Christmas Bird Count

For three weeks beginning in mid-December, birders across the U.S., and in fact in many other areas of the world, bundle up to go count birds as part of the annual Christmas Bird Count. This year is the 110th Christmas Bird Count, an impressive record for an effort that is nearly all volunteer. In fact, this year, tens of thousands of volunteers are expected to help.

Ely had its Christmas Bird Count (CBC) on December 15, with some notable bird sightings including a merlin at the KOA and a wood duck at the duck pond near the library. I'm going to start taking a closer look at that duck pond! This was the first CBC in Ely.

South Snake Valley had its CBC on December 17. It looks like 46 different bird species were found, including a yellow-shafted flicker (most are red-shafted in this area) and a rock wren, pictured above and below.

There's still one more CBC in the Snake Valley area, at Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge. It will be held Sunday, January 3, beginning at 9:30 A.M. (Utah time). Anyone interested is asked to register ahead of time by emailing Jay_Banta@fws.gov. This CBC gets some top-notch birders from Utah attending, so it's a great opportunity to learn a few more birds at the desert oasis.
I remember my first CBC, which was in Snake Valley. I wondered how in the world I was going to keep from being totally bored looking at birds all day, as I didn't think we would see that many in the middle of winter. I was wrong--when you concentrate on birds, you see them everywhere, even in the middle of winter! Now I really look forward to the annual Christmas Bird Count.

For more info about bird watching, scroll down to see the post by Jay Banta about Christmas Bird Counts and how birders stimulate the economy.