by Nick Escott
February 2003When the Ontario government decided in the late 1980's that it needed to monitor the wildlife living in its vast Northern Ontario crown lands, it was Ministry of Natural Resources scientist Dr. David Hussell who thought that a bird migration monitoring station in the Thunder Bay area would fill a big gap between stations at Delta, Manitoba and Whitefish Point, Michigan (near Sault Ste. Marie). He surmised that migratory birds from the forests of Northwestern Ontario would pass by the western half of Lake Superior on their way south in the fall north in the spring.
David has been a tremendous supporter of the Thunder Cape Bird Observatory right from his first visit to the Cape in July of 1991, when he accompanied Dave Shepherd and several local naturalists on the first reconnoitering trip to the cape to "check it out". He has been back once or twice every year since then, to volunteer for several days, and do some banding. He has been TCBO's primary technical advisor and a co-author of the Observatory's monitoring protocol, and gives final approval for any changes made to it. He is also a generous financial supporter of TCBO.
David, originally from England, has been a keen birder, bird bander and ornithologist for many years. He helped set up Canada's first bird observatory, at Long Point on Lake Erie in 1960, and served as Long Point Bird Observatory's first Executive Director from 1974 to 1982. After moving to the MNR, he maintained his interest and expertise in bird banding, and through a standardized approach to monitoring, has been able to convince the MNR's scientific community that counting and banding migrants is a legitimate method of avian population monitoring. David has written numerous scientific papers on ornithological subjects ranging from population monitoring through bird behaviour and molt sequences, mostly based on his bird banding experiences.
David Lives in Kanata with his wife Erica Dunn. He is now retired but, as an "Emeritus Scientist", still serves as a consultant to the MNR, and still has the final word on the Thunder Cape protocol. He continues to write scientific papers, some based on work that he and/or his protégés are doing at Thunder Cape.
by Nick Escott
October 2003Cam Snell has been involved with the Thunder Cape Bird Observatory since the very beginning. He has been the Superintendent of Sleeping Giant Provincial Park since 1988, and as such has been a valuable resource to both the development and the operation of TCBO. Cam met with the original scouting team of Dave Shepherd and David Hussell in July 1991 at the Kabeyun trailhead, and hiked out to the Cape in May 1992 with the tower architects Walter Kuch and Greg Adams on their initial scouting trip.
Cam and his staff were essential to the tower building effort. They cleared the wide path up to the tower site from the shore so that we could carry the prefabricated sections up to the site from the barge; and they were among the two dozen volunteers who actually built the structure. Cam was one of the leaders of the construction project since he had more experience than most of us in the construction and carpentry trades.
Cam is responsible for clearing the trail to the Cape from the Kabeuyn Trail and designating it as a SGPP trail; prior to the trail being laid out it was very difficult to access the cape on foot.
We have always been able to count on Cam for logistic support at the Cape, such as transporting materials and volunteers to the site, supplying tools such as chain saws and generators, propane and gasoline, and even our first boat and motor. He has also taken the lead in instructing new wardens and volunteers on boating safety and the safe use of equipment at the Cape.
Cam became the MNR liaison member on the TCBO Committee in 1993 and has served continuously since then. On behalf of the TCBO Committee and Bird Studies Canada he has acted as the immediate supervisor for the Coordinator (Warden) at the Cape, and continues to be the primary contact for the Cape staff when any issues arise.
Cam makes his home in Silver Islet with wife Brenda, in a fabulous energy efficient log home that they designed and built themselves.
