Christmas Bird Count

What is the Christmas Bird Count? The Annual Christmas Bird Count is an Audubon Society sponsored event taking place between Dec. 14, 2019 and Jan. 5, 2020.

The area covered in this count is a 15-miles diameter circle. The count includes a group of volunteers who travel within the circle and count every bird they see and hear all day.

The closest count circle is at Grand Coulee. Here is the information provided:

Participants will be meeting at Flo’s Café, 316 Spokane Way, Grand Coulee, at 7 a.m.

The count members plan to break up into smaller groups to cover a variety of habitats from large reservoirs, pine/fir woods, sagebrush and small towns that make up the count circle. Maps and field sheets will be provided.

They will meet again between 4:30 and 5 p.m. at the Pepper Jack Bar & Grill 113 Midway Ave, Grand Coulee to compile the day’s numbers.

Please contact David St. George at 509-667-7472 email: stgeorged79@gmail.com if you would like to participate.

The objective

Obviously, the objective is to get a count of all birds within a given spot, in this case a 15-mile diameter circle, on a given date. Think about all of the data compiled over the 120 years of this count. This is precious and valuable information.

The actual count is a fun and family-oriented event. In this case, there is no date yet, but it should be available soon.

Imagine a family of four, two adults and two youth aged 7- and 9-years-old, wanting to participate. They make contact with David and plan to participate.

They leave their home in Ephrata at 6 a.m. in order to arrive at Flo’s Café at 7 a.m. A fast-food breakfast is purchased as they head out of town. They have prepared a lunch to eat when appropriate, plus they have plenty of snacks to take care of any hunger pains.

Also, in the vehicle are several articles of clothing, which will allow the family members to take off or put on clothing as needed.

Tools

This family has a binocular for each family member, a smart phone each (to assist with species identification), plus they have a bird-identification book, in case they are without Wi-Fi service for the phones.

Think about the fun for the family, along with the educational aspects of this count. If the family members are inexperienced bird watchers, they are sure to learn several aspects of the sport.

If they are experienced birders, they may add a species or two to their lifetime bird list. Here we are talking about bird lists. Promise, we will talk about lists in the near future.