This event is for the birds

Just as they've been doing every year in New Brunswick since 1964, birders gathered Wednesday at Fundy National Park for the annual bird count, a census carried out across North America.

Last year, birders recorded more than 1,000 individual birds from 40 different species in the park.

David Christie is an expert birder and was part of the first bird count at Fundy in 1964.

"I like watching birds, period," he said.

"At the appearance of a bird, I'll stop and watch them, but obviously today I am doing it with a purpose.

"Because I get up and I start and I stop and go for eight or nine hours observing during the day. So it's not just a little bit here and there, you really spend the day at it."

Denis Doucet said there were some exciting sightings this year.

"For us as a group it was quite exciting — bohemian waxwing," he said. "They are birds that eat berries they come from the West for the winter and then in the spring they will go back to the West.

"So the fact that we saw 25 in a flock was quite nice."

Once all the data is collected, it will be sent to Bird Studies Canada and the information will then be passed on to the National Audubon Society in the United States, which held the first Christmas bird count on Christmas Day in 1900.

About 20 different bird counts will be held at various sites in New Brunswick this year, with all taking place around Christmas.