The preliminary work on this year’s Christmas Bird Counts has been established at least for now unless life changes in respect to COVID rules on PEI.

The Society reviewed the attached package below from Birds Canada and would like to go ahead the PEI CBCs provided enough participants are willing. To ensure COVID 19 safety and be prudent,

∙           no one expressing COVID 19 symptoms or under self isolation protocols or who have been exposed to someone expressing symptoms are to participate in a count area survey. If they live within the count circle, they could register with the coordinator and send in their yard results;

∙           an individual team should be from within a single household or with no more than two others considered to be consistent members of that household group;

∙           it is recommended that each team be equipped with and apply hand sanitizer before entering the vehicle and, if a stop made at a public building, before reentering the vehicle (keep a log of stops at public facilities (e.g. a gas station) and times to address potential exposures);

∙           teams are to cover off their assigned zone within the count circle and not meet with other teams from adjacent zones;

∙           unless the team members are within a family/personal bubble, masks must be worn when within 6 feet of others or within a building or other confined space;

∙           there can be no social get togethers (potlucks, communal gatherings between 2 or more teams, or clustering of teams at birding hot spots at a specific time at a specified spot such as East Point). If teams arrive independently at a location, they are not to mingle with members of other team or share equipment.

Note: Within a vehicle equipped with two rows of seats, only two people from separate households should be in the vehicle and they should be seated diagonally (one in driver’s seat and the other on the passenger rear seat)

The counts are weather dependent as usual and are as follows (note change in order this year):

Saturday Dec. 19th East Point CBC Coordinator Dwaine Oakley

Sunday Dec. 20 PEI National Park CBC Coordinator Dan McAskill

Saturday Dec. 26 Montague CBC Coordinator Scott Sinclair

Sunday, Dec. 27 Hillsborough CBC Coordinator Dan McAskill

If the current COVID 19 protocol are eased or further restricted, portions of the protocol may well change.

If you have questions please contact the designated coordinator

Thanks,

Dan and Dwaine

902-393-4385