NEWS RELEASE
ORILLIA NATURALISTS' CLUB
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On Saturday, Dec. 15, 10 carloads of people will be driving around the city and country roads searching for and counting birds.
Most winter birds are found at feeders, and we always hope the feeders are full of feed – as do the birds. We also hope to see exciting birds that are not feeder dependant.
This year there have been reports of Evening Grosbeaks and Pine Grosbeaks, as well as other winter finches, so that increases the anticipation of the counters..
Since 1981, members and friends of the Orillia Naturalists’ Club have been documenting a sampling of birds, found in a circle, 25 kilometres in diameter, which centres on Bass Lake.
We now call it Citizen Science, with all its inadequacies. The counts each year are influenced by weather conditions, but, over years, trends can be assessed.
Data from all over Ontario is submitted to Long Point Bird Observatory. The highest count in the Orillia circle was in 2001, with 63 species.
For more information contact Fern Splichal, 705 325 2952
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