Pre-Conference Extension Trip to Terrace and Kitimat June 22 to 24, 2022

Due the many delays brought about by Covid restrictions, we’ve had to switch the dates of the Extension. It is now scheduled for the Pre-conference period – June 22 – 24.

Registration is limited to 12 participants, first come first served. To join the Extension, participants must be paid-up delegates to the Smithers Annual Conference and AGM.

A waitlist will be kept for registrants beyond the first twelve.

Your accommodation in Terrace should be booked for the nights of June 21, 22 and 23.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Walter Thorne and Diane Weismiller will be our guides for the pre-conference extension trip. Walter conducts a Breeding Bird Survey in the Kitimat region and the B.C. Coastal Waterbird Survey at MK Bay. He is the Northern Clubs co-ordinator and is on the Education Committee of B.C. Nature, as well as a director of the Kitimat Valley Naturalist Club. Diane started birding in 1970 and has been the compiler of the Terrace Christmas Bird Count since 1973. She has conducted the local Kwinitsa Breeding Bird Survey since 1974.

Pre-conference participants will be based in Terrace. Field trips will begin early on the morning of June 22.

Ferry Island is located in the Skeena River with park trails where we may find Black-backed Woodpecker, Merlin, Veery, Alder Flycatcher and a good variety of warblers including Magnolia Warbler. New Remo is a local birding hotspot on the Skeena River with waterfowl, shorebirds, a good variety of warblers and Alder and Least Flycatchers. Rusty Blackbird has been recorded, as well as Northern Goshawk. Exchamsiks River Provincial Park is 50 km west of Terrace with a short nature trail through old growth Sitka Spruce forest and Kasiks Wilderness Resort is 5 km further with a lunch stop in old growth forest. Lakelse Lake Provincial Park is another site with waterfowl which may include Red-necked Phalarope.

The estuaries near Kitimat are rich in birdlife with the possibility of grizzly and whale sightings from the beach flats at Elmsley Cove. MK Bay, Kitimaat Village, Minette Bay and Magee point are birding locations with many species of ducks, shorebirds, grebes and alcids including Long-tailed Duck and Marbled Murrelet. Walter confirmed a first Canadian record of a Grey-tailed Tattler at Minette Bay on June 23, 2020.

Ross Lake Provincial Park near Hazelton will be a stop en route to Smithers. The lake has a wide variety of ducks, grebes, loons, gulls and shorebirds with the possibility of uncommon species such as Rusty Blackbird, Say’s Phoebe, Townsend’s Solitaire, and Golden Eagle.

_____________________________

Registration

Please complete and “SEND” the Registration Form below.

Payment Options

Full fee for pre-conference extension, not including accommodation: $150.00 per person.

Our preferred method of payment is via eTransfer to: BCFObirders1@gmail.com

Accommodation

Note: Your accommodation for the Pre-conference Extension should be booked for June 21, 22, and 23

Holiday Inn Express and Suites
3059 Highway 16 East, Thornhill, Terrace (778) 634-3977

The Lodge at Skeena Landing
4035 Motz Road, Thornhill, Terrace (250) 638-0444

These locations are convenient to the guide residence.