As the Ottawa Senators began their journey towards a Stanley Cup victory over the Seattle Metropolitans, roughly six individuals participated in the inaugural Christmas Bird Count in the city.
In the last 125 years, there have been significant events such as the relocation and resurgence of professional hockey in both cities, the proposed demolition of Centre Block, and the upcoming 105th edition of the annual bird count in the nation’s capital this Sunday.
This will be Bernie Ladouceur’s fifty-second count.
“I was really into dinosaurs and planets and African mammals when I was a kid, and they were hard to find in Ottawa,” the Ottawa Field-Naturalists’ Club member said in an interview with CBC Radio’s Ottawa Morning.
A few days prior to the 2023 Christmas Bird Count, on December 12, 2023, Bernie Ladouceur looks through binoculars at Mud Lake. (CBC/Hallie Cotnam)
The first of these counts took place in 1900 and covers both North and South America.
On a specified day, coordinators like Ladouceur assign volunteers to spread out in a circle, count the birds they spot, and report back to them so that an overview of the species and locations of sightings may be obtained.
Although the data is extremely significant, birders who participate in the annual count essentially view it as a fun reason to go birding for the day and hang out with friends.” On Tuesday, Mike Burrell, the regional bird count editor for Ontario, told CBC Radio’s Ontario Morning.
“[It’s] used by governments and bird conservationists to track what’s happening with bird populations,” he stated. “We have an amazing data set to look at changes.”A few days prior to the 2023 Christmas Bird Count, on December 12, 2023, Bernie Ladouceur looks through binoculars at Mud Lake. (CBC/Hallie Cotnam)
The first of these counts took place in 1900 and covers both North and South America.
Ladouceur and other coordinators assign people to form a circle and spread out on
