St. Thomas Field Naturalist Club
Nurturing nature in Elgin.
As December is upon us it is time to think about the 119th Annual Christmas Bird Count. This is St. Thomas’s 70th count. We will be doing the count on Boxing Day, Wednesday the 26th of December. This is the longest running citizen science project. Each year has new highs and a few surprise misses. We do our count in a 24 km circle. The volunteers can start any time they would like. There is a great pot luck dinner held at Knox Presbyterian Church at 55 Hincks St in St. Thomas after the count, doors open at 4:45 pm and supper at 6 p.m.
The Count is sponsored each year by Bird Studies Canada and National Audubon Society in the U.S. This year, the CBC will mobilize over 72,000 bird counters in more than 2,500 locations across the Western Hemisphere.
To learn more go to www.birdscanada.org/volunteer/cbc/
Audubon has a free Bird Guide app with over 800 species of North American birds, right in your pocket. The app is available for iPhone, Android and Amazon Fire tablets. This would be a good tool for the day.
The Christmas Bird Count is a tradition that everyone can participate in.
Birders of all ages are welcome to contribute to this fun community science project, which provided ornithologists with a crucial snapshot of our native bird populations during the winter months. To help count birds for science and participate in this year’s count.
Contact: Allan or Jackie Sharpe
226-271-7018 or asharpe@outlook.com or jrochefort@outlook.com