including date, time, location, direction of photograpti, sequence, and main 

 features. Photographs identical to those obtained previously should be taken, 

 as well as those showing new features if the visit is a follow-up to a pre- 

 V i ous field visit. 



Riparian Zones. These areas provide primary feeding, nesting, and cover 

 habitat for passerines and small and medium sized mammals. During winter 

 they also provide primary overwintering habitat for moose and ptarmigan. 

 Areas that consist of advanced or mature sera! stages, generally have well- 

 developed ground cover, shrub layer or overstory cover, or both, (in Northern 

 and Southern Interior regions) that provide desirable habitat. Sites that 

 contain riparian zones with high diversity of cover types (herbaceous marsh, 

 mature shrub thickets, mixed shrub thicket-early overstory forest and over- 

 story forest) may be considered more desirable than sites containing riparian 

 zones of homogeneous cover types. Watch for indicators of past activity 

 levels: old passerine nests, small mammal runways and burrows, red squirrel 

 feeding posts, moose browse, and moose and ptarmigan droppings in over- 

 wintering areas. 



Water Bird Habitat. Feeding, nesting, and cover habitat for waterfowl, 

 shorebirds, terns, and gulls should also be assessed. Determine availability 

 of, and if possible utilization level of: 



• Backwater areas, mud flats, and littoral areas as feeding habitat by 

 shorebirds, terns, and waterfowl. 



• Pools and side-channels as feeding habitat by terns, gulls, and water- 

 fowl. 



• Open and sparsely vegetated gravel bars as nesting habitat by gulls, 

 terns, and shorebirds (most frequently, semipalmated plovers, ruddy 

 turnstones, spotted sandpipers). 



• Herbaceous riparian zones as nesting habitat by waterfowl and shore- 

 b irds. 



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