Okanagan owl watchers heading to the hills on weekend

Conservationists in Peachland, B.C., are looking to do what they can to ensure one local bird doesn’t go the way of the dodo.

Volunteers from the Peachland Watershed Protection Alliance are working to ensure that their local Northern Pygmy owls don’t suffer the same fate as other B.C. owls that are currently dwindling in number — a consequence of what the alliance calls unchecked industrial activities.

On Saturday, June 3, PWPA is hosting its third annual spring bird-watching tour in the Peachland watershed, home of a community of Northern Pygmy owls, a rare species in B.C.

The group plans to document sightings and observations of the owls as part of a data collection project to determine their population and preferred habitat in this area.

A subspecies of Northern Pygmy owls is on the endangered list on Vancouver Island, mostly because of habitat loss.

“The Peachland Watershed has been ravaged by industrial activity and it’s easy to see how much natural habitat has been destroyed,”  PWPA Chair Jack Gerow said.

0:41 Emergency order to protect northern spotted owl in B.C.

“Peachlanders don’t want to see these critical birds suffer the same fate as the owls on the coast and on the Island. So we need to get a handle on what their populations are doing. A family-friendly bird-watching field trip is the perfect activity to get this done”

From small songbirds to raptors such as ospreys and eagles, there are many species that make the watershed their home. In 2021, a total of 68 species were recorded by the bird-watching group.

The event starts at 9 a.m. at Hardy Falls Regional Park parking lot on June 3 and participants will travel up Princeton Avenue into the forests above Peachland and visit several prime observation areas.

The event is by donation.