A big day for local bird watchers Tuesday, December 18, as they set out for the annual High River Christmas Bird Count.

Organizer Greg Wagner says they have about 40 people heading out to take part in the count, but he says they also rely on people at home too.

"We encourage anybody who has a feeder, if they could just peek out from time to time during the day and estimate how many chickadees and finches and nuthatches, among other birds, they've got coming to their feeder, that would be great. I'd really appreciate getting their data."

As always Wagner says to expect the unexpected as they often get birds that are either very foreign to southern Alberta, or others that may be lingering here longer than normal because of the mild fall we've seen so far.

He says he expects to see about half a dozen duck species as the warmer weather has kept more area lakes and rivers with some open water than normal.

He says he expects to see, as always, high numbers of house sparrows and magpies, and says if the weather is right, they could even see large numbers of Bohemian Waxwings in the area as well."

Wagner says overall, it could be a good year, given the warm weather.

To share your data with Greg, you can email him at greg.wagner@athene.ca or call him at (403)333-1200.

 

Read More: A Few Surprises In Annual Bird Count

 

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