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www.oakvillebeaver.com · OAKVILLE BEAVER Thursday, July 22, 2010 · 10 Bird Man of Oakville feeds his passion for birds By Carlie Oreskovich SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER L ong before I heard of the Oakville man who chases shore birds from the Arctic to the Antarctic, I admired Mark Peck's work. I had already seen his handiwork in some of the displays at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) where he works primarily on the Biodiversity Gallery's Life in Crisis displays, which explore the world's biodiversity and the factors affecting its conservation and survival. That's where you can now find the white rhino bull, that had spent 37 years at the Toronto Zoo until dying in 2008. His ghost, or at least his carcass, is now stalking the ROM. It was many years ago, in a nearby exhibition, that I made a discovery that was Archimedian in significance for me, for it was then that I found out that birds don't urinate. I just didn't think about it before. I learned then that the white stuff of droppings is the equivalent of urine and the heavy dark stuff is feces. Go figure. I am now able to know Mark personally. The man I now call the `bird man of Oakville' was involved in setting up some of those exhibits. But why I call him the bird man though, is not because he is an ornithologist, it is primarily for his habit of periodically taking off on flights of research around the world to record the activities of migrating shorebirds for SUPPLIED PHOTO BIRD MAN OF OAKVILLE: Mark Peck in his familiar Tilley Hat. the ROM. Mark came to be working with the ROM, partly through his father's interest in birds. Professional scientists who study birds are called ornithologists. People who just like to make bird sightings and build up a list of different sightings are called "birders" and they are a passionate lot. His father, George Peck, blurred the line between the two and came close to the ornithologist in goal and function. George was a veterinarian, but what he loved doing more than anything else was being outdoors and studying birds. "He never felt he could make a living at it," says Mark. In spite of that George went on to co-author Breeding Birds of Ontario, authored eight children's books on birds and his photographs are in at least 63 books, magazines and professional journals. That's some hobby. As well as recording types of birds, he and Mark focused on building up a collection of different species' eggs and nests, much like other kids would collect baseball cards. Mark started off on a somewhat different path. After getting a bachelor of science degree from the University of Western Ontario, he went to Sheridan College to study photogra- · Complete Kitchen Renovations · Custom Cabinetry · Cabinet Refacing · Natural Stone and Quartz Surfaces 2376 Parkhaven Blvd. Oakville. Fax: 905.257.5661 E-mail: maximekitchens@bell.net Call us now for a FREE in-home consultation phy. However, when a job came up at the ROM after graduation, he decided to give it a try, believing that it would serve him for a few years. This job offered everything a young person would want, at least everything Mark wanted. There was a lot of travel, his job has sent him all over the world. He could use the photographic skills and also work as a biologist. It was such a good job he never wanted to leave. He's been there for 25 years, authoring and co-authoring more than 75 papers. "The ROM is an incredible, unique place. I feel fortunate every day I'm there," says Mark. He is now a technician and collections manager and the buzz of the place still gets to him. "I have an opportunity to work with some very bright people. The atmosphere is electrifying. There is an opportunity to be constantly learning and experiencing. It's always challenging." However, it is the migrations of Red Knots that are at the centre of Mark's research travels these days. These sandpipers, called Calidris canutus, annually fly from the tip of South America, stopping in Delaware and then James Bay before settling down to nest and replenish their numbers in the Arctic, a jaunt of some 15,000km (9,300 miles). Not bad for a bird no larger than a cell phone. It is to monitor these sandpipers, notable for their reddish head and breast, that gets an assorted team of volunteers from Argentina, Chile, U.S., Canada, Britain, Australia and New Zealand to descend on New Jersey, south of Cape May, for two to three weeks in mid May, gathering statistics on the shorebird species that land in the bay during that period. This is the major stopover point for several shorebirds and critical to the success of many species, for it's here that the birds bulk up and the Red Knot is one of the species that have come to meet the horseshoe crab and to feast on the crabs' eggs. Trapping the birds here is a little easier than it is anywhere else because of the high numbers and concentrations. The researchers use canons attached to nets laid along the high-tide mark. When enough birds have landed, the canons are fired. The birds are startled and the nets unfurl over them at the same time. In this way, researchers can catch anywhere from 50 to 500 birds in one swoop. That's when the work ratchets up as the volunteers try to process the birds as quickly as possible. "There's 10 minutes of pure adrenalin," Mark says, "as we run up and get the birds out safely." These birds are put into "keeping cages" covered with burlap so they are shaded and dark and will relax and remain passive. See Chasing page 11 LET US DESIGN YOUR LANDSCAPE STARTING AT $150.00 INCL. TAX Book Now and Pay the GST Only! 31 DUNDAS ST. E. 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