Annual bird count encourages kids to flock to nature, conservation

Usually people flock to Peggys Cove to see the iconiclighthouse, but on Saturday morning they were lookingfor something different.

Armed with binoculars and a photo identification guide, families searched the waterfor bird species and recorded what they found.

As part of the event, children were encouraged to participate.

The annual Christmas Bird Count is the longest-running citizen science project in North America, saidBecky Parker, executive director ofNature Nova Scotia.

Every year on the same day, groups of volunteers in different regions go out and count as many birds as they can in the same24-kilometreradius.

"The Christmas bird count since 1900 has been really valuable for generating oodles of data from sites across North America," Parker said.

The Nova Scotia counts take place between Dec.14 and Jan.5.

The data is then submitted to a database that can help researchers track each bird species. It's usedin reports like The State of Canada's Birds.

This is the first time the count has been conducted at Peggys Cove. Close to 100 people showed up.

Parker said though the projecthas been going on for more than a century,the techniquehas modernized over time.

"Back in the day, it was a little less ethical of a count," she said.

"They used to shoot the birds out of the sky, create a big pile, and then have a competition with their friends and see who would get the most. So it did create some really interesting data, but we do things kind of differently today."

Guns are no longer involved, but the kids did borrow supplies to help them see the faraway birds.

"I did kind of see it with my monoculars, but it was black and it was too far away, so it was like a dot," said Diana Lee, age five.

That's why people like Jason Dainwere on site to help identify things that may look like a black dot to the untrained eye.

"Today we had 18 species so far, which is pretty good for this time of year," said Dain, who is on the board of directors of the Nova Scotia BirdSociety.

"We probably hada couple hundredindividual birdstoday, so there was probably 30 harlequin ducks and probably a dozen or two dozen long-tailed ducks."

Dainsaid some of the species seen every year are common, but some are at risk, like the harlequin duck. He said over the years, he has noticed increasing numbers.

"It feels good,it's like you contribute to the data set and contribute to the population monitoring and they'resuch a beautiful duck," he said."They have lots of character and lots of personality."

TruptiAtkari brought her two children to the count. They identified five species.

"I want them to learn about birds and nature, and they loved the program," Atkarisaid. "It was a great success."

Isabella Emberly, 8, said the event made her want to get outside more in the future.

"My mom probably just brought me here because we always stay inside and playthe Nintendo Switch usually, and she always wants us to go out and take a walk, but I never want to," Emberly said.

Dain saidit's important to get kids interested in animals and nature while they're young.

"Education and outreach is key," he said.