Since the 1970’s, volunteers across North America have been counting winter birds at their feeders and reporting back to Bird Studies Canada and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. This information helps ornithologists (scientists who study birds) learn about changes in the distribution and abundance of bird populations.
At the Elbow Lake Environmental Education Centre, several different feeders are attracting birds to the patio outside the Pavilion. A special thank you to Wild Birds Unlimited in Ottawa for their donation of a squirrel-proof feeder! This sunflower-filled feeder, along with peanut, sued, and nyjer seed feeders, is visited regularly by chickadees, nuthatches, Blue Jays and woodpeckers. Thank you to Kingston Collegiate and Vocational Institute (KCVI) for donating bird seed!
The Pavilion was recently registered as a Project FeederWatch count site. From November to April, ELEEC staff will be documenting the number of birds and the different species that are attracted to the food offered. Who knows what we will see, and what changes in bird populations Elbow Lake might experience over the short and long term?
More information about Project FeederWatch can be found in the link below.