Great Backyard Bird Count Perfect
for New Birders
15th
annual count Feb. 17-20, 2012
News release, December 2011--As moviegoers watch the stars of
“The Big Year” in their quest to count birds, some may be motivated to try the
hobby for the first time. The annual Great Backyard Bird
Count is the perfect opportunity. The event is
hosted by Audubon, the Cornell Lab of
Ornithology, and Canadian partner Bird Studies Canada.
The results provide a snapshot of the whereabouts of more than 600 bird
species.
Anyone can participate in this free
event and no registration is needed. Watch and count birds for at least 15
minutes on any day of the count, February 17-20, 2012. Enter your results at www.birdcount.org,
where you can watch as the tallies grow across the continent. The four-day
count typically records more than 10 million observations.
"When thousands of people all
tell us what they’re seeing, we can detect patterns in how birds are faring
from year to year," said Janis Dickinson, director of Citizen Science at
the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
“The Great Backyard Bird Count is a
perfect example of Citizen Science," says Downy Woodpecker -
Photo by Bill Lynn
Audubon Chief Scientist, Gary
Langham. "Like Audubon’s Christmas Bird Count, volunteers help us with data year after year, providing
scientific support that is the envy of many institutions. It’s also a lot of
fun."
"We’re finding that more people
are taking part in our bird count programs every year--and the more that take
part, the better it is for the birds," says Richard Cannings, Senior
Projects Officer for Bird Studies Canada.
The 2011 GBBC brought in more than
92,000 bird checklists submitted by participants from across the United States
and Canada. Altogether, bird watchers identified 596 species with 11.4 million
bird observations. Results from the 2011 GBBC included:
• Increased reports of Evening
Grosbeak, a species that has been declining;
• A modest seasonal movement of
winter finches farther south in their search for food;
• The Eurasian Collared-Dove was
reported from Alaska for the first time, more evidence of an introduced species
rapidly expanding its range.
Although it’s called the Great
“Backyard” Bird Count, the count extends well beyond backyards. Lots of
participants choose to head for national parks, nature centers, urban parks,
nature trails, or nearby sanctuaries. For more information, including bird-ID
tips, instructions, and past results, visit www.birdcount.org.
The count also includes a photo
contest and a prize drawing for participants who enter their bird checklists
online.
The Great Backyard Bird Count is made
possible in part by sponsor Wild Birds Unlimited.
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HIGHLIGHTS
of the Spirit Lake CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT
- 45
species plus 1 count week bird – 10th place out of 16 (highest
count - 57 species in 2002 and lowest count - 36 species in 2004)
- 990
individual birds – 13th place out of 16
(highest count – 1,686 in 1998 and lowest count 606 in 2004)
·
13 birders in the field on 6 teams plus 3 feeder
counters
- Best Bird: Canyon Wren (a new species for the count) in Bayview (Cape Horn) - found
by Kris Buchler and Darlene Carlton
- 2nd
Best Bird: Red-winged Blackbird (2) found at a feeder on the Kelso Lake
Road (Hoo Doo Valley) by Theresa Potts and Shirley Sturts .
- Jan and
Herb Severtson had a Great Horned Owl on their list of birds for the day.
This is only the 3rd count they have been found. They were on the count list in 2000 and 2006.
- Our
other owl on the count, Northern Pygmy-Owl, was found by Lisa Hardy, Mary
Deasy and Linda Taylor. In 1997,
we found five N. Pygmy-Owls. They have found on 11 out of 16 counts.
- Our total of 10 Red-tailed Hawks and 1 buteo
species is our highest number out of 16 years. Three of the counts we had no Red-tailed Hawk. Six of the counts we only had 1
Red-tailed.Hawk The previous high
number was 7 in 1999. Team1: Bill Gundlach and John Scarola and Team 2:
Theresa Potts and Shirley Sturts each had 3 of these hawks. The rest were found by 3 other
teams.
- Janet Callen and Roland Craft were excited when
they found a huge flock of about 150 waxwings. They couldn’t get close enough to them to see if they were Bohemian or Cedar or a mixture of the two.
- Common Redpoll, an irruptive species, has only
been found on 4 other count years.
They have been showing up all over the Northwest this
year. We are always excited when
we find them during the winter.
Janet and Roland found 2 on
their route and Theresa and
Shirley found another 2 at a
feeder on their route.
- Another
species we don’t always find on this count is the American Robin. Bill and John found 20 in Farragut
State Park..
- Kris
and Darlene found our only Brown Creeper.
Lisa, Mary and Linda found the only Mourning Dove (2) and the only
Black-billed Magpie ( 6) . Theresa
and Shirley found the only Great Blue Heron. It was along Hoo Doo Creek, just south of the Hoo Doo Lake
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2012 Wings Across the Big Sky Bird Festival
Come join us for Montana Audubon’s Annual
Bird Festival, this year co-hosted by the Flathead Audubon Society, June 8–10,
2012, at the Hilton Garden Inn and Conference Center, 1840 US Hwy 93 S in Kalispell. We are very excited about this new facility, which will
be center stage for festival activities Friday through Sunday includes
registration, birding field trips, guest speaker presentations, meals, banquet
festivities, and much more.
