Young bird enthusiasts join Christmas count in Regina
Despite the cold, 50 kids showed up to look for flying friends on Saturday
The cold did not stop young bird enthusiasts from coming out for Regina's second annual Christmas Bird Count 4 Kids on Saturday.
The event is put on by Nature Saskatchewan and the Wascana Centre Authority. As with its counterpart for grown-ups, the data gathered in the kids' count is used track migration and population patterns.
"I think it's very important for kids to know that they can enjoy nature in all seasons, especially in winter when it's really cold," said Marla Anderson, conservation and education manager with Nature Saskatchewan.
"They're our next generation to help nature, so we think it's important to get kids to appreciate it," she added.
The event is meant to promote environmental stewardship while building bird identification skills and contributing to important citizen science for bird conservation.
The event also included free hot chocolate and lunch, and a live bird presentation from the Saskatchewan Falconry Association.
Fifty kids came out with 30 adults for the count. That's twice the number of attendees at last year's outing.
Erica Cousins was one of the young counters.
The six-year-old said she saw a black and white chickadee pecking behind a tree when she went out and braved the cold to count.
"It was too cold," she said, with temperatures in the –20s on Saturday morning. So they went back inside, where Erica said the hot chocolate was her favourite part of the day.
"My granny is a scientist and she'd probably like birds," Erica said of her grandmother, who lives in Ireland.
Erica doesn't plan on following in her grandmother's footsteps, though. She said she hopes to be a giraffe one day.
