Blackbrook Audubon Society encourages anyone interested in birding to join its Christmas Bird Count in one of two ways: in the field or from the comfort of your own home. Blackbrook needs eyes and ears for the 119th annual Christmas Bird Count Saturday, December 29th.
The Christmas Bird Count is the longest-running citizen science project in North America and helps biologists monitor bird population trends. Beginning on Christmas Day 1900, ornithologist Frank Chapman proposed a new holiday tradition – a “Christmas Bird Census” when people would count birds rather than hunt them. The object of the CBC is to count all the bird species and number of birds in a 15-mile diameter circle in one 24-hour period between December 14th and January 5th. Participants within the circle can also report birds at their feeder.
To be assigned to a team covering a specific area on foot or in a vehicle, or to report backyard feeder counts, contact Dan Donaldson, the compiler for Blackbrook’s circle, at danook057@yahoo.com. He will also have details on where to meet for lunch. Birders of all skill levels are welcome and no fee is required.
Blackbrook’s CBC circle covers from Lost Nation Airport to western Perry, Lake Erie down to Holden Arboretum and Big Creek Park in Geauga County.
Blackbrook Audubon’s territory covers Lake, Geauga and Ashtabula counties. The CBC circle for Geauga County is centered west of Burton. Their count will be January 5, 2019 and is conducted by Linda Gilbert and Dan Best, naturalists with Geauga Park District.
The Ashtabula circle is centered east of Kingsville. Marc Hanneman compiles that count, which will also be December 29th. He can be reached at marchanneman@embarqmail.com.
A new species was added to the CBC database last year with the appearance of a Mistle Thrush documented for the first time in North America. A somewhat novice birder discovered this American Robin relative in his yard in New Brunswick.
Circles for the 2017-18 count stretched from Arctic Bay, Baffin Island in Canada to a NOAA research vessel in the Drake Passage at the southern-most tip of South America; as far west as Guam in the Pacific to the eastern tip of Brazil. Census takers in the NEO circles share the same mission and may count on the same day as birders in some of these far-off places. Visit the FAQ page of National Audubon Society to see active circles on a map: FAQ page of National Audubon Society. For more information on the local Audubon chapter, visit Blackbrook Audubon Society and follow Blackbrook Audubon on Facebook.
Pictured In Cover Photo: Blackbrook Audubon’s Christmas Bird Count circle – 15 mile diameter
