We’re celebrating International Migratory Bird Day once again this year, by joining birders from across the globe to count birds!
If you love the outdoors and want to help with our annual bird count, we are eager to enlist you to join the Eagle Point team this year!
Our bird count is part of a huge citizen science project that collects data to help scientists better understand birds, migration patterns, birds at risk and more.
Evening Grosbeak – one of the birds we hope to see this Global Big Day. Photo by KRSchwengler.
We’ve been participating in Global Big Day since 2018. This year will be our 6th bird count! Our record species count is 93 from 2018! In 2022, we came very close to matching our first year’s count with 90 species! Last year, our coolest bird was a Wilson’s Phalarope, seen in a tiny pond on our way to Buck Lake.
How to Participate:
- Count from your backyard or neighbourhood (within 60 km of Drayton Valley) OR join us on the Bird Tour.
- Count for as little as 15 minutes or as long as 24 hours (if you dare)!
- Identify each species (and the number of birds/species) at each location that you count at.
- Submit your final count/checklists
How to Submit Your Count or Checklists
There are two ways to submit your bird count/checklists:
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- If you use eBird, share your checklists to Eagle Point. (The eBird app is free and easy to use).
- Send us an email with the locations (street address or longitude/latitude), and the number and species at each location to outreach@epbrparkscouncil by May 14, 2023 at 5:00 pm.
Bird Tour (self-drive)
If you want to join us, the Eagle Point team will also have a self drive tour, starting at 7:30 am at the Hilltop Trails Trailhead
(at the gate above Willey West Campground). Bring snacks, drinks, appropriate clothing and footwear, in additional to your binoculars, camera, bird identification books. (Lead birders will also have bird i.d. books with them). Be prepared to do some walking.
- 7:30 am – Hilltop Trails Trailhead, Eagle Point Provincial Park (53.21321 N, 114.916.29 W), 4 km walk
- 9:30 am – Blue Rapids Prov. Rec. Area (meet at 53.19286 N, 114.90374 W), 1 to 2 km walk
- 11:30 am – Buck Creek (meet at the community hall parking lot), roadside stops, 1 to 2 km walk
- 1:00 pm – Buck Lake North Shore (meet at lake shore on Twp 470), roadside stops, 1 to 3 km walk
You can join for the entire tour or for one segment.
Let us know that you are participating! Contact Kathy at outreach@epbrparkscouncil.org or call 780-898-7275.
Click here for a list of birds commonly found in and around Eagle Point Provincial Park.
