ATHABASCA – A local conservation group is hoping its newest project will help inspire Athabasca to get off their couch and into the outdoors.
The Crooked Creek Conservancy Society of Athabasca (CCCSA) is the driving force behind the Backpack Birding Kits (BBK) which encourage people of all ages to pick up the binoculars, take a look at the book, and see what types of birds they can find.
“We encourage people to add their drawings, print out a picture and tape it in the guest book, write out where they went,” said Heather Stocking, CCCSA’s conservation coordinator.
At their core, the kits are rather simple; each of the three contains a set of binoculars, a birding book, and guide to Alberta’s trees and bushes, and the aforementioned guest books, which people are encouraged to get creative with.
“I don’t know where the kits started, but they’re very popular in B.C.,” said Stocking. “We picked a binocular model that anything from a six-year-old to an eighty-six-year-old could use.”
The kits will be available to the public after an event for homeschool students May 16. A soft launch of the event, guided by local birder Jim Lange, gave locals the opportunity to try a kit out and take part in related activities.
CCCSA was first started in 1996, and an overarching goal through its 27-year history has been education. The society has coordinated butterfly counts — something Stocking is attempting to bring back this summer — Christmas bird counts and promotes the protection and conservation of water and wildlife in the Athabasca region.
“If people are interested in seeing more nature but aren’t sure where to start, these kits are a great opportunity,” said Stocking. “You get all of the reward without the risk of investing in equipment until you feel you’ve outgrown what the Backpack Birding Kits offer.”
The kits are also a welcome addition to the library's growing collection, which includes other seasonal activities like a seed bank for aspiring gardeners and a produce table later in the summer.
“We are thrilled that the CCCSA chose to share with the library these wonderful Backpack Birding Kits,” said library manager Ariel Johnson. “The kits are a much appreciated addition to the ever-evolving collection and illustrates that public libraries are more than just books.”
Despite the name, CCCSA co-chair Harvey Scott said they kits have a large variety of uses.
“Patrons of the library can check them out to observe all sorts of wildlife. Hopefully it will spark an interest in conservation and why we need to protect the wonderfully biodiverse world we live in.”
To help facilitate other uses, CCCSA has included a Ziploc baggie with a variety of information on local orchids, the society, the Athabasca Watershed Council, regional mammals, and more. Anyone interested in foraging for mushrooms should bring their own identifying guides with them; however, so far, the kits just cover trees, bushes, and flowers.
“As part of Crooked Creek and as part of education, we’re hoping to bring back the butterfly count,” said Stocking. “I’ve been talking to the Lepidopterologist’s Guild, that’s the name for the butterfly people, and if we can find a date we’ll be doing it in mid-to-late July.
“All of these things help to get people out, and to show the interconnectedness.”
