Talk and Presentation Videos

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Brett Forsyth was the guest speaker at the Bird Study Group meeting of the Hamilton Naturalists’ Club on Monday, April 17, 2023. He spoke about his 2022 Human-powered Big Year of birding by bicycle in Ontario. Unfortunately, we were unable to successfully record the Zoom webinar for posting here. However, Brett has kindly allowed us to access a recording of a very similar presentation that he gave to the Toronto Ornithological Club on March 13, 2023. Please go to this link to see that presentation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCeY3yAeJKo&t=19s
My Human-powered Big Year with Brett Forsyth (April 17, 2023)
This month’s meeting answers the question “What is the Winter Finch Forecast?” and is presented by Tyler Hoar, who took over the task of predicting winter finches from Ron Pittaway, who notably did these annual predictions for more than two decades! Tyler Hoar is an experienced freelance ornithologist/consultant who has studied many avian families over his career. He has travelled to the high Canadian Arctic, the deserts of Arizona, and the rainforests of the Caribbean. Most recently he has worked for Birds Canada, the Canadian Wildlife Service, and the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative studying birds in the Great Lakes wetlands and southern James Bay. He authored the Evening Grosbeak account for the second Ontario Breeding Bird Atlas. The annual Winter Finch Forecast attempts to predict which finches will likely come into southern Canada and northern US states. Have you ever wondered what it takes to write the Winter Finch Forecast? How can birders predict the movement of the more northern species throughout the province? Have a watch and find out!
The 2020 Winter Finch Forecast with Tyler Hoar (November 16, 2020)
The guest speaker is Michael Mesure, Executive Director and Co-founder of FLAP (Fatal Light Awareness Program) Canada. Bird collisions with man-made structures are the leading cause of death for migratory birds. Michael has over 30 years’ experience bringing attention to the bird collision issue. He has worked tirelessly with governments – federal, provincial, municipal – to develop migratory bird protection policies, collaborated with manufacturers of bird-deterrent technologies, and produced FLAP’s BirdSafe® Building Standards and an accompanying building auditing tool. He has also co-authored numerous reports, peer-reviewed articles, and research papers. Michael spoke to the Hamilton Naturalists' Club's Bird Study Group in Burlington previously in September 2009, so this webinar provides us with an update on how FLAP continues to mitigate this leading cause of bird death and what you can do to help. Please Note: At the beginning of the video is an update on the Grimsby Wetlands with Bruce Mackenzie, started just before the recording began! The audio is sometimes poor in this video, due to weak WiFi signals at times - our apologies.
Your Pane is Their Pain with FLAP's Michael Mesure (December 14, 2020)
This webinar is all about collecting data for the third edition of the Ontario Breeding Bird Atlas that takes place from 2021 – 2025. Continuing the legacy of a decades-old collaborative project, Birds Canada and its partners are seeking Ontario birders to participate in this five-year study of bird populations in Ontario via citizen science. This webinar will help you to learn more about how birders of all levels can participate. Our guest speakers are Atlas Coordinator Mike Cadman, who coordinated the first two atlases, and Hamilton Region Coordinator Rob Dobos, who took over as our Regional Coordinator in the second year of the last atlas project. PLEASE NOTE THAT THERE ARE SOME VIDEO GAPS IN THIS RECORDING AS THE INTERNET CONNECTION WAS VERY POOR THE NIGHT OF THE MEETING -- OUR APOLOGIES!
Ontario Breeding Bird Atlas 3 Overview (January 18, 2021)
This webinar features Leanne Grieves, Ph.D., from McMaster University’s Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour. In her talk, she gives a brief background on the possible origins of the myth that birds do not smell. Then, she demonstrates the kinds of information that are available in avian body odour, using the humble Song Sparrow as a model. Finally, she shares the results of some of the behavioural experiments she has performed to test whether birds use olfactory information to make choices about the kinds of birds they want to hang around – and potentially mate – with!
Can Birds Smell? with Leanne Grieves (March 15, 2021)
This webinar features Rob Porter from the Hamilton Naturalists' Club and the popular “Songbirding Podcast" who gives a presentation entitled “Bird Listening: How to Improve Your Birding By Ear.” Learning birds' songs and calls is often cited as one of the biggest challenges in birding, but it doesn't have to be that way! It may be hard to believe at first, but anyone without significant hearing loss can build up this seemingly arcane skill. Rob discusses some popular myths about the difficulty of learning birds by ear, and various strategies you can use to slowly and reliably improve your birding-by-ear abilities. You can find Rob's Songbirding Podcasts at this URL: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/songbirding/id1480167042
Birding by Ear with Rob Porter (April 19, 2021)
With a Covid-19 lockdown still in place, we knew that many of our members would not be travelling to birding hotspots like Point Pelee for the 2021 spring migration, so we held a special May meeting that contained a potpourri of interesting features: • The Bird of the Year Award announcement • The Robert Curry Trophy for the Most Bird Species winner announcement • George Naylor's discussion of two projects close to his heart: ensuring there is a home for the Cliff Swallows on the proposed new bridge in Caledonia; and seeing that appropriate spaces are available in the Hamilton Study Area for Ospreys to nest • Dave Moffat's update on his Marsh Wren (Cistothorus palustris dissaeptus) Breeding Population Survey in Cootes Paradise, and • Christa Jackson's update on what’s happening at the downtown Hamilton Falconwatch.
End of Season Community Meeting (May 17, 2021)
The world's largest swan went from being extirpated from Ontario to a population numbering over 2,000 today. Learn more about this beautiful bird and the valiant volunteers behind its wonderful recovery Our guest speaker is Liz Benneian, spokesperson for the Trumpeter Swan Coalition (http://www.trumpeterswancoalition.com/) and Executive Director of Ontariogreen Conservation Association (http://www.ontariogreen.ca/).
Trumpeter Swans: A Conservation Success with Liz Benneian (October 25, 2021)
In “Gardening for Birds – The Next Big Conservation Opportunity,” take your love of birds to the next level by learning how to create an attractive outdoor space that also provides habitat for wildlife through gardening for birds! Our guest speaker is biologist Natasha Barlow, who is the Boreal Conservation Project Specialist at Birds Canada. She will explain how to design a nature-focussed garden that helps create patches of habitat that are beneficial to birds, pollinators, and other wildlife.
Gardening for Birds with Natasha Barlow (November 15, 2021)
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