The Okanagan Similkameen Conservation Alliance will hold its annual Bird Migration Day open house on Sunday, Sept. 22.

The event will run from 9 a.m. to noon at the Vaseaux Lake Migratory Bird Sanctuary at the parking lot to the boardwalk and the bird blind.

Visitors will be able to view and identify some of the migratory birds with the help of interpreters and members of the South Okanagan Naturalists Club. Visitors will also be able to go on a guided nature walk with interpreters.

The Bird Migration Day focuses on bird adaptation to migration, bird conservation issues and threats and birds one can see on migration in September.

The Okanagan Similkameen Conservation Alliance will also offer ECO-studies school programs at regional schools. This program and associated regional school programs are funded in part through the Naturehood Program of Nature Canada. They are free of charge to the public, although donations are accepted.

The Okanagan is an important summer nesting area for many bird species. Birds that have bred in the boreal forest and northern parts of the province also travel through the Okanagan Valley on their way south to the United States and Central and South America, using  Vaseaux Lake area as a migration stopover to refuel on insects or seeds. 

The Vaseux Lake Migratory Bird Sanctuary is four kilometres south of Okanagan Falls, at the north end of Vaseaux Lake. The parking lot is on the west side of Highway 97.

The boardwalk to the blind is in good condition, but there is poison ivy along the trail. The bird blind is not wheelchair accessible. There are outhouses on site. Pets are not permitted at the open house.