It’s that time of year again. Spring has sprung and the birds are on the move. Tree Swallows have already arrived in the Columbia Valley!
This is the fourth year of the five-year Upper Columbia Swallow Habitat Enhancement Project (UCSHEP). Volunteer opportunities are available to help with Barn, Bank and Cliff Swallow nest monitoring between May and August. We are also looking for any new Barn Swallow nesting locations, so if you know of any please let us know.
This year we’ll continue to provide landowner and public outreach education through farmers markets, bird walks, presentations, and give qualifying landowners nest cups for Barn Swallows. We also plan to work more with businesses in Golden to help them improve co-existing with at-risk Barn Swallows. We have innovative Bank Swallow restoration and enhancement initiatives in the works too! A detailed final report for 2023 will soon be available on our webpage.
UCSHEP program biologist Rachel Darvill will be leading a bird walk as part of the Wings Over the Rockies Festival on May 8 from 8 am-10 am. During the walk, all birds will be identified by sight and sound and there will be a special focus on conservation results of the UCSHEP to date. To register, click here. Rachel will also be leading a free bird walk on Saturday May 11th as part of Wildsight Golden’s Birding Breakfast on Migratory Bird Day at Reflection Lake. To find out more details, click here.
We’re so grateful to all volunteers who have helped make the UCSHEP successful and we look forward to hearing from you again soon!
If you have any questions about our swallow conservation project or are interested in volunteering, please contact us at swallows@wildsight.ca.
Or see our website here.