More than 100 people, the highest participant total yet, took part in the Buck Creek Hatchery and Nature Centre’s annual Bird Blitz.
Held May 24-May 25, this was the ninth year the hatchery and nature centre have hosted and coordinated an annual count of birds frequenting the area.
This year’s participants ranged from adults to students with representation from the 4-H club, schools, the Bulkley Valley Naturalists and local bird watchers. In all, 29 adults and 84 young people took part.
Participants found 103 different species, and 600 observations were recorded on the iNaturalist project for the 2024 Bird Blitz for Houston.
“Four species had not been previously recorded in a blitz: the Wood Duck, Common Goldeneye, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and Pine Grosbeak,” said Marjorie Lieuwen who is the conservation science coordinator at the Buck Creek Hatchery and Nature Centre.
“One of the highlights was a Barred Owl sighting, which Buck Creek manager Cindy Verbeek has heard many times since 2020 but never seen,” she added.
Another group spotted a Mountain Bluebird in the burn zone at the Old Pines Nature Trail, and Lieuwen noted that other watchers have spotted that species in burn areas as well.
Since 2015, the Buck Creek Hatchery and Nature Centre Bird Blitz participants hve observed 148 different species.
“The data we’re collecting is important for monitoring biodiversity. Birds are truly the “canary in a coal mine” as they respond quickly to changes in their environment and are indicators of ecosystem health,” said Lieuwen.
“We time the blitz to occur during the peak of spring bird migration when we’re likely to find a large array of species.”
Lieuwen hoped the Bird Blitz motivates more people to monitor birds.
