International Fieldwork

Images used for the purposes of the Foundation have been taken in various countries around the world.  Dr. Bondar continues to capture changing environments in a global context and has excursions planned that will continuously add to the work of the Foundation in the future. The current focus for fieldwork is the AMASS project. Field work completed and planned include:

2025 – Myakka River State Park FL field trips
    Wild Turkeys, Wood Stork, White Ibis Foraging
2025 – Fort de Soto Park Sanctuary, North Beach, FL
    Red Knots (rufa subspecies) from a flock of 350+ that were observed in alternate plumage – both banded and non-banded. Captured some in process of change from grey and white non-breeding plumage to their signature reddish brown breeding plumage.
– On the North Hook
    Red Knots intertidal foraging for molluscs as the high tide gives way to low tide. Fuelling up for first part of their migration north to their summer habitat.
    From her photos, Dr. Bondar reported the info on the birds with tags directly to the researchers who tag these birds & with whom the RBF collaborates. Critical for conservation efforts, tag registration reports enable scientists tracking bird migratory paths to understand choices made by specific migratory birds with more accuracy.
2025 – Beach Flats, Tidal Flats and around the Tidal Pools
    Study migratory path of Piping Plover “Phoenix” and Snowy Plovers; along with numerous other foraging shore birds.
2025 – Outback Key, Fort de Soto Park, FL
    American Oyster Catchers nesting & egg sitting ‘handovers’ between male & female / Nest exchange; fledges on return later in the month
    Black Skimmers
2025 – Chaplin Lake, a salt lake that’s part of the Prairie Pothole Region in the Great Plains ecoregion of Canada and Lake Diefenbaker, Saskatchewan
– Lake Diefenbaker
    Piping Plover circumcinctus subspecies – nesting in scrapes on the rocky shoreline/beach; Annual Census work done monitoring PIPL populations by partners from Water Security Agency.
    Dr. Bondar able to photograph chicks foraging along the stoney shores an area where during flooding, the WSA has been able to relocate PIPL nests to higher ground to save the eggs.
– Chaplin Lake
    Shorebird and grassland teams from the Canadian Wildlife Service, Prairie Region of Environment and Climate Change Canada partnered during their shorebird survey work and grasslands banding and tagging program to photograph grassland populations photographed by Dr. Bondar including:
    Sprague’s Pipit (focal species) – catch, health check, banding and tagging (Motus tags)
    Baird’s Sparrow – catch, health check and banding
    Chestnut-collared Longspur (& nest); all during their breeding and nesting season
    Shorebirds included Wilson’s Phalarope; Sanderlings; Black-bellied Plover, Golden Plover and the PIPL; Upland Sandpiper, Marbled Godwit, and American Avocet
2025 – Shoreline of Georgian Bay – focus: Great Lakes Piping Plover population
    photographed 7 day-old check that hatched from a four-egg nest
    also photographed two banded adults (Ollie and Patty – Patty blue band 105, banded in Wasaga Beach as a chick in 2020 and winters on shorelines of Outback Key, FL)

2024 –  Base: Coral Harbour, Southampton Island, Nunavut
Migratory bird species spread across the huge area of the Arctic to breed and raise their young. This fieldwork focussed on Southampton Island.
Helicopter Bell 206 Long Ranger (CFWWP) from Coral Harbour Airport (CYZS) gravel surface:
  W to plateau Boas River headwaters
  E to Bear Cove, Gore Point coasts; East Bay and East Bay Mainland Camp (ECCC Govt of Canada)
Habitat studies (surface & aerial), nests & nesting:
    Historical nesting sites of Red Knot (REKN);
    Current nesting sites of Semipalmated Plover (SEPL), Semipalmated Sandpiper (SESA) Arctic Tern (ARTE), Sabine’s Gull (SAGU), Red-throated Loon (RTLO), Lesser Snow Geese, both white (LSGO) and dark (blue plumage) (BLGO) morphs and their goslings

2024 – Wasaga Beach Park, Wasaga Beach, Ontario
Piping Plovers, newly-hatched chicks
2024 – Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, New Jersey Atlantic Coast
Common Tern, American Oyster Catcher
2024 – Reeds Beach, Cooks Beach, Cape May, New Jersey Atlantic Coast
Red Knots, Ruddy Turnstones
2024 – Heislerville Wildlife Management Area, New Jersey, Delaware Bay
Mute Swan pair + six goslings
2024 – Ding Darling NWR
habitat changes, Red Knot, other bird species
2024 – Outback Key, Florida
Piping and Snowy Plovers, Red Knots (banded, non-banded, plumage changes) negative human-related issues
2024 – Myakka River State Park, interior, Florida
avian species predating exotic reptile species

2023 – Fort de Soto, Florida coast of Gulf of Mexico – complete
Piping Plover, Red Knot, winter plumage and plumage shift to breeding plumage, plus behaviour of other migratory species
2023 – Myakka River State Park, interior, Florida
Habitat changes from storms
2023 – Wasaga Beach, Ontario
Piping Plover breeding

2020 – Aransas National Wildlife Reserve (NWR), Texas, US
2020 -Whooping Crane – completed

2019 – Ding Darling NWR Florida, East Coast, US – complete
2019 – Grasslands National Park (NP), Saskatchewan Grasslands, Canada — complete
2019 – Delaware Bay, New Jersey, US — complete
2019 – Salt Plains NWR, Oklahoma, US – complete
2019 – Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area, Kansas, US – complete
2019 – Quivira NWR, Oklahoma, US – complete
2019 – Aransas NWR, Texas, US
2019 – Lesser Flamingo – completed

2018 – Ding Darling NWR Florida, East Coast, US – complete
2018 – Masai Mara, Kenya and Tanzania — complete
2018 – Masai Mara, Kenya – complete
2018 – Aransas NWR, Texas, US – 2 of 2 – complete
2018 – Wood Buffalo NP, Northwest Territories, Canada – complete
2018 – Saskatchewan wetlands, Canada – complete
2018 – Salt Plains NWR, Oklahoma, US
2018 – Quivira NWR, Oklahoma, US
2018 – Aransas NWR, Texas, US – 1 of 2 – complete

2017 – Saguaro NP, Arizona, US – complete
2017 – Whitewater Draw, Arizona, US – complete
2017 – Ivvavik NP, Yukon, Canada – complete
2017 – Country Island, Nova Scotia, Canada – complete
2017 – Masai Mara, Kenya – complete
2017 – Ding Darling NWR, Florida, US – complete

2016 – Ding Darling NWR, Florida, US – complete
2016 – Big Cypress National Preserve, Florida, US – complete
2016 – Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, Florida, US – complete
2016 – Merritt Island NWR, Florida, US – complete

2015 – Bosque del Apache, New Mexico, US – complete
2015 – Bisti Badlands, New Mexico, US – complete
2015 – Masai Mara, Kenya – complete
2015 – Aransas NWR, Texas, US  – complete

2013 – Masai Mara, Kenya – complete
2012 – Masai Mara, Kenya – complete
2011/12 – Bosque del Apache, New Mexico, US – complete
2011 – Masai Mara, Kenya – complete