By Times Chronicle Staff
Okanagan Similkameen Conservation Alliance (OSCA) is hosting its annual Bird Migration Day open house on the morning of Sunday, Sept. 21, at the Vaseux Lake Bird Observatory along Hwy. 97.
The event offers visitors a chance to view and identify some migratory birds at Vaseux Lake with the help of interpreters and members of the South Okanagan Naturalists Club. Visitors will also get a chance to go on a guided nature walk with interpreters.
Binoculars up!
OSCA photo
The Bird Migration Day focuses on three themes:
- bird adaptation to migration;
- bird conservation issues and threats;
- birds you can see on migration in September.
Aiva and Kristen showing the banding process.
OSCA photo
“The Okanagan is a bird-watching hot spot in Canada and an important summer nesting area for many species,” OSCA notes.
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 US, Central and South America, using Vaseux Lake area as a migration stopover to refuel on insects or seeds.
An important detail to take note of is the fact that this year, the event will be taking place at the Vaseux Lake Bird Observatory and not at the bird blind/boardwalk.
The exciting capture numbers from 2024.
OSCA photo
This program and an associated regional school program are funded in large part through Naturehood Program of Nature Canada, and so, are offered free of charge to the public in this open house format. Cash donations are gratefully accepted on site to support the Vaseux Lake Bird Observatory.
In addition to the Bird Migration Day Open House, OSCA also offers this fall ECO-studies school programs to regional schools.
OSCA’s Bird Migration Day open house takes place Sunday, Sept. 21, from 9 a.m. to noon at the Vaseux Lake Bird Observatory (VLBO), located 15.8 km north of Oliver and just north of Vaseux Lake along Hwy. 97 and 4 km south of Okanagan Falls.
Vic at the Adaptations Table.
OSCA photo
Parking is located on the west side of the highway at a pullout just north of the VLBO with ample parking. From there, it is a short walk along the highway to the bird banding station. If you are driving from the south, continue driving north towards Okanagan Falls and turn off (right) at Weyerhauser Road in order to make a safe turnaround to return to the pullout for parking.
The bird blind is not wheelchair accessible. For those with mobility issues, there is very limited parking at the bird observatory along the highway, but the OSCA advises extreme caution as there are no turn lanes.
There is a portable toilet on site, and note that no pets are permitted at the open house.
