On Sunday, Dec. 30, you may see groups of people with clipboards and binoculars in your Langley neighbourhood.
They are members of the Langley Field Naturalist participating in the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count.
The Field Naturalists join 60,000 volunteer birders across the Western hemisphere in Audubon’s annual Christmas count. This count has been happening since 1900. The count not only provides the information that scientists need to understand how environmental changes are affecting birds, but also the data they gather help land use planners avoid disturbing precious breeding grounds.
The Langley count, is actually part of the larger White Rock/ Surrey/Langley count and consists of teams of birders counting species and numbers of birds in a pie-shaped area bordered by 200 Street to 88th and 40th Avenue to 238 St.
This area is part of a 15 mile diameter count circle centred at 176 and 32 Ave.
The Langley Field Naturalists meet at day’s end to tabulate their results and share exciting sightings.
For more information or to help out please email at langleyfieldnaturalists@shaw.ca.