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Top teen birders Nova Scotia pair win awards to study birds at Ontario observatory By SALLY ERSKINE DOUCETTE | 7:05 AM July 19, 2007 TWO YOUNG BIRDERS from Nova Scotia have been given the opportunity of a lifetime. They were selected for Doug Tarry Bird Study Awards, which means they'll be attending a weeklong natural history camp at Long Point Bird Observatory near Point Pelee National Park in southern Ontario, famous for waves of migratory flocks that fly over it. The awards are designed to ""foster the development of ornithological interests in Canadian teenagers,"" according to the Bird Studies Canada website. Kier Shackleton Gigeroff, 14, of Dartmouth and Lucas Berrigan, 15, of Jeddore Oyster Ponds on the Eastern Shore, received the awards this summer, along with four other young birders from across Canada. They'll be in the program from August 3 to 12. Kier applied to the camp because "it's an invaluable chance to learn from professional field ornithologists" and to improve bird identification skills and knowledge. He looks forward to spending time with five other young birders who care about birds as much as he does, as well as some "hands-on extreme birding" - banding birds and seeing them up close. Lucas had never met anyone else his age who is just as keen (about birds) aside from Kier. "It would be interesting to see how other young birders work in the field," he says. Also, he has his eye on the future and says that the camp is focused on teaching young people so that they can be professional biologists when it's time for them to get a job. Although they're young, they have several years of birding experience. Lucas says he started birding when his mother decided on a bird theme for his birthday party when he turned eight. "I got some pretty cool stuff like a birdhouse, some suet bells, and a pair of binoculars." Kier's interest in birds evolved out of an early interest in nature. First, he learned everything about turtles, then reptiles, and now he is serious about birds. Both teens joined the Nova Scotia Bird Society in 2005 during its 50th anniversary celebrations. Both use binoculars, spotting scopes and digital cameras to check on the birds they see. Kier walks around to his favourite birding spots in Dartmouth, including Dartmouth Cove on Halifax Harbour, a swamp behind his neighbourhood school that he refers to as Cardinal Place due to the many bright red northern cardinals there, and Sullivan's Pond. In April, Kier spotted a red flash outside his living room window. Instead of a cardinal, however, it was a rare bird for Nova Scotia. A summer tanager, a bird that usually doesn't come this far north, was enjoying the seed at the bird feeders Kier attends daily in his yard. He entered the information on the Rare Bird Alert website and several birders arrived at his yard over the next few days to admire and photograph the beautiful bird. One birder posted the photos on his website and thanked Kier, saying "It was a lifer for me." Many birders maintain life lists of all the birds they see for the first time. Some get quite competitive and ambitious in their search for more species. Lucas maintains a disciplined practice of daily bird patrols. "I find the earliest in the morning as possible is the best time, but being a boy of 15, it is quite difficult to get up before nine o'clock," he says. Support from adults who share this interest is important to these young birders. As Lucas says, "I met a man named Adam Campbell. He was also into birds when he was a child and he was willing to bird with me every two weeks. He was the one who got me the most enthusiastic. I probably wouldn't be going outside for an hour every day to if I hadn't met him." Older members of the bird society are very supportive of this new generation of birders. When the boys want to go on field trips, they ask one of these mentors to take them along. They've participated in Christmas bird counts, eagle watches, sewer strolls and a fall trip to Brier Island
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