District’s west-end a birding hot spot

For an area already becoming popular among birding enthusiasts, Rainy River District now has one more attraction.
The area around the mouth of the Rainy River, in the west end of the district, has been named an “Important Birding Area.”
“It’s been recognized by the Canadian Important Bird Area Program, part of a global program recognized by 120 countries in the world,” noted Ted Cheskey, community conservation planner for Important Bird Areas for the Federation of Ontario Naturalists.
“Important Bird Areas are sites that are especially important for protecting the bio-diversity of birds in the world,” he explained.
“This is an international designation,” he added. “What we want to do is we want a community stewardship to take place.”
A local steering committee has been formed to look at how to monitor the Important Bird Area. The committee will include members of the Rainy River Watershed Program, the Rainy River Valley Field Naturalists Club, and the Ministry of Natural Resources.
“It’s an important area because it is the confluence of eastern and western species,” noted Roger Simms, an avid birder and member of the Rainy River Valley Field Naturalists Club.
“It’s on the border of prairies, deciduous forest, and boreal forest,” he added. “It’s quite an interesting area from that point of view. You see a number of birds you would not see further north, south, east, or west.”
Although the recognition puts the area on the map among birding circles, it isn’t all good news. Part of the reason for the designation is that the Piping Plover–a bird on the endangered species list–now can rarely be spotted nesting anywhere in Ontario besides the mouth of the Rainy River.
“It’s actually the last place in Ontario where it breeds,” said Cheskey, who hopes the local committee will be able to act as a watchdog for the area to counter-balance any potential harm an increase in birding activity might bring.
An island on nearby Lake of the Woods also was recognized under the Important Bird Areas, which is a project of the Canadian Nature Federation, Bird Studies Canada, and the Federation of Ontario Field Naturalists.