Calendar
Field Trips
Field trips are open to non-members as well as members. Feel free to phone or e-mail the field trip leader or contact person ahead of time to obtain further information, directions or restrictions (e.g. dogs are not normally allowed on field trips). Registration is usually required to help manage group sizes and everyone will be asked to sign a waiver.
Ideas and suggestions for future trips are welcome. You do not need to be an expert to lead a field trip, and the trip does not need to last all day. You just need to share your favourite birding spots. Any questions, comments or suggestions, as well as all field trip reports should be directed to the Events Editor, Angie Millard. Email: fieldtripcoordinator@nsbirdsociety.ca
Member Meetings
Regular membership meetings typically feature a guest speaker and normally take place on the fourth Thursday of the month at 7:00 p.m. Meetings are held September, October, January, February, March, April and May. The annual general meeting (AGM) is held in November.
Events Calendar
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Are Changing Costal Prey and Successful Congenerics Impending Recovery of Endangered Roseate Tern?
Ruby Schweighardt, winner of NSBS Ian A. McLaren Memorial Scholarship and Acadia University Master student, will share her research findings.
Roseate Terns were listed as endangered in Canada in 1999 due to reduction in breeding pairs and number of breeding sites. Country Island, Nova Scotia is one of three main nesting sites for Roseate Tern in Canada, yet predation by gulls at this site has historically caused high mortality for tern eggs and chicks. In 1998, a restoration program was established using non-lethal predator control to re-establish nesting terns. Over time, the number of nesting Arctic and Common Terns has increased threefold, yet the number of nesting Roseate Terns has continued to decline.
The main objective of this research project is to investigate alternate factors that may be influencing breeding effort and breeding success of Roseate Terns on Country Island.
Ruby will use historical census data and nest monitoring data to investigate trends in colony size and breeding success among the three species of terns during periods both with and without predator control. Ruby will be using historical and current feeding watch data of the three species of tern as well as video footage from nest sites to determine chick diet, and assess how changes in coastal prey availability may impact tern breeding success. This research will contribute to long-term monitoring of the Country Island colony and will have important implications in understanding what factors may influence Roseate Tern breeding success.
Ruby Schweighardt is pursuing a Master of Science in Biology at Acadia University under supervision from Dr. Mark Mallory. Ruby grew up near Ottawa, and completed her Bachelor of Science at Trent University. Her passion for birds started in her undergraduate degree when she took an ornithology course, and she has been hooked on birds ever since.
Ruby has gone on to support avian research in northern Ontario, New Brunswick, the Arctic and Nova Scotia in the following years, gaining experience with geese, water birds, songbirds and seabirds. Ruby plans to continue pursuing avian research in her future career.
ZOOM link for NSBS Meetings
Meeting ID: 812 8604 4266
Passcode: 319144