Island Christmas Bird Count December 17, 2011
Island Christmas Bird Count December 17, 2011
Another Island Christmas Bird Count is upon us and we can use the help of all who are interested in birds. You are invited to participate either in the field or by tracking what is coming to your feeder on Saturday Dec 17 and during the count week. Details follow.
Field Count (out in the cold) Saturday Dec 17:
We will meet at 8:30am at KK Fiske to have something hot to drink and get our count materials.
We head out to bird from 9am – 12pm (break allowed), then meet for lunch and to share our observations at KK from 12 – 1pm. Those able to continue will bird from 1 to 3:30pm to finish covering the Island and get additional species. There is a bit of competition here to get as many species and individuals as possible. Experienced birders will lead each group and beginners are welcome.
Each group will bird in a different part of the Island and have a map for their area, also a bird list to check off and a camera and bird books in the car. Bring binoculars and maybe water and a snack, and dress in layers. Chocolate helps to keep one warm too!
Feeder Watch December 17:
You can track what species and how many of each species are coming to your feeder on count day from inside your warm home. You should have a bird list (we can get that to you) plus bird book and binoculars. A camera in case of something unusual or hard to identify would be great.
You also need to identify species and the number of individuals of each species as well as the approximate amount of time you spent watching the feeder.
To get the numbers of individuals of a species, use the maximum number of each species that you see at one time together. For example, if you see one chickadee at the feeder and one is leaving and one coming to the feeder simultaneously, that is 3 chickadees. If three chickadees come to the feeder separately in time, you can only count one unless there is a way to identify an individual (eg all-white head) and you see an additional normal one.
You may contact Chari Rutledge or me for feeder watch instructions and a bird list, and to share your observation totals for each species with us by email or phone.
Owl count Dec.17:
We will try to hear owls for an hour or two at dark. The owl count idea and where to search is weather dependent and will be determined on count day.
Snowy Owl
A Male Snowy Owl was sighted on Washington Island by Margaret Young on November 22, 2011. The Snowy Owl is also known as the Arctic or Great White Owl and is a Winter visitor from the far Northern Arctic Tundra. It is a Federally Protected bird, which means enjoy such rare sightings, but do NOT hunt the owls.
Count Week Dec 14 – 16 and Dec 18 – 20: Count week (3 days before and 3 days after the count day) allows for additional species to be added to the observation list. For those days, just note any unusual species with the date, time and place. A photo would be great too. If not on the list for count day, we can also add these observations to the list.
Contacts and questions:
Chari Rutledge
chari@therutledges.com 920/847-2240
Sandy Petersen
buboarcto@aol.com
608/873-0294
In case of very inclement weather, the count will be Sunday Dec. 18, 2011.
by Sandy Petersen
