Every year around Christmas time, there is a Christmas Bird Count (CBC) across different places in Canada. It’s one day (which is different for different cities) where thousands of people come together to find as many birds as they can within their circle. You can do this as a small group or independently. People all over the country count birds on the chosen day for conservation purposes. It started in 1900 and has become an annual birding day for the country ever since. British Columbia usually gets the most birds in Canada for this day, especially the south coastal areas (Victoria, Vancouver etc.) because they are one of the few places in Canada not covered in snow, or a lot of snow. And temperatures are milder meaning there is more bird activity. I took part in the Duncan Christmas Bird Count on 29 December. It was a rainy day, but I still managed to get over 50 species (personally). Across Canada, 293 species were reported for the 124th CBC which was more than last year. This is mainly because of the effects of the El Niño year which is making this winter milder than it usually is. The warmer weather is keeping some species who have usually moved further south by now in search of a warmer climate, to stay up in Canada longer because their food it still available for them. 218 out of 293 of the species were reported in BC.