The 35th annual Pender Harbour CBC (Christmas Bird Count) will take place all day on Wednesday, December 17th, 2025. The back-up date is the following day, Thursday.
The Christmas Bird Count is a one-day census of all birds wintering in the Pender Harbour area, specifically within a 24-km radius circle that extends from Middlepoint in the South to Captain’s Island in the North, and from the Bjerre Shoals (Malaspina Strait) in the West to Storm Bay (Sechelt Inlet) in the East. For counting, this complex area of land, sea, and numerous lakes is divided into smaller areas allocated to a group of counters. There will be at least six expert-led crews, three of which will spend part of the day on boats.
This is a Pender Harbour and District Wildlife Society-sponsored event. Members of the Sunshine Coast Natural History Society take part every year and also provide many of the group leaders.
The SCCA’s Daniel Bouman led the Highway One counts for 34 years with support from SCCA members and volunteers. Dan passed away in November 2025. George Smith will now lead this count.
Register
Please also note that registration for some of the boat-based routes (see below) will be limited due to the vessels’ enclosed cabins.
The three main land routes and their usual group leaders are as follows:
1. Oyster Bay and the Garden Bay area (Arnold Skei/Rand Rudland),
2. Highway 101 from Lillies Lake to Ruby Lake (George Smith),
3. Francis Peninsula (Tony Greenfield).
Details regarding the boat groups are as follows:
4. Northern group (Tony Greenfield) will go out in the afternoon to survey waters near Pender Harbour;
5. Eastern group (John Dafoe/Fianna & Blythe Wilde) will leave from Egmont to survey parts of Agamemnon Channel and Sechelt Inlet, including Skookumchuk Narrows and Storm Bay;
6. Southern group (Michael Jackson) will leave from Secret Cove to survey Bjerre Shoals and the shoreline south of Pender Harbour.
New Routes
If you are, or know of, an expert birder who would consider taking on a new route, there are several areas within our count circle that are not currently covered (for example, Spipiyus Park, Klein Lake corridor, the big lakes). Don’t hesitate to get in touch with John Field for details. All registrations and other enquiries should be directed by email to johnfield307@gmail.com or by phone to 604-883-2807.
Please let John know:
A) whether you would like to join the count for the day or part of the day. There is no formal fee for registration, but Birds Canada, which coordinates the CBC program overall, appreciates donations: www.birdscanada.org
B) whether you have a preference for a particular route.
Finally, if you want to take part in the count by monitoring your home bird feeder during the day, please get in touch with John to register and get more information on this aspect of the count.
Please feel free to forward this message to others who might be interested.