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Chilliwack: Birds and birders flock to this place

More than 350 bird species have been identified in British Columbia’s Upper Fraser Valley
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A bohemian waxwing, said to be fairly rare, rests on a lily pad in Chilliwack. (Steensland/Amateur Photography Entry)

It’s a bird’s world in the Chilliwack area, with rich fields, abundant water and bountiful salmon returns on the mighty Fraser River.

For a bird that breeds in open evergreen forests and spends the nonbreeding season in open areas that have plentiful fruit, Chilliwack is the perfect resting place for waxwings.

Called vagabonds, these birds fly incredible distances. In fact, one waxwing banded in B.C. was found 13 months later in South Dakota. Another waxwing is said to have flown 280 miles in just 11 days.

There have been more than 350 species of birds spotted by birders in the Upper Fraser Valley, and it’s said that about 250 different species are identified each year.