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Nanaimo volunteers flock to annual bird count

NANAIMO - Annual count chalks up 126 bird species with data still being tallied.
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Volunteers are on the watch for birds during the annual 2016 Christmas bird count.

Volunteers braved the cold and snow to find out how many fowl were afield over the holiday season.

The bulk of the 2016 Christmas Bird Count observations were made Friday by 84 volunteers who scoured Nanaimo’s rural and urban neighbourhoods. Seven bird feeder-watchers in the region also added their observations.

“There were a couple more unusual species,” said Tanya Seebacher, Nanaimo bird count data compiler. “One was an orange-crowned warbler that was observed by the team that did the area by Boat Harbour.”

Seebacher said the species and the Townsend’s warbler, which was also seen this year, normally migrates south toward Mexico and the U.S. south east, but noted the orange-crowned warblers were also spotted in the 2015 count.

She said the sighting of a rare red-flanked bluetail, which normally ranges from Asia to Eastern Europe but observed Dec. 22 in the Comox Valley Christmas Bird Count, caused the most excitement among Island bird watchers this year.

“People have been flocking from all over the Island and a couple of people have come over from the Lower Mainland to see it already,” Seebacher said. “That’s kind of the big news in the birding world right now.”

Seebacher said bird species, such as the Eurasian collared-dove and some hummingbirds have extended their winter ranges onto the Island in recent years.

A total of 126 bird species were counted, which included 118 species on count day, plus another eight added from observations during “count week” – a slightly higher number than the 119 species recorded in Nanaimo in 2015.

The annual Christmas Bird Count tradition dates back to Christmas Day 1900, started by American ornithologist Frank M. Chapman. Prior to then, hunters would shoot as many birds as possible in Christmas “side hunt” competitions.

Today Christmas bird counts are held across Canada and the U.S. along with other bird counts throughout the year. Counts are conducted within 24-kilometre diameter areas that remain fixed from year to year.

To learn more about the red-flanked bluetail and other rare bird sightings, please visit B.C. Rare Bird Alert website at http://bit.ly/2j1dGZH.

To learn more about Canadian bird research, how to contribute data and other bird related topics, please visit Bird Studies Canada at http://ebird.org/content/canada/.



Chris Bush

About the Author: Chris Bush

As a photographer/reporter with the Nanaimo News Bulletin since 1998.
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