Contact
If you require assistance writing a story, would like to speak with a BC Bird Trail expert, or for any other media related inquiries, please contact Kendel Lavallee at kendel@ciprcommunications.com.
Please note: this contact information is for media inquiries only. Please refer to our About The Project page for inquiries relating to any other aspect of the BC Bird Trail.
Stories from The BC Bird Trail: The Wings Over the Rockies Nature Festival
The BC Bird Trail team made its way out to the Columbia Valley to attend The Wings Over the Rockies Nature Festival in the Spring of 2023. We engaged with fellow birding enthusiasts, the event coordinators, and the field experts in attendance at the festival. We discussed the significance festivals like this hold in fostering environmental awareness, and learned about the Columbia Valley‘s distinctive ecosystems and wildlife.
Stories from The BC Bird Trail: Great Blue Heron Habitat Restoration
In the fall of 2022, we spoke with several experts and leaders at the Blue Heron Nature Reserve in Chilliwack to discuss the work they are achieving in habitat restoration. We dive deep into the value of rehabilitating and maintaining Canada’s wetlands, and the animals that thrive in these essential ecosystems.
Stories from The BC Bird Trail: the 14-minute documentary short
In the summer and fall of 2021 the BC Bird Trail collaborated with renowned birder Dick Cannings and regional Bird Trail partners to highlight real stories of local birding, community, and conservation in BC. The result is this first instalment of the ongoing series, Stories from The BC Bird Trail.
Bald Eagle Rehabilitation in Parksville Qualicum Beach, BC
Just outside of Parksville Qualicum Beach is the small community of Errington, BC – the home of the North Island Wildlife Recovery Association. In this Story from the BC Bird Trail, Animal Care Supervisor Derek Downes tells the story of NIWRA, and the important work they’re doing to rehabilitate the young bald eagles impacted by recent summer heat waves across Vancouver Island.
Community Bird Walks in Surrey, BC
In our second Story from the BC Bird Trail feature, viewers are introduced to Kris Cu, a Conservation Engagement & Outreach Worker at Birds Canada. Kris leads a Filipino bird walk through Blackie Spit in Surrey, British Columbia and speaks to how community birding events help increase diversity and representation in the birding community.
Bird Banding & Migration Monitoring in Richmond, BC
Our first Story from the BC Bird Trail feature took us to the Iona Island Bird Observatory in Richmond, British Columbia where biologist Quinn McCallum explained the importance of the bird banding project run by the team at WildResearch, and the insights it provides to the habits of migratory birds throughout BC’s lower mainland.
Birdwatching soars as a popular hobby, boasting multiple mental health benefits
Birdwatching has been trending as an increasingly popular hobby activity ever since 2020 when birdwatchers set a world record for the highest number of bird observations reported in one single day. Recognized for its multiple mental health benefits, like alleviating anxiety, reducing stress, encouraging physical activity through walking, boosting mental stimulation, and more, birding is considered a form of mindfulness.
Bird watching increases amid Coronavirus as people head back outdoors
As the world turned upside down, interest in bird watching soared as people began to notice a fascinating world just outside their windows. Downloads of the National Audubon Society’s Bird Guide App doubled in March and April 2021 over the same period in 2020, with unique visits to its website up by a half-million. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology also saw downloads of Merlin, its free bird-identification app, jump 102% over the same time in the year previous.
Saving lives at Parksville’s North Island Wildlife Recovery Association
Founded in 1985, the North Island Wildlife Recovery Association (NIWRA) is a non-profit, world-class rehabilitation and educational facility situated on eight acres of immaculately manicured grounds. NIWRA cares for animals with all types of needs, including birds with broken wings, orphaned black bears, electrocuted eagles and much more. The centre is also home to over 40 permanent resident birds who were injured in such a way that they wouldn’t survive in the wild. These include King Arthur, an uncommonly sighted Golden Eagle who was shot in the wing joint and Nugget, a Steller Jay who was illegally raised as a pet and eventually handed to the centre in deplorable conditions.
Rare bird alert: September is a great time of the year for passionate birders to spot rare birds
It’s not at all unusual for passionate birders to travel long distances to spot a rare bird. And for those people, September is their month. With the kick-off of the migratory season, birds can sometimes be pushed off course landing themselves in unknown territory. The BC Rare Bird Alert serves to provide current information on rare and noteworthy bird sightings in the province. Like on September 9, 2020 when a juvenile Curlew Sandpiper was sighted in Parksville, making it the fifteenth recorded sighting of the bird in BC thus far. The medium-sized wader with a long, slightly downcurved bill normally breeds in the Russian tundra and winters in Africa, Australia, and South and Southeast Asia.
Western Sandpiper spring migration
Thousands of birds make their way north in April and May with the annual spring migration, heading for northern latitudes where they nest and rear young in the long daylight hours. Dense flocks of sandpipers and other shorebirds make extremely long journeys, traveling from as far away as Peru, and Ecuador on their way to Alaskan nesting grounds. A key hot spot to view the Western Sandpiper is Brunswick Point in the Fraser River estuary.
Arrival of the Snow Geese
For tens of thousands of years, snow geese have migrated through and spent the winter on the marshlands of the islands that eventually became Richmond. Once Richmond was settled, the geese continued their annual cycle, foraging on farmer’s fields and outside the dykes, using their stout bills to dig for the rhizomes (starchy, underground stems) of marsh plants. Snow geese start arriving on the Fraser Delta late September and by November, tens of thousands are feeding on the delta offering an incredible opportunity for birders, naturalists and photographers alike.