The long-running Ladner Christmas Bird Count will be held next Tuesday.
Open to all experienced birders as well as those just looking for an enjoyable outdoor activity during the holiday season, the count also includes areas of Tsawwassen, south Richmond and Point Roberts.
It's part of the regional Christmas Bird Count, which is part of a much larger count across the continent. Counts happen in over 2,000 localities throughout the Western Hemisphere It's the 117th year for the counts, an ongoing project of the National Audubon Society in the United States and coordinated in Canada by Bird Studies Canada.
Each Christmas Bird Count is conducted on a single day between Dec. 14 and Jan. 5. Counts are carried out within a 24-kilometre diameter circle that stays the same from year to year.
Due to lousy weather, the Ladner Christmas Bird Count last year had the number of bird species spotted at 133. Victoria was tops that year, recording 141 species. The previous year, the Ladner count had a final number of 143 bird species, tops in Canada. The Ladner count, which dates back to the 1950s, has a few ways people can participate.
One is by joining a small team of birders as it drives or walks around its area counting all the birds team members see. Drivers, recorders and spotters are all needed.
Another way to participate is to stay home and count the birds that come to your feeders or in your yard.
The information collected by thousands of volunteer participants forms one of the world's largest sets of wildlife survey data.
The results are used daily by conservation biologists and naturalists to assess the population trends and distribution of birds.
If you are interest in participating, contact count coordinator Jude Grass at 604-538-8774 or [email protected] for more information.
