
Melichar praised Bluesfest executive director Mark Monahan for the care and respect given to the birds.
“He didn’t have to do that. He could have done something underhandedly,” Melichar said. “I was asked, ‘What prevented him from just picking up the eggs and throwing them in the bush?’ It would have been so easy.
“But he did the right thing. He had absolute patience with us. I can imagine how frustrating it must have been for him, to have all these people waiting, all these trucks waiting. But he just wanted to make sure everything was done properly and with the best interest of the birds in mind.”
Woodlands Wildlife Sanctuary is run entirely by volunteers and funded through private donations. Bluesfest made a “generous contribution,” Melichar said. Ottawa’s own Wild Bird Care Centre on Moodie Drive couldn’t help because it doesn’t have an incubator and because of an oversight in its operating licence — since corrected — that didn’t allow it to handle migratory bird eggs.
Both killdeer parents take turns incubating the eggs, which take about 26 days to hatch. If and when the young hatch, they’ll spend a few hours on the nest drying their feathers, then immediately leave the area. The parents show them what food to eat — killdeer eat insects, grasses, seeds and berries — but the youngsters feed themselves.
It’s not known how the birds will react to the crowds and noise of Bluesfest. Melichar is ready to return to Ottawa with an incubator if the parents end up abandoning the nest. If that happens, she’ll have to act fast: Once incubation has begun, the eggs can’t be allowed to cool. Minden is about 300 km west of Ottawa.
Bluesfest officials, meanwhile, are scrambling to get back on schedule with setting up the festival site, said spokesman AJ Sauve. There’s been talk of a “killdeer cam” and killdeer merchandise, but for now the priority is getting ready for opening night on July 5.
The “bluesnest” drew international attention to the festival, with stories on CNN, the BBC, the Washington Post, London’s The Guardian and others. Will Bluesfest capitalize on the attention?
“You don’t really capitalize on it, but you benefit from it,” Sauve said. “We realize that this is a unique story, and I’m glad we took the right approach and did the humane thing.”
bcrawford@postmedia.com
Twitter.com/getBAC
查看原文...
