Photo description:

Erica Alex and Hanna Popp pause for a listen, with their binoculars at the ready, during a Christmas Bird Count tour through Minnedosa on Saturday. The two are waiting to hear the call of a nearby bird in order to locate it for counting. Alex and Popp wandered the area and tallied all birds they identified as part of the hobby/citizen science count. They found in the area that afternoon four Chickadee and 30 House Sparrow birds, as well as at least one Nuthatch. The information is later updated to a Canada-wide database from other volunteer counters in the country. (Connor McDowell/The Brandon Sun)