The results are in following a day-long count of bald eagles – part of the 32nd Annual Brackendale Winter Eagle Festival and Count that took place in Squamish on January 7th.

Brackendale Art Gallery owner Thor Froslev (who hosts the annual event) says 962 bald eagles were counted and that the event went “really well”. 60 volunteers ranging in ages from 10 to 82 were part of the tallying process.

The Squamish Environment Society says volunteers covered 20 separate areas by ‘foot, snowshoe, ski and raft, from the Elaho Valley to downtown Squamish, and from Paradise Valley to the Stawamus River’. The society says this year’s count was down from the 32-year average of 1433 eagles and well below 1994’s record count, but it was a ‘very respectable count considering the difficult conditions with snow and fog’.

698 eagles where counted in 2017, with the lowest amount ever recorded in 2016 of just 411. The society sights poor chum salmon returns and high water as a factor when it comes to low eagle numbers.

The festival continues at the Brackendale Art Gallery until January 28th.

 

Filed under: Annual Brackendale Winter Eagle Festival and Count, Bald Eagle, Brackendale, Brackendale Art Gallery, Festival, Squamish, Squamish Environment Society, Wildlife