Osprey workshop hosted by Friends of Kootenay Lake Stewardship Society
By Contributor
The Friends of Kootenay Lake Stewardship Society is offering the public a chance to watch Ospreys in action during the Lake Watchers Workshop on “Osprey Nest Monitoring Techniques by Boat and Land”.
This workshop happens Monday (May 16th) and Tuesday (May 17th) and involves Nest Monitoring techniques by boat and by land. Facilitators Janice Arndt and Elaine Moore will walk volunteers through important information needed to monitor Osprey nest breeding behaviors and educate volunteers for boat tour monitoring that FOKLSS will initiate in June, July and August.
The team of facilitators have been involved in over 18 years of Osprey Nest Monitoring from Waneta to Balfour. The FOKLSS Osprey Monitoring project will help inform on-the ground action projects for future years. The project will increase the scope of the monitoring to include the main body of Kootenay Lake.
Volunteers will be using proven protocol established from this 18-year monitoring program and all the results will be both reported to the Kootenay Lake community and to provincial database efforts such as BC Nest Records, Provincial Species Inventory Database and to Project NestWatch.
Increasing our understanding of breeding Ospreys is extremely important as they are considered bio indicators of aquatic health, depending almost exclusively on fish for their diet.
Currently, there is a fisheries decline occurring on Kootenay Lake and it has become increasingly important to enhance our knowledge of the breeding success of this sentinel species.
For more information, please visit the website or contact Kat McGlynn: info@friendsofkootenaylake.ca or 250-777-3542
