Nature Canada

Newfoundland Adds IBA Caretakers

[two_third]Julie Cappleman is a resident of Portugal Cove South, Newfoundland and Josie Osborne calls Tofino, British Columbia home. They live on opposite sides of the country, but one thing brings them together – a love of birds and nature and a passion for sharing it with their communities. Both women are volunteers with the Important Bird Areas Caretaker Network. As guardians of their respective Important Bird Areas (IBA), they watch over and protect the birds and habitat found in each IBA.Julie and her husband, Dave Shepherd, are Caretakers for Mistaken Point IBA and Cape Pine-St Shott’s IBA, which are located on the Avalon Peninsula on the rugged coast of southeastern Newfoundland.  Avid birders, they have been birding in the area with friends and local naturalist groups since they moved here a few years ago.“We’ve always been interested in nature and birds,” said Julie. “When Rosalind Ford, the IBA Caretaker Network coordinator, contacted us about becoming Caretakers, we thought it would be a good fit. We’ve been Caretakers since last fall.”When Julie is not leading interpretive walks in Mistaken Point Ecological Reserve, she’s counting birds and reporting her findings on eBird, an online record of bird sightings widely used by scientists and recreational bird watchers.

“Quite a few of our friends are birders, so I’ve added their relevant sightings within the IBAs to eBird,” said Julie.

Mistaken Point is a hotspot for wintering Purple Sandpipers and thousands of Common Eiders that stop to re-fuel before migrating north. The Cape Pine-St Shott’s Barrens area attracts large numbers of American Golden Plover and Whimbrel, which congregate to feed during their fall migration before migrating non-stop to South America.

Mistaken Point and Cape Pine-St. Shott’s are two of nearly six hundred Important Bird Areas in Canada. The Canadian IBA Program is a cornerstone in science-based, site-specific conservation for birds and biodiversity which has been co-delivered by Nature Canada and Bird Studies Canada since 1996.

With the spring migration around the corner, Julie is looking forward to the arrival of birds from all over the world. When storms roll in from the sea, as they often do along the coast, birders in Cape Race are sometimes treated to rare sightings of far flung birds.

“We’ve had sightings of vagrant birds in the past,’ said Julie, “They’re blown off course and out of their normal range when they end up at Mistaken Point or Cape Race. At different times of the year we’ve been lucky to spot Pacific Golden Plover from Siberia, Ivory Gulls from the arctic, Northern Lapwings from Europe and Fork-tailed Flycatcher from the Caribbean.”

Important Bird Area Caretakers like Julie are caring for over two hundred IBAs across the country, playing a pivotal role in ensuring birds and their habitat are protected. The IBA Caretakers Network was launched in 2006 by BC Nature in British Columbia with financial assistance from Nature Canada’s Communities in Action Fund, and is supported by national sponsor TransCanada Corporation. In 2009, TransCanada Corporation committed $1 million over the next five years to support Nature Canada’s bird conservation efforts.Other key donors like Wildlife Habitat Canada, McLeans Foundation and Environment Canada have provided additional support, some of which was directed to the Atlantic Region.

You can find out more about becoming a Caretaker and explore Important Bird Areas in Canada at ibacanada.ca. What are IBA Caretakers doing in other parts of Canada? Read more Caretaker profiles to find out.

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Dave and Julie Julie Cappleman and Dave Shepherd

cliffPurple Sandpipers in flight. Photo: Cliff Doran

IMG_9151Purple Sandpiper. Photo: Julie Cappleman

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