Early Report on Christmas Bird Count Results 2017
The Christmas Bird Count (CBC) on Dec. 16 was Redbud Audubon’s 43rd year of participating in this fun and interesting day. A full report by Kathy Barnwell on the count is available and can also be found in the The Western Grebe March newsletter.
However, some general information is that approximately 129 species were seen and 60,000 birds counted all together; there were 37 participants. The highlight birds this year were the Black-headed Grosbeak seen by Greg Guisti at his bird feeder in Kelseyville; the Short-eared Owl, seen by Jerry White, and a Surf Scoter seen by Gae Henry and Henry Bornstein in Anderson Marsh.
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Redbud Audubon to participate in the Christmas Bird Count December 16, 2017
This year, the annual Clear Lake Christmas Bird Count, held by the Redbud Audubon Society, will be on Saturday, December 16. The Christmas Bird Count (CBC) is a traditional project of Audubon societies around the country and takes place between Dec. 14 and Jan. 5.
If you are interested in participating in the bird count, call (707) 263-8030, leave a message with your phone number, and someone will return your call. Prior to the bird count the annual Bird Identification program will be held at the regular Redbud Audubon Society, which will be held early this year on December 14, the second Thursday of the month instead of the third. Please see the December newsletter for further details.
A summary report of the Christmas Bird Count 2016 was made available in March 2017 as well as the official 2016 Bird Count statistics.
Background
The Christmas Bird Count (CBC) is a traditional project of A
udubon societies around the country and takes place each year between December 14 and January 5.
On the day of the Count, birders gather to record every individual bird and species encountered. Each count group has a designated circle of 15 miles in diameter and tries to cover as much ground as possible.
If you are a beginning birder, you will be able to join a group that includes at least one experienced birdwatcher.
If your home is within the boundaries of a CBC circle, then you can stay at home and report the birds that visit your feeder on count day as long as you have made prior arrangements with the count compiler.
The data collected by each count group are then sent to the National Audubon Headquarters in New York and is available on-line.
The Christmas Bird Count began more than a century ago when 27 conservationists in 25 localities, led by scientist and writer Frank Chapman, changed the course of ornithological history.
On Christmas Day in 1900, the small group posed an alternative to the “side hunt,” a Christmas day activity in which teams competed to see who could shoot the most birds and small mammals. Instead, Chapman proposed to identify, count, and record all the birds they saw, founding what is now considered to be the world’s most significant citizen-based conservation effort – and century-old institution.
Redbud Audubon invites all birders and nature enthusiasts to join in the upcoming Christmas Bird Count. Birders of all skill levels are encouraged to participate. This is Audubon’s longest running wintertime tradition and CBC 2017 will mark the 41st year the Count has taken place in Lake County.
