It won’t be long now until bird songs fill the air in Alberta, a sure harbinger of spring.
Too soon to be talking birds? Not for bird lover Kirsten Pearson, who’s affair with our feathered friends began as a little girl sticking her head out the roof of her dad’s car in South Africa with the wrong end of the binoculars towards her eyes.
Those birds must’ve seemed pretty tiny but birds in general have become a huge part of her life.
Her love of birds was hatched in the bushes of South Africa while accompanying her dad on many trips into the wilds.
“He taught me all my South African birds, so he sparked that love of birding me when I was a little girl,” she said.
Now a professional ornithologist and wildlife biologist, Pearson has mastered binoculars.
She will talk birds for, well, as long as she can.
The free primer course sponsored by the Cochrane Environmental Action Committee (CEAC) is on March 2 at 10 am at the Frank Wills Memorial Hall, 405 1 St E. Doors open at 9:30.
Pearson said she’ll be covering an introduction to birding, a sampling of the types of birds you can see in Cochrane, where you can spot them and how to track your sightings (eBird, iNaturalist).
Those are online resources that help to not only identify birds but also act as a resource for other birders and researchers.
As pastime that’s growing, it requires only a modest investment in equipment, compared to other sports/hobbies.
A pair of binoculars and a good field guide, and off you go.
For those who get hooked and are interested in joining up more regularly with like-minded birders, there’s Nature Calgary (evolved from the Calgary Bird Club, which was established in 1955). Nature Calgary organizes events, field trips, presentations and bird counts to continue this tradition for those new to birding or seasoned veterans.
Pearson said they are a great resource, but not a necessity.
“It’s amazing how well people can do and what they can teach themselves, with commitment and a little bit of passion and getting out there as often as they can,” Pearson said.
To that end she recommends a field guide she called “The Bible.”
It’s The Sibley Field Guide to Birds of Western North America.
Birds Canada is also a great resource Pearson pointed to. They are conducting their Great Backyard Bird Count this week.
So birding is for all age groups and interest levels, those who want to join a small or larger group or just do it alone, beginners and experienced.
“It’s the perfect hobby,” Pearson said with a chuckle.
She also wanted potential birders to know that perhaps contrary to popular belief there are birds around during shoulder seasons as well as in the summer.
“There’s a wonderful array of birds that are here during migration, and also resident year-round.”
A few of examples of those present during winter months she cited were Rough-legged hawks (they only come down this way from the north in the winter); snowy and Great Grey owls; bald eagles (which will stay if there’s open water in the winter); red and white-breasted nuthatches; all of the woodpeckers; snow buntings; bohemian waxwings; and some duck species when they can find open water.
Pearson said novice birders don’t have to feel like they need to become professional ornithologists to take part in furthering citizen science initiatives.
“They can contribute really valuable data to organizations like Bird Canada,” she said.
“That’s the point - to use the ‘person power’ of people out there birding for fun, to help inform things like species health and range maps,” she said.
Pearson has coordinated the annual Cochrane Bird Count (held in late December every year) for several years.
Started in 1900, the Christmas Bird Count is North America's longest-running Citizen Science project. Counts happen in over 2000 localities throughout the Western Hemisphere.
The information collected by thousands of volunteer participants forms one of the world's largest sets of wildlife survey data. The results are used daily by conservation biologists and naturalists to assess the population trends and distribution of birds.
Each Christmas Bird Count is conducted on a single day between December 14 and January 5. Counts are carried out within a 24-km diameter circle that stays the same from year to year.
