Fall banding for 2007 kicked off on Wednesday 15th August, with Peter Fearon, Kevin Grundy and Nelson Laporte opening the nets for the second annual fall banding effort for AuBO.
For more information go to the Autumn Banding 2007 page.

Banding sessions completed in previous years at Pinery Provincial Park suggested that the Lake Huron coastline served as an important migratory corridor for many bird species. One of the aims of the Ausable Bird Observatory is to continue to assess the theorized importance of Pinery and the rest of the Port Franks Dune Complex Important Bird Area - as identified by Bird Studies Canada (BSC) - as a migratory corridor on the Lake Huron coastline.

Standardised banding methods are applied during migration monitoring periods, in conjunction with the Canadian Migration Monitoring Network (CMMN) protocol. Standardised banding entails having the nets open just before dawn and operating for the subsequent six hours, checking the nets at least every thirty minutes. The net line that the bird came from is also recorded, along with all biometric data, age and sex of the species. Following that, the bird is promptly released. Other data is also collected, such as estimated daily totals and census route followed every morning.

Download the reports that outline the findings of the spring and autumn banding projects from 2006 and 2007.
Spring Report 2006 (pdf) Autumn Report 2006 (pdf) Spring Report 2007 (pdf)

AuBO also offers an exciting outreach education program for schools, youth organisations and naturalist groups. For more information see Educational Programs.

In 2007, AuBO will launch a nest box programme at a number of locations within the Ausable River watershed focusing specifically on the Tree Swallow and Purple Martin. The nest boxes, donated by Lake Smith Conservationists and assembled by local school children, will be erected before the breeding season and monitored throughout with the young being banded when old enough. Check back in Summer 2007 for updates!