Fergus’ David Lamble fell in love with bird banding in the 1970s and he received the Grand River Conservation Authority’s (GRCA) top conservation award as a result of his work.
Lamble, who learned about the trade when he met another bander, has been a dedicated volunteer for decades. He spends about 200 days a year out in the fields, forests and wetlands banding birds, mostly in the northern part of the Grand River watershed.
On Oct. 20 Lamble received the Grand River Conservation Authority’s top conservation award – the 2016 Honour Roll Award – for his dedication to the scientific practice of bird banding.
Only one of these awards is given out by the conservation authority per year.
“People should know that a number of wildlife species are in danger and if we are going to help them, we need to know more about them,” Lamble said.
Bird banding means catching a bird, assessing its health, age and sex, installing a metal band around its leg with a unique number, and then releasing it back into the wild.
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Farwell with Youth Outdoors Day committee members Adam Storer, Tony Vanderheide, Sharon Grose, Joel Pegg and Jowett. GRCA photo |
Over the decades, Lamble has caught and banded about 200,000 birds of nearly 200 species. His birds end up all over the world – they are caught, recorded and released by other banders or are found and reported back to Lamble through the banding office at the Canadian Wildlife Service.
“The thing I’ve learned most is birds are smarter than we think. They learn very quickly and can exploit certain resources,” he explained.
Woodpeckers, for example, are more common in the Grand River watershed in recent years as a result of the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) insect that is killing ash trees. Once a rare find, woodpeckers of all kinds are now common and Lamble believes EAB is the reason their numbers have risen.
Another trend he has noticed is that swallows are declining because there are few places where they can nest and raise their young. Barn swallows used to use barns but new barns now have a different design without swallow nesting habitat.
Swallows also nest under bridges, but these are also constructed differently.
Lamble has brought this to the attention of bridge builders, who can incorporate nesting areas within new structures. Holding a master banding permit, he can have sub-permittees working with him.
At the moment he has four sub-permit holders and one apprentice working with him.
Banders can only get a permit by learning from other banders. There are only 300 master permit holders in Canada, so it is not easy to travel the distance required to work with a master bander on a regular basis and get a permit.
Unlike most master banders, Lamble is not associated with a specific bird banding station, so he calls himself a gypsy bander.
He moves to different places as he targets a variety of species throughout the year. He monitors and bands at least 400 bird boxes every year, including two sets of boxes at Luther Marsh Wildlife Management Area and also regularly bands at Belwood Lake park.
A retired teacher, Lamble enjoys sharing his love of banding with others. He gives as many people as possible the chance to hold and release birds, so they too can experience the wonder and fragility of these distance travellers. He does banding demonstrations every year for students at Guelph Lake Nature Centre and has brought birds into school over many years.
“I’m really keen on having kids learn about banding,” he said. “They can’t band, but you can show them how to hold a bird and let it go.
“Once someone has captured a bird and then let it go, they have a much better understanding of how beautiful and how fragile they are.”
In addition to Lamble’s Honour Roll Award, several other organizations and individuals within the watershed received Grand River Watershed Awards.
Among those recipients was Youth Outdoors Day.
For 15 years, volunteers have held a free event each September at Luther Marsh for young people. This event started out small and has grown. About 150 volunteers give kids the chance to learn new skills and connect with nature in new ways. Over the years, the event has engaged an estimated 3,000 youths and their parents in many outdoor activities.
In the technological era, connecting kids with nature encourages an understanding of land stewardship in the next generation, officials say.
– Submitted by the GRCA
