Featured Volunteer News

2025 BC Nature Club Service Award Recipient - Ann Scarfe

RPBO is very proud to announce that Ann Scarfe has been honoured by BC Nature.

The BC Nature Club Service Award recognizes outstanding service to BC Nature member clubs at the local level. It is given to individuals or groups within a club for their dedication and contributions. The award aims to acknowledge the value of local level involvement in promoting naturalism and conservation.

The following is the nomination letter sent to BC Nature. Ann's impact on our community has been remarkable, and we are truly grateful to have her as part of the Rocky Point Bird Observatory.
Ann ScarfeAfter her retirement as Program Manager at Swan Lake and Christmas Hill Nature Sanctuary, we were incredibly fortunate to have Ann join Rocky Point Bird Observatory. Over the years, she has put in more than 4000 hours, day and night, volunteering on RPBO’s various projects. In 2013, she became the volunteer coordinator, organizing more than 100 others to fill the schedules’ She has represented RPBO at public events and helped with RPBO’s public education programs. Ann has organized net mending sessions, often in her own home. She also hosted out of town volunteers, and provided rides for many people who would otherwise not be able to participate in this important monitoring work. Ann also participates as a zone leader for the Victoria Christmas Bird Count and ran the monthly book raffles at the Victoria Natural History Society’s Birders’ Nights.
Before we connected, Ann had already spent a lifetime introducing young people to the value of nature. During her 40 years of volunteer work with Girl Guides, she led Spark and Guide units and took many girls camping. Her gentle approach to the wild outdoors aided even the most rambunctious girls to slow down and appreciate what nature had to offer. She actively encouraged other guide leaders to get their units into the outdoors and camping as much as possible. She was always available to answer questions and provide resources. Ann worked with the Guides’ BC Provincial Council, for 6 years, on the Water for Tomorrow program using Project WET and Project WILD. These programs were taught to Guiders, who in turn taught the girls through games and experiential learning, the importance of preserving the environment through conservation. It was developed by the Canadian Wildlife Federation and rolled out through the Provincial Council, thanks to Ann’s assistance.
Ann became Program Manager at Swan Lake and Christmas Hill Nature Sanctuary in 1980 and is recognized as one of its founders. She was there for 28 years until her retirement in 2008. Ann has a gentle, soft spoken way of engaging children to turn them onto the wonders of nature. She has many captivating stories to catch their attention and assist them to remember what she has said. Her analogy of a Marsh Wren sounding like a sewing machine is just one example. Ann’s interest in native plants inspired the creation of Swan Lake’s native plant garden and generated enthusiasm for their native plant sale, one of their signature annual events.

WHY I LOVE VOLUNTEERING FOR RPBO at the BANDING STATION

Melissa Anderson RPBO Volunteer, May 2023

The first time you see up close a Rufous Hummingbird or perhaps something larger and unexpected like a Belted Kingfisher at the banding station; it is magical. I am not a birder (although that has changed), more of a naturalist / frustrated biologist type, but volunteering with RPBO has everything I look for: it is out of doors, you are with a diverse group of wonderful people of all ages, there are so many learning opportunities and we are contributing to science and conservation.

As a scribe, my job is to accurately input the information relayed by the bander. You get to see these birds up close in the hand. I love it when we get a “recap” bird banded in a previous season and marvel at the perhaps thousands of kilometres it has flown in the interim and the hazards it has survived. I also get a thrill tallying the counts at the end of the shift, knowing that this data will help us better understand and protect these beautiful creatures.

People ask me why on earth I get up in the dark of night and drive across town to volunteer. I tell them that opening the nets in the moments after dawn is one of the most spectacular times to be in nature. All of one’s senses are awakened.

On the flip side, owl banding means you get to stay up late. Being in the woods in the pitch dark is amazing. To be still and listen to this whole other nocturnal world is an experience we don’t usually participate in. Not to mention that Northern Saw-whet Owls are so cute!

I get so excited when the volunteer sheets open for signup because I can't wait to get back out to the banding stations. Although I originally had no interest in extracting birds from the nets, thinking myself too clumsy, among other things, last year I started to try it under the careful tutelage and mentorship of the experienced banders and volunteers. I look forward to continuing my training this season. You don't have to be a birder to volunteer with RPBO but volunteering certainly makes you want to become one.

Volunteer Melissa Anderson

Past Volunteer News

How Meeting an Owl Changed My Life
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