The
Hilton is centrally located in the heart of
the Flathead Valley and provides easy access to all our birding activities,
field trips, and workshops, and is within a short drive of abundant
recreational destinations, such as Flathead Lake and Glacier National Park.
Currently, we have 50 rooms
blocked out for festival-goers, Friday and Saturday nights. (25 King beds
and 25 Queen/Queen beds at $99 per night plus
applicable taxes.) This rate will be extended to us for three days, prior and post event. Be sure to tell them you’re
with the Bird Festival group to get the special rate! We suggest you make your reservations soon at
the hotel directly at 1-406-756-4500.
For nearby accommodations within walking distance
of the Hilton, here are more options:
·
Aero Inn, 1830 US
Highway 93 South | Kalispell, MT | 59901. 1-406-755-3798
·
Motel 6, 1540 US
Hwy. 93 South | Kalispell, MT | 59901. 1-406-752-6355
·
Super 8 Motel, 1341 1st Avenue East | Kalispell, MT | 59901. 1-406-755-1888
·
The Outlaw Hotel, 1701 Hwy
93 S | Kalispell, MT | 59901. 1-406-755-6100
Alternative
accommodations can be found at www.kalispellstaying.com
, toll free 1-877-STAY-HGI
2012
Pre-festival Workshops
Our workshops were so popular at our
2011 Festival in Glasgow that we again are offering two pre-festival
Conservation Workshops, plus adding one pre-festival Education Workshop, all
scheduled for Friday, June 8. You can sign up for these during registration
from March 15 to May 22. The festival brochure will be arriving in your mail box mid-March. So you
will want to act
fast—space is limited for each workshop! We’re excited to offer the
following three pre-festival (Friday) workshops this year:
1. Northwestern Montana Birds and Wildlife in a Warming
World
We’ll tour local forests and,
hopefully, Glacier National Park. Participants will get up close and personal
with the flora and fauna of the area, discuss the impacts of our changing
climate, and delve into how we can lessen the impact by reducing carbon
pollution and building resilient ecological systems best able to adapt to a
changing climate.
Limited to 20 participants -
Lunch: included
Time: tentative, 8 a.m. – 2 p.m. - Cost: TBD
2. River-to-Lake Initiative
Since 2000, the River-to-Lake
Initiative has been providing conservation and restoration expertise to private
landowners along the Flathead River and along the North Shore of Flathead Lake.
River-to-Lake partners, spearheaded by the Flathead Land Trust, work directly
with landowners to craft conservation efforts that meet their needs. We’ll meet
many of these partners and visit several project sites, including two Important
Bird Areas (Owen Sowerwine Natural Area and North Shore Flathead Lake). Limited to 20 participants
Lunch: included Time: tentative, 8 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Cost: TBD
3) Develop a Bird Education Program in your Community
This six-hour training is
for any Audubon Chapter member looking to begin or improve their bird education
programs within their community.
Bird Education Program
Each participant will receive
training and curricula-oriented materials from Flying Wild, a Council for
Environmental Education program which introduces students to bird conservation
through standards-based classroom activities and environmental stewardship
projects. In addition, instructors will share their expertise and experiences
in developing new environmental education programs for all ages. (For more
information on Project Flying Wild go to www.flyingwild.org.) This workshop will be presented by the Montana Audubon
Conservation Education Center: Darcie Vallant, Center Director, and Heather
Ristow, Education Director. For questions on this training please
contact Darcie at 406-294-5099, ext. 302.
Limited to 30 participants
Time: TBD Cost: $25/per individual
For more
information about the festival, please contact: Montana Audubon Bird Festival
Coordinator, Larissa Berry at lberry@mtaudubon.org/406-443-3949, or
any Flathead Audubon Board Member. For updates, visit http://www.mtaudubon.org/birdwatching/festival.htmand “like” us at http://www.facebook.com/MontanaAudubon.
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EPIC Effort
for
Caribbean Seabirds
From Bird Studies Canada (online)
13 January 2012
– Documenting globally important seabird breeding colonies, finding previously
undocumented colonies, and colonies thought to be extirpated: these are just
some of the exciting discoveries reported within Environmental Protection in
the Caribbean’s (EPIC) ground-breaking Seabird Breeding Atlas of the Lesser
Antilles. Stretching in a thin arc from Anguilla to Grenada, the Lesser
Antilles are the final frontier between the Caribbean Sea and the vast expanses
of the Atlantic Ocean. A full seabird census had previously never been
undertaken in the region, with many existing records based on anecdotal notes
from the early 19th century.
Over an 11-month study period,
between 2009 and 2010, EPIC’s partners Katharine and David Lowrie, sailed 3162
nautical miles, surveying by land and/or sea 200 islands above the high-tide
level capable of supporting seabirds, surveying each island in the winter
breeding season and again during the summer. Surveying islands that few other
sailors will venture near, the study was dubbed by the sailing community as, “a
survey of the worst anchorages of the Caribbean.” Globally, seabirds are among
the most threatened of bird groups, with 80 per cent of species in decline and
90 to 99 per cent of seabirds lost from tropical islands. Prior to European
contact, it is believed there were tens of millions of seabirds breeding in the
Caribbean region, now there are under two million. For more information go to:http://www.epicislands.org/
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