CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT – JOIN US!

Saturday, December 16

Our Admiralty Audubon chapter will participate inAudubon’s 118th Christmas Bird Count. You can see all of the locations for counting on the National Audubon website, although at press time the maps were not yet updated from 2016 (http://www.audubon.org/join-christmas-bird-count).

The count is an all-day event open to anyone wishing to participate. This is an excellent opportunity for novice bird watchers to join with seasoned veterans and learn more about identifying and finding the local birds. Half-day participants and home feeder watchers are also welcome. We would like to particularly encourage anyone with feeders in the count circle who can spare at least one hour to watch their yard to participate. Winter feeder watching can be quite rewarding as birds try to expend the least amount of energy to get the greatest amount of food.

The Admiralty Audubon count circle is a 7.5- mile radius centered near Indian Island ship dock and is divided into 13 sections, with a team of 3 or more individuals assigned to each section. Team leaders for each section will make arrangements with the rest of their group for a meeting place and time (usually between 7:30 and 8 am) the morning of the count. Participants should bring cold and wet-weather gear, binoculars, a scope if you have one, lunch and snacks for the day. A notepad and pencil or electronic recording devices, field guides, camera and a thermos with something hot are always good ideas as well.

There will be a countdown potluck after the count at Rosewind Commons at 5 pm (thanks, Sandra and MJ!). Contact Dan Waggoner: 360-301-1788 or danwags57@gmail.com for more information.