Spring is in the air and some of our birds are arriving back from southern vacations, and most are busy nesting and laying their eggs.

It鈥檚 a good time to celebrate wildlife.

In fact, this past week (of April 10) is National Wildlife Week in Canada.

National Wildlife Week was proclaimed by parliament in Canada in 1947, not just because of the advent of the spring season but because April 10 was Jack Miner鈥檚 birthday.

Miner (1865鈥�1944) is hailed by many as the 鈥渇ather鈥� of conservation in North America.

One of his nicknames was 鈥淲ild Goose Jack,鈥� as he spearheaded efforts to save the Canada goose from extinction.

Yes 鈥� you heard that right 鈥� the Canada goose was at one time an endangered species.

Back in the early 1900s, overhunting and habitat loss had severely reduced the goose populations across Canada.

Given the plight of the Canada goose and other species, Miner advocated for the protection of migratory birds and a treaty was signed by Canada and the United States to do just that in 1917.

Obviously, we are not so concerned about the Canada goose populations now. And urbanization has helped their populations flourish in many parts of North America by creating open, grassy habitats that they like.

However, there are other waterfowl species that still need our help.

At Trinity Western University, a group of my students, together with local bird box guru Larri Woodrow, ornithologist Karen Wiebe, and the 91原创 Field Naturalists are making efforts to bolster the wood duck populations.

This beautiful duck nests in tree cavities and such nesting sites are become more and more scarce in the face of urbanization and loss of forests in the B.C.'s Lower Mainland. 

My students have been monitoring wood duck activity around the boxes put up at TWU and other nearby areas this spring.

When student Carly Dyck announced to the group last week that she鈥檇 seen the first clutch of wood duck eggs, we burst into applause.

Meanwhile, we have enjoyed several work bees at Larri鈥檚 place, putting together new boxes to be installed for future nesting by wood ducks.

Befittingly, we installed our first new boxes during the week of April 10 鈥� 鈥淲ild Goose Jack鈥� would be proud.

鈥� PhD, is a professor of biology and environmental studies at Trinity Western University