Nancy Woodfield-Pascoe, special events coordinator at the National Parks Trust, and volunteer Tessa Smith watch birds from a dock on Anegada on Jan. 6. Photo: NGOVOU GYANG

Lionel Smith has lived on Anegada for more than a decade, and he knows territory’s second largest island well.

Nancy Woodfield-Pascoe, special events coordinator at the National Parks Trust, and volunteer Tessa Smith watch birds from a dock on Anegada on Jan. 6. Photo: NGOVOU GYANG
But there’s always more to learn, and last week during the Audubon Society Christmas Bird Count, the National Parks Trust warden visited two ponds he had never seen before.

“I like being in nature and I like going to the bush and being outside,” Mr. Smith said quietly.

He was seated on the ground next to a shallow pond with four other volunteers, who were watching a flock of ducks that included more than 100 blue-winged teals.

“This is all new to me,” he said. “I’ve never seen so many ducks together one time in Anegada, and now we’re seeing hundreds in one place.”

Throughout the day, the volunteers drove around Anegada armed with binoculars, paying keen attention to the surroundings.

As they travelled from one wetland to another, they frequently stopped at the side of the road to have a closer look at birds perched on telephone poles or trees.

See the Jan. 14, 2016 edition for full coverage.

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