Happy New Year to everyone! Thank you all for your support over the past year. I am grateful for all of your likes, comments and shares and hope that the upcoming year will provide more opportunities to share my love of wildlife.
This week I wanted to share some images I took during the Audubon Society’s Annual Christmas Bird Count (CBC). My 7 year old son and I spent 6 hours looking for and counting birds. I drove and he recorded. We had a great time chatting and spotting despite the -31ºC temps!!
I thought it might be interesting to share a bit of the history of the Christmas Bird Count as I found it quite interesting:
The CBC was started by ornithologist Frank M. Chapman on Christmas Day 1900 when he proposed the census as an alternative to the historic Christmas Day Hunt. 25 Christmas Bird Counts were held that day and a new tradition was born.
Each year From December 14 through January 5 tens of thousands of volunteers throughout the Americas brave snow, wind, or rain, and take part in the effort. Audubon and other organizations use data collected in this long-running wildlife census to assess the health of bird populations, and to help guide conservation action.
The data collected by observers over the past century allow Audubon researchers, conservation biologists, wildlife agencies and other interested individuals to study the long-term health and status of bird populations across North America. When combined with other surveys such as the Breeding Bird Survey, it provides a picture of how the continent’s bird populations have changed in time and space over the past hundred years.
During our outing we spotted six species of birds: common raven, willow ptarmigan, house sparrows, common redpolls, bohemian waxwings, and a handful of white-winged crossbills. Of the 8 people who participated we spotted a total of 12 species. Not bad for a freezing cold day with only five hours of sunlight!
Thanks for stopping by and we’ll see you next week!