Birding enthusiasts flocking to Devon library for new backpack program

A new program from the Devon Public Library pairing reading and bird watching is garnering a lot of interest. CTV News Edmonton's Marek Tkach has more.

An Alberta public library has launched “Bird Backpacks,” bags for both the experienced and inexperienced birdwatching enthusiast.

Devon Public Library has four new backpacks to loan out for a week at a time – three adult packs and one youth.

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Adult packs include Nikon binoculars and local bird guides while the youth pack includes smaller binoculars and one guide.

Isabel Gibbons, a bird lover in the seventh grade, already had her hands on the youth pack Wednesday.

“It’s really great that they had this idea so then kids can go outside and get into birds like I did,” she said.

The packs were funded by the Friends of the Devon Library and the Devon Nature Club.

Karen Hage is a volunteer with the Friends of the Devon Library who said the fundraising came about after the group saw Regina Public Library doing something similar.

She said Devon’s certification as a bird-friendly town makes it a great candidate for bird backpacks to “increase public awareness of birds and do things to help preserve [them].

“I’m certainly not an expert birder … that’s why I thought this project was a good idea, because it would maybe help people like me,” Hage said.

Stephanie Johnson, director of Devon Public Library, said the program is a good way to get people to care about the world around them.

“It’s just something fun to offer the community and get more people involved,” she said.

To kick off the new program, the library created a challenge where birders can try to spot as many birds as possible on a Devon bird checklist.

They can submit that checklist, complete or not, by Oct. 11, to be entered into a prize draw.

For extra help, Johnson suggests using Merlin, an app from Cornell that helps identify birds by their call.

She said she expects the bags to not be on the shelves for very long over the summer.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Marek Tkach