After a rainy winter (so far), it was nice to have a relatively sunny weekend, even if it was a bit on the chilly side. Last Sunday was a perfect day to have a bird count and the 20+ volunteers saw a good number and variety of birds.
As you know already if you have read this blog before, I am a regular volunteer for the monthly bird count organized by the Stanley Park Ecology Society (SPES). Aside from allowing all participants to appreciate this splendid natural area minutes from downtown Vancouver, the gathering of consistent data allows SPES to obtain highly reliable measures of the park’s bird population. Kudos once again to our fearless leader, SPES’s conservation officer Robyn Worcester.
The full tally of this months bird count may be found here: Bird-Count-Jan-2013-2.
The big highlight for me this time around was a new life bird, the Greater White-fronted Goose. This find was all the more interesting since these Arctic birds (in the summer) do not always show up in Vancouver in the winter. They usually prefers sunny California or even points south. I’m glad they wanted to check out my fair city, which has been visited by many even rarer birds in the past few weeks and months.
I would like to once again to thank SPES and especially Robyn for holding this event every month since 2006. It is highly appreciated by all participants. To find out more about SPES, its mission and activities and of course about Stanley Park, go to: http://stanleyparkecology.ca/
I hope you will enjoy the small photographic sample of the birds we saw on this day.
pierre, such vivid photographs–beautiful! i’ve only been to vancouver once, but remember stanley park. glad you got to see the goose!
–kris
By: planted oak on 2013/01/17
at 04:09
Dear Kris: Thank you, glad you enjoyed them! The birds make it easy for me in Stanley Park, since they are both friendly and beautiful. -Pierre
By: Pierre Cenerelli on 2013/01/18
at 09:53
Wonderful photos. I find it very interesting to compare the birds you have in Vancouver now to those that are wintering in Florida or have pasted through on their way to points south.
By: SLB on 2013/01/20
at 06:48
Thanks! Yes it is interesting to compare BC with FL, especially that one would not think of the Vancouver region as a major wintering hot spot for birds. And this year has been especially interesting in this regard, it would seem.
By: Pierre Cenerelli on 2013/01/20
at 08:35
[...] enjoy the small photographic sample of the birds we saw on this day, please go to the original post (from now on, I will post photos directly to this site, I [...]
By: Hello dear readers… glad to be on board! | Bird Canada on 2013/01/22
at 03:01
What an oustanding group of birds and fabulous photo’s! Thank you for sharing them. Vancouver sure has some amazing winter visitors!
By: vbella39 on 2013/02/04
at 07:02
Thank you (two weeks late!), I’m glad you liked the photos. As you may have noticed, I’ve put up quite a few more since and will continue to do so!
By: Pierre Cenerelli on 2013/02/20
at 13:31