The Langley and White Rock Naturalist clubs invite the public to help

Looking to get outside and walk off a week’s worth of indulgence in good food and drink?

On Dec. 30, the public is invited to participate in the annual Christmas Bird Count (CBC). The CBC is organized by the White Rock and Langley Naturalist Clubs, along with other conservation groups in the area.

Novice or an experienced enthusiast — the bird count is for everyone.

Whether you like exploring forests, fields, and waterways in search of lingering migrants, or prefer counting feeder birds from your window with a warm mug in hand, the Christmas Bird Count offers a range of opportunities for participants.

The counts are used to study the health of local winter bird populations. People with garden feeders are encouraged to phone in their sightings as soon as possible so their numbers can be added to the count.

White Rock and Surrey are divided into many sections. Data collected during the Langley/White Rock count includes details on the number of birds of each species seen or heard within a local 24-km diametre circle. Surveying this circle year-after-year contributes valuable long-term information on how winter birds are faring, both locally and across the country.

During last year’s count in Canada, over 3 million birds and 278 species were counted by 14,000 participants in 447 counts across the country. Last year was the coldest, snowiest count in recent history here in Langley.

There were 21 people who braved the minus six degree Celsius weather to count birds, resulting in more than 4,000 birds counted and 61 species found. Those numbers were down significantly from the year before but were likely due to the wild weather.

READ MORE: Birders brave the cold for annual count

For more information or to participate in this year’s count call Gareth Pugh, 604-576-6813 for the White Rock area or John Gordon, 604-533-7171 or Mike Klotz, 604-861-1677 for the Langley area.



monique@langleytimes.com

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