Counting is Caring: Be a Part of the Great Backyard Bird Count

Show the wild birds some love by taking part in the 23rd Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC). This year’s count begins on Valentine’s Day, Friday, February 14, and continues through Monday, February 17. Volunteers from around the world count the birds they see for at least 15 minutes on one or more …

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Project Feeder Watch Celebrates 30 Years

Project FeederWatch celebrated its 30th anniversary last winter, thanks to dedicated participants who observe birds at their feeders. The information collected through this project over three decades allows scientists to measure important changes in North America’s winter bird populations over time. All are invited to join in this fun and …

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Who’s Making Babies Where?

It’s a little embarrassing to admit this but when I discovered the BC Breeding Bird Atlas tears came to my eyes. I know. I should get a life. My tears weren’t about sadness, though, they were about so many people, largely volunteers, working together to create this extraordinary resource. Over …

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A Lovely Bouquet of Crows

Have you seen the cartoon  – on Facebook recently – with two crows sitting on a beam in the middle of an expanse of lawn, looking off into the distance, for … something? Being a lover of both birds and words, I laughed like crazy. Not everyone does, apparently. Crows are …

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Backyard Bird Count Sets New Records

Great Backyard Bird Count Sets New Species Record Nearly half the world’s species identified in four days New York, NY, Ithaca, NY, and Port Rowan, ON–Participants from more than 100 countries submitted a record 147,265 bird checklists for the annual Great Backyard Bird Count and broke the previous count record …

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Christmas Bird Counts in Alberta

This past weekend (December 14 and 15), I participated in two back-to-back Christmas Bird Counts in the Calgary area. On Saturday, December 14, I drove out to Canmore before sunrise to cover an area near Quarry Lake for the second year in a row, and on Sunday, December 15, I …

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Bring Back the Bluebird

Male Western Bluebird

Every now and then a western or a mountain bluebird makes an appearance here in the Comox Valley during the winter and early spring. A single mountain bluebird turned up at YQQ in April, 2012 and two more turned up on the Comox Valley Nature May, 2011 spring bird count. …

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Our Birding Blogger Needs You

Bird Canada author and birder extraordinaire Charlotte Wasylik is participating in the annual Baillie Birdathon in May. This is the oldest sponsored bird count in North America and proceeds raised support bird studies across Canada. Her goal is $500 and she has already raised $205. She has earmarked half of the …

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