BCFO 29th AGM & CONFERENCE, June 21 – 23, 2019, Golden, BC

Note: On-line Registration for the Conference and Pre-AGM Extension Trip open April 6, 2019 at 0900 PDT.

Conference Registration

Full conference: $175.00/person. Includes: Friday night Meet & Greet, Saturday & Sunday breakfasts, lunches and Saturday evening Banquet plus all field trips and talks.

BCFO Young Birders: $85.00/person

Social events ONLY: $75 /person. Includes Friday night Meet & Greet, and Banquet

Membership fee for non-members: $30.00 – single/family
(see BCFO website for membership details)

 

Schedule of Events

Location: Golden Civic Centre, 806 10th Avenue South, Golden, situated in downtown Golden on Highway 95 South, adjacent to the Kicking Horse River.

Friday, June 21
Registration and Meet & Greet Social: 5:00 PM to 8:30 PM, at the Golden Civic Centre, Great Hall. Pick up your conference pack-age, sign up for your Saturday and Sunday field trip choices, and socialize with fellow birders – appetizers and a cash bar.

Saturday & Sunday, June 22–23
Location: Golden Civic Centre, 806 10th Avenue South.

Breakfasts: 5:15 AM to 5:45 AM, prior to field trips.

Conference Field Trips: 6:00 AM departures from the Golden Civic Centre.

A varied selection of field trips will be offered encompassing the rich habitats of the Columbia Valley Wetlands and three merging biogeoclimatic zones: Interior Douglas Fir, Interior Cedar-Hemlock and Engelmann Spruce-Subalpine Fir.

Rachel Darvill will lead a trip to wetlands from Golden to Parson, including Edelweiss Slough and Reflection Lake. She is the Program Biologist for the Columbia Wetlands Waterbird Survey, one of the programs conducted by Wildsight Golden. The Wildsight Society promotes the protection of wildlife, water and wild spaces to maintain biodiversity and healthy communities in the Columbia Region. 170 volunteers have been co-ordinated to document 322,000 birds in the Columbia Wetlands with the goal of including the Columbia Wetlands in the IBA Program, an Important Bird and Biodiversity Area.

Verena Shaw, Program Assistant for the Columbia Wetlands Waterbird Survey is field trip leader for Moberly Marsh, a large wetland where the Blaeberry River creates an estuary at the junction of the Columbia River. It has been identified as an eBird hotspot, with over 200 species of birds recorded, including many species of migrating shorebirds, breeding and migratory waterfowl and raptors. Sandhill Cranes and Bobolink have nested at this location.

Brian Gustafson of Golden is leading an exploration of the lower Blaeberry Valley. He is currently working on a Master`s Thesis project identifying active nesting areas with infrared imaging in forests due to be logged. The Blaeberry River Valley is a migration corridor for birds moving in and out of the prairies and has recorded eastern species such as Blue Jay and Blue-headed Vireo. Magnolia Warblers and Three-toed woodpeckers nest in the area, and Broad-winged Hawk have nested at nearby Willowbank Mountain.

Gary Davidson, BCFO Vice President, will guide participants through mixed and coniferous forest, sedge meadows, marshy wetlands and small lakes along Bush River Road near Donald.

Wayne Weber, BCFO founder, will hike Wapta Falls and Emerald Lake in search of the Three-toed Woodpecker, Spruce Grouse, Boreal Chickadee, White-winged Crossbill and Solitary Sandpiper.

Saturday, June 22

Lunch: 12:00 to 1:00 PM

Afternoon Speakers: 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM
• Rachel Darvill: The Columbia Wetlands Waterbird Survey and Marsh Bird Monitoring Project.
• Vance Mattson: Breeding Population of Golden Eagles in the Southern BC Rockies.

Annual General Meeting: 2:00 PM to 3:15 PM

Pre-banquet social: 5:00 PM to 6:30 PM – Cash bar

Banquet: 6:30 PM to 7:30 PM.

Banquet Keynote: Lisa Larson, Resource Management Officer for Mount Revelstoke and Glacier National Parks: Long term monitoring of songbird populations of Mount Revelstoke and Glacier National Park with case studies of species at risk

Sunday, June 23
Field trips (see details above) depart at 6:00 am from the Golden Civic Centre following breakfast from 5:15 to 5:45 am

Lunch 12:00 to 1:00

Note: A special field trip will be offered Sunday morning for participants heading south after leaving Golden. BCFO member Gerhardt Lepp will host a group at his property on the west side of the Columbia River in Spillimacheen. The property and surrounding area includes field, forest and wetland habitat with the added interest of a colony of little brown bats and Wood Duck nest boxes.

The group may continue south after several hours with BCFO President Marian Porter to the Wilmer Marsh Unit of the Columbia National Wildlife Area, managed by the Canadian Wildlife Service. A 5 km return hike through this 787 hectare property leads to a spectacular overlook of the Columbia River wetlands.

***

The Columbia Wetlands Waterbird Survey is in the process of conducting a five year bird count to support the designation of the wetlands as an Important Bird Area.

This international conservation initiative is coordinated by Birdlife International and co-partnered in Canada by Bird Studies Canada and Nature Canada.

Considered the largest wetland in Canada, the 15,070 hectare wetland in the Columbia Valley stretches from Golden to Canal Flats, with the area recording over 260 species of resident and migratory birds.

***

An unforgettable extension trip has been planned through southern Alberta from Rockies Foothills to Prairie Potholes, led by Dan Arndt of Bow Valley Birding and Wildlife Tours. Adrian Leather has employed Dan for previous tours of Alberta and was pleased to engage him again for 2019.

For full Extension details follow this link: <https://bcfo.ca/pre-agm-extension-trip-june-18-21-2019/>

***

Accommodation
Note: You are encouraged to book early. Golden is a busy destination in the summer season.

Hotels

Ramada Golden
(250) 439-1888, 1311 12th St., Golden
info@ramadagolden.com

Best Western Mountainview Inn
(250) 344-2333, 1024 11th St., Golden
62085@hotel.bestwestern.com

Prestige Inn Golden
(250) 344-7990, 1049 TransCanada Hwy North, Golden
Golden@PrestigeHotels.ca

Mary’s Motel
(250) 344-7111, 603 8th Ave North, Golden
info@marysmotel.com

Ponderosa Motor Inn
1 800 881-4233, 1206 TransCanada Hwy, Golden
info@ponderosamotorinn.bc.ca

The Brookside Motel
1 (250) 344-2359, 1301 11th Ave North, Golden
info@brooksidemotel.ca

Holiday Inn Express Golden-Kicking Horse
1 (250) 344-4664, 1120 14th St North, Golden
hiexgolden.gm@gmail.com

Campgrounds

Golden Municipal Campground and RV Park
1 (886) 538-6625, 1411 9th St. South, Golden
info@goldenmunicipalcampground.com

Goldenwood Lodge and Campground
1 (250) 344-7685, 2493 Holmes Deakin Road, Golden
info@goldenwoodlodge.ca

Golden Golf Club RV Park
1 (250) 344-2700, 576 Golf Course Drive, Golden
teeoff@golfgolden.com