Throughout the year, SPES offers public activities and experiences during special seasonal events in Stanley Park and across the city. Learn about these annual events, how to get involved, and how to help make them happen.
Vancouver Bird Celebration
May – Get ready to celebrate all things avian! Stanley Park Ecology Society is excited to be returning as the coordinator for Greater Vancouver Bird Celebration. Held in May, this event features workshops and walks galore hosted by a variety of partners across the Lower Mainland. SPES collaborates with Vancouver Bird Advisory to offer a variety of programming from tours led by local experts, to expert panels, to bird-related arts and crafts. There is sure to be something for everyone!
- Visit the official Greater Vancouver Bird Celebration website
- Check out the Bird Celebration Events Calendar (events released April each year)
- Go birding with the official 2021 Bird Celebration Birder Passport (Colour / Printer-Friendly Black & White)
“Spending time in nature is good for everyone and birding is a great way to reconnect with the natural world. Vancouver is fortunate to be on the doorstep of Canada’s premier birding hotspot. Bird Week is our way of helping everyone become more aware of birds around Greater Vancouver. Take a look at the events and join in the fun.”
– Rob Butler, Previous Chair of Greater Vancouver Bird Advisory Committee
We are grateful for the City of Vancouver’s Greenest City Grant support for this Bird Celebration and its corresponding events! We also thank the Port of Vancouver for supporting SPES’s “Let’s Go Birding” series both within and outside of Stanley Park in the 2021 year.
We are currently seeking funders for 2022 onward to help make these valuable programs available to the public, free of charge. If you or your organization would like to get involved in connecting people to nature, please contact us to learn more about sponsorship opportunities with SPES.
EcoRangers
July and August – The EcoRanger program depends on a group of enthusiastic volunteers working in pairs as roving naturalists in Stanley Park, answering visitors’ questions about local animals and plants, and providing other important on-the-spot information.
Each year, SPES invites prospective EcoRanger volunteers to participate in comprehensive naturalist training. These skilled volunteers guide Park visitors to meaningful, informed and respectful encounters with the diverse and often sensitive ecology of Stanley Park.
Watch for EcoRangers roving Park trails or stationed at an interpretive table at Beaver Lake, Lumberman’s Arch, or the Stanley Park heron colony.
The call for EcoRanger volunteers begins in April. Check in here when we are looking for applicants.
“Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to volunteer as an EcoRanger at Stanley Park this summer. I learned a lot more about the work that SPES does, BC’s ecosystems, and had the awesome chance to meet new friends and interact with the public on a regular basis and share my knowledge and passion. Volunteering with SPES was really the best part of my 2020.”
– EcoRanger, 2020
The EcoRanger Program is funded by SPES donors, the BC Gaming Commission and the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation.