The Okanagan Similkameen Conservation Alliance had an open house Sunday at the Vaseux Lake Bird Observatory.
As birds fly south for the winter, they often stop in the Okanagan Valley to rest and refuel.
The funnel pathways in the Okanagan are perfect places for birds flying down from northern boreal forests.
Scientists place nets throughout the sanctuary to catch migrating birds. They then take measurements, weigh them, band them, and finally set them free.
The observatory is the only migrating monitoring station in the Okanagan and contributes information to a world-wide database that watches bird population trends.
Not only does the observatory help birds, it also offers an ECOstudies school program to teach kids about birds.
The sanctuary is funded by the Canadian Wildlife Service and has been banding birds during fall migration since 1994.
Comments