Volunteers are gearing up for this year's Brackendale Eagle Count on Sunday (Jan. 6), which could firm up or dispel the notion that only a fraction of the area's bald eagles returned to feed this winter.
For 22 years the eagle count has kept tabs on the majestic birds with a one-day event centered out of the Brackendale Art Gallery (BAG).
While only trained volunteers are able to count the birds, the rest of the community has the opportunity to share in the event by watching the numbers climb as counters spill in to the gallery with results throughout the day.
More than 60 people take part in the count with groups of three covering 20 separate sections stretching along the Squamish, Cheakamus and Mamquam rivers. Rafters and kayakers also count eagles on sites such as Baynes Island. One more volunteer with a Class 4 rafting certificate is still needed for the count.
The route covers about 40 kilometres of eagle habitat. Some of the volunteers are eagle-counting veterans with more than 15 years of experience with the event.
BAG owner Thor Froslev said taking part in the count is not just a good deed, but also a responsibility among local residents to ensure the eagles are being adequately monitored and protected.
He said the project was initiated by the provincial government, who eventually left it on the shoulders of residents. As funding dropped, however, eagle numbers climbed as volunteer counters expanded the count area, including adding on-the-water counts with co-operation from local rafting companies.
While the mid-1980s initially brought in numbers ranging from 600 to 700 eagles, the count now tallies several thousand eagles ranging from 1,700 to 3,300 per year.
In 1994, the winter count had a world record total of 3,769 eagles.
With less than a third of the usual eagle numbers reported by Eagle Watch on the Brackendale dike, some have speculated the season's low chum run has brought fewer eagles to the area.
However, Froslev said it is still impossible to predict whether the count will bring in smaller figures this year.
"How could you ever be sure? You have no control over it," he said.
He noted that factors such as weather can also sway eagle numbers.
Still, he is not oblivious to the problems faced by B.C. salmon.
"I'm really concerned about this idea of losing the wild salmon," he said. "It's a disasteryou have to be mad about it."
On Saturday (Dec. 5) conservation biologist David Hancock is making a presentation on eagle biology at the BAG for his tenth year.
Hancock has published several books on west coast wildlife and First Nations culture. He is also responsible for streaming live video of eagles on the nest to the Internet from the site www.hancockwildlifechannel.org.
He said the eagles that have chosen not to come to Brackendale this year are likely feeding successfully in other parts of the Lower Mainland such as the Harrison River.
"The eagle is very mobile. If you have a loss of fish in any one area, the eagles simply go where there is more fishit's a nothing thing for these birds to move 50 to 100 miles," Hancock explained.
He said bald eagles have made a strong comeback since the 1960s when there were only three pairs in the Lower Mainland, But he noted the birds are beginning to face new threats related to pesticides.
"Humans keep dumping more and more pesticides into the land and it doesn't matter where you dump it, it ends up in the ocean," he said. "We're starting to see the contamination in the eagles now."
Analysis of eagle carcasses has shown increasing amount of heavy metals and pesticides in their tissues, Hancock explained.
He said the fish the eagles rely on for food could be partly to blame.
"I wouldn't eat salmon. Salmon is the most contaminated food in the world," he said.
Hancock's presentation at the gallery begins at 8 p.m. on Jan. 5. The count takes place on Jan. 6, with the gallery opening to the public at 9 a.m.
