Nothing says Christmas in the Okanagan like fresh snow during the annual Christmas Bird Count.
“Over 100 years ago there was a Christmas Bird Hunt that took place every year and that eventually became the Christmas Bird Count, instead,” said Chris Charlesworth Kelowna Christmas Bird Count organizer.
“Here in Kelowna, we’ve been doing it since the mid-1960s.”
The count brings birders to urban forested areas in a 12-kilometre radius to count bird species.
Trudging through a winter wonderland, Charlesworth and his team call, spot and record as many birds as they can to track what’s happening in bird populations in the Okanagan.
“Birds that thrive in the city are doing well in the Kelowna area so things like ravens and crows and quail and gulls,” said Charlesworth.
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“Then some of the songbirds, chick-a-dees, woodpeckers, they’re slowly losing habitat, if you look at over the last 50 years, the numbers are probably going down somewhat.”
The count is still on. Charlesworth and his team are asking the public to take part. Residents can even count the birds in their backyards and email the results to the Kelowna Christmas Bird Count organizer at c_charlesworth23@hotmail.com
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