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, and I believe that’s him in the pink and navy top at about that time. 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