Bird Banding Open house

<p>NEWS RELEASE:OSCA Annual Bird Migration open house offers an up-close look at the diversity of migratory birds in the Okanagan.PENTICTON, BC, September 9, 2022 – Okanagan Similkameen Conservation Alliance (OSCA) is set to present its annual Bird Migration Day open house at the Vaseux Lake Bird Observatory (VLBO) on October 2, 2022 from 9 am to noon – rain or shine. The event offers visitors a chance to see migratory birds being banded, go on a guided walk with nature interpreters and learn about birds and their migration.The Bird Migration Day focuses on three themes: • bird adaptation to migration, • bird conservation issues and threats, • migration monitoring through bird banding. In addition to the Bird Migration Day Open House, OSCA also offers this fall ECO-studies school programs to regional schools.This program and the associated regional school programs are funded in part by Nature Canada and Environment and Climate Change Canada, and so, are offered free of charge to the public in this open house format. Cash donations are gratefully accepted on site.The Okanagan is a bird watching hot spot in Canada and an important summer nesting area for many species. Birds that have bred in the boreal forest and northern parts of BC also funnel through the Okanagan Valley on their way south to the USA, Central and South America, using Vaseux Lake area as a migration stopover to refuel on insects or seeds. OSCA’s Bird Migration Day open house takes place Sunday October 2nd, from 9 am to noon at the Vaseux Lake Bird Observatory, located 3 km south of Okanagan Falls. The site is rustic with uneven terrain and narrow pathways (not wheelchair accessible). There is a portable washroom on site. Parking is available on the west side of Hwy 97 at a roadside pull-out just north of the site. Please note that shoulder-parking on the east side of highway #97 is not safe. Attendants will be on site in the parking area at the observatory to assist in parking in the appropriate parking area. Parking directly adjacent to the observatory site is reserved for visitors with mobility issues and staff.As well, please note that no pets are permitted at the open house. For more information contact Paul Lockington at 250-492-5275 or info@meadowlarkfestival.ca. BACKGROUNDERVaseux Lake Bird Observatory (VLBO) is one of nine migration monitoring stations in British Columbia and the only station in the dry southern interior. VLBO was established in 1994 by the Canadian Wildlife Service which operated a bird banding station at the site until 1998. In 2000 following a 2-year hiatus, the Okanagan Similkameen Conservation Alliance (OSCA) reestablished the station and has been monitoring bird migration ever since. A member of the Canadian Migration Monitoring Network and the Canadian Bird Banding Program, OSCA contributes data collected at VLBO to a world-wide database that monitors bird population trends and supports efforts by scientists and conservationists to overcome threats to bird populations.</p>