Vancouver Christmas Bird Count

 For the first time in Vancouver, Kathryn and I decided to participate in the Christmas Bird Count in Vancouver. We ended up scouring our little patch of the city from pretty much dawn to dusk and ended up with 46 species varying from eagles to sparrows and with more than a few glaucous-winged gulls and crows in the middle.

Despite not having the immediate network for such events that we had in Manitoba, it was very easy to find the phone number of a co-ordinator on the internet and get involved. We joined a little group, bringing the total to six and had a very nice sociable day spotting everything we could.

We had great weather and some very good birds that I wasn't expecting to see like an oystercatcher, harlequin duck, and some horned grebes (shown below). Since our search area was also our neighborhood and regular stomping grounds we were able to offer up good areas, with Kathryn shining in particular by knowing to the square meter where we would find a heron and some hummingbirds.

A very enjoyable time all around which we are likely to repeat in the future. We actually ran into a woman who wanted to be out birding that day, so if you live in Vancouver and want to get involved, check out the Nature Vancouver website and get on the list for next year :)