Burnaby birders are getting ready for the annual Christmas bird count this month. This year's census of winter birds is on Sunday, Dec. 16 in the Deer Lake and Burnaby Lake area. Local birder George Clulow, who has been organizing the event for decades, is organizing two teams of birders to cover Burnaby.
This year, he's keeping his eyes peeled for some interesting and unusual birds spotted in Burnaby recently, like the greater white-fronted goose.
"Often you (get) the pleasant surprises on the day because you get some intense coverage of the area," Clulow said.
The avid birder has recently spotted a snow goose, unusual for this area, and lots of trumpeter swans at Deer Lake.
"We'll be watching out for those," Clulow said. "It is one of the two species of wild swans we get here."
Trumpeter swans have a black bill, unlike the orange-billed mute swans, which are an introduced species that can be quite invasive, according to Clulow.
The local crow roost in the Still Creek area will also be counted on Dec. 16, around 4: 30 p.m. as the Lower Mainland's crows return for the night.
The annual Christmas bird count is conducted in more than 2,000 places across Canada, the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean, with more than 50,000 bird enthusiasts participating. Bird Studies Canada co-coordinates the count and publishes national results once all data is compiled. For more information, visit www.bsceoc.org. or go to the B.C. Field Ornithologists website at bcfo.ca and click on CBC'S.
Visit Clulow's blog, at burnabybirdguy.wordpress. com, to see photos of birds spotted around Burnaby.
