The monthly counts started October 1991. Each month I invited a member of the Vancouver Natural History Society birding group to come help us with identification on the all-day count: Brian Self, Kevin Bell, George Clulow, John and Mike Toochin, Reto Riesen, and others. In 1993, Max Gotz, a strong birder from Whistler, joined our team at about that time, and I believe that’s him in the pink and navy top . By 1994 our local group was confident enough to do the count on our own and large enough to divide the Estuary into zones for a half-day count. A remarkable amount of data has been accumulated in 30+ years by the dedicated Squamish birding community.
Left to right in the photo: my Spacemaster spotting scope which is still my workhorse, Lefty Goldsmith looking through it, Max Gotz, Brian Self and his even better scope, Meg Fellowes, Jim Wisnia, and what looks like a submarine surfacing in the background. I can’t recall who took the photo, but it was a fun shot that made the local paper, I think.
Jim Wisnia
February 2018
Photo provided by Meg Fellowes