The annual Pender Harbour Christmas Bird Count, organised by John Field and the Pender Harbour and District Wildlife Society, is happening on Wednesday Dec 18.

Join a group of volunteers as they undertake the annual count and gather valuable data as citizen scientists.

Please see below for information from the Pender Harbour and District Wildlife Society about the event:

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 broken up into smaller areas, each of which is allocated to a group of counters. We plan to have at least six expert-led crews, three of which will spend part of the day on boats.

I would like to welcome those of you who have come to the Pender Harbour CBC in the past as well as those joining us for the first time! Expertise at identification is not required for participation in the count. All that is needed is an interest in birds and a desire to learn more about which ones are around at this time of year.

Bring binoculars or spotting scope if you have them. Lunch and warm clothes are recommended as participants will be outdoors. In other words, dress for the weather!

Please also note that registration for some of the boat-based routes (see below) will be limited because of enclosed cabins on the vessels.

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 (Dan Bouman)
3. Francis Peninsula (Tony Greenfield)

Details regarding the boat groups are as follows:
5. Eastern group (John Dafoe) will leave from Egmont to survey northern Sechelt Inlet, including Skookumchuk Narrows and Storm Bay
4. Northern group (Tony Greenfield) will go out in the afternoon to survey waters near Pender Harbour
6. Southern group (Michael Jackson) will leave from Secret Cove to survey Bjerre Shoals and the shoreline south of Pender Harbour

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). Please contact me for details.

All registrations and other enquiries should be directed to me by email: johnfield307@gmail.com or phone: 604-883-2807.

Please let me 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 contact me to register and to get more information on this aspect of the count.

NOTE: The back-up date (Thursday, December 19th) will be used only if extreme weather conditions (gale force or stronger winds, or major snowfall) make the scheduled count day unsuitable for birding.

IF WEATHER CONDITIONS ON COUNT DAY ARE FORECAST TO BE EXTREME, ALL REGISTERED PARTICIPANTS WILL BE NOTIFIED VIA EMAIL BY 7 PM ON THE PREVIOUS EVENING. An email will be sent out only if there is a change of date. If the weather looks bad, be sure to check your email after 7 pm in the evening prior to the count. No email means no change!