Let’s just see if birds of a feather flock together.
On Jan. 5 the Cochrane Christmas Bird Count will be taking place in the GlenEagles area near Highway 1A for the first time in a few years.
The previous organizer retired. A pair of enthusiastic biologists, Kirsten Pearson and Josh Sullivan who recently moved to Cochrane from Calgary, have taken over the endeavour.
“Bird watching in general tends to be an older demographic. We’re a bit of an exception there,” said Pearson.
She said about 15 people of all skill sets have registered through their website and she’s hoping to attract people from all demographics. Pearson said she’s aware of a handful of enthusiastic kids who are looking forward to contributing to the project. She’s also thankful for the older folks who share their unique skill set and decades of birding knowledge.
“Everyone is just out to have a good time. If nothing else, it’s a great way to spend time getting to know Cochrane and your neighbours and spending the day outside.”
Participants will be meeting at Coffee Traders and will be assigned an area. At the end of the day participants will meet together and share their data.
The first count in the Cochrane area took place in 1996 and continued until 2008 and from 2010 to 2015. The highest number of birds recorded in the Cochrane area was 3,424 in 2012 and the highest number of species recorded was 41 in 2011. Last year there were 59 bird counts across Alberta.
In the last decade bird counters in Edmonton found a bald eagle, belted kingfisher, a bufflehead duck and a chipping sparrow. These birds aren’t unusual in the spring and summer, but are rare to see braving our winter months.
In Alberta there have also been rare sightings of gyrfalcons and snowy owls, species that birders in other parts of North America only dream of seeing.
Last year Calgary recorded 73 bird species, which is 10 more species than in the previous year.
For 120 years the Christmas Bird Count has been North America’s longest-running citizen science project. Similar counts take place in more than 2,000 areas throughout the Western Hemisphere.
Information collected by thousands of volunteer-participants is passed along to the National Audubon Society, the world’s largest set of wildlife survey data.
Wildlife biologists at Alberta Environment and Parks use the data to assess bird population trends and inform strategies to protect birds and their habitat.
“The Christmas Bird Count is a great example of how everyday Albertans can play an important role in wildlife conservation,” said Jason Nixon, Minister of Environment and Parks in a press release.
Each count is conducted on a single day between Dec. 14 and Jan. 5 within a 24-kilometre diametre circle that stays the same from year to year.
For more information visit: https://sites.google.com/view/cochranecbc/home
