You can get a shoreline bird’s eye view from dry land, but this week birders are encouraged to look from the other direction on a kayak nature tour of Jericho Beach during Bird Week, which takes flight Saturday.
I'd check it out. Looks calming and there is a remarkable diversity to observe on the shoreline, said Karen Devitt, the B.C. program coordinator for Bird Studies Canada.
“The sheer number and types of species that inhabit our coastline is amazing,” she told me. “If you take a closer look, you will be surprised at what you can find. Some are amazing critters that travel thousands and thousands of kilometres just to stop over in our city for a little bit before they migrate north or back down south. Some are here year-round.”
Read more: I wrote about birding tours that are more than a walk in the park.
Devitt has birded by boat and says it’s an effective way to gather data, something thousands of volunteer naturalists and biologists do across the country every year. Those figures and observations are submitted to Bird Studies Canada for environmental research and conservation efforts.
“We have lots of volunteers who do boat-based surveys for citizen science. It’s almost like crowd-sourcing,” she said, adding the organization “absolutely” relies on this input from a dedicated public.
“It is regular people getting involved in collecting data that is used to inform science research. We have over 40,000 volunteers that have done citizen science in Canada since we’ve been around since the late 1960s.”
Devitt will host two kayak nature tours at Jericho Beach with biologist Robyn Worcester, a founding member of the Vancouver Bird Advisory Committee and co-creator of Bird Week, which runs May 6 though 13.
Some of the species birders can expect to see at Jericho Beach include cormorants and the Western sandpiper. She recommends participants dress warmly in layers and not everyone will choose to bring binoculars, which means the group will observe from a distance and take in the larger scene.
“Almost anywhere you go in Vancouver, there is going to be an exciting opportunity to observe birds and wildlife in general. The mouth of the Vancouver harbour and in towards Burrard Inlet is all part of what is called an important bird area. It provides critical habitat for a globally significant number of species.”
Kayaking along these shores, she said, “You will get great birds, no matter what.”
The kayak tour lasts two and a half hours, beginning at 6 p.m. May 9 and again at 9:30 a.m. May 13. Registration is required and kayaks are provided. Cost is $69 plus tax.
For more information, see the event on Facebook and read more about Bird Week.
