Love, Death, and A Chickadee

This lovely story was posted on the Nanaimo/Gabriola Birding FaceBook page this morning. Warning: get Kleenex out now - you'll need it for your tears if not your laughter ...

http://www.orionmagazine.org/index.php/newsfrom187/entry/7268/

The Ravishing Red-Winged Blackbird

To read my new column in The Flying Shingle about Red-Winged Blackbirds (and to see lovely photo of one by Gabriolan Garry Davey), click http://www.flyingshingle.com/cgi-bin/coranto/viewnews.cgi?id=20121210463161577827

Enjoy!

Gabriola Christmas Bird Count Dec 30

This year the Christmas Bird Count takes place on Sunday December 30 on Gabriola. And, for the first time, it’s FREE to participate!

The Christmas Bird Count began in 1900 when Frank Chapman of the fledgling Audobon Society suggested a new tradition – rather than hunting birds over the Christmas season, why not do a census of them? Such a good idea! Today more than 2000 communities across North and South America participate in this annual tradition, the longest running Citizen Science survey in the world.

If getting up early to head out in the cold (maybe even snow?) to count birds doesn’t appeal to you ...

Fox sparrow - add him to your list!

consider the benefits for the birds. Researchers and conservation biologists use the collected data to study the long-term health and status of bird populations across the continent. In combination with other Citizen Science surveys such as the Breeding Bird Survey and The Beached Bird Survey, the data provides an up-to-date picture of the continent's bird populations, and the results help guide conservation practices and policies.

If you’d like to join us, please call Phyllis Fafard, the local organizer of the count, at 250-247-9956.