Hilliardton Marsh christmas bird count Saturday Dec 16th

Greeting local not loco birders or perhaps birders from farther afield  we welcome you to join us for the 11th annual hilliardton marsh Christmas bird count. The forecast promises a balmy high of -13 and we are hoping to see an  increase in the number of pine grosbeaks and flocks of redpolls that have started showing up near the marsh.  I have I posted a photo of the count circle provided by Mike Werner  to show folks where the count takes place. We will have maps available for anyone who would like to join us for the count. The other reason is to encourage feeder watcher within the circle. The key for feeder watchers is to count the maximum number of individuals you see at anyone time. If not  the same chickadee that come to the feeder 100 times in an hour could be misrepresented by tallying 100 chickadees. Many counts have dedicated feeder watchers  that not only report the birds that they see but also report the numbers on ebird afterwards  which would be the best case scenario.  If you have any plans to watch your feeder on the 16th please let us know  because we will avoid checking out your feeders as we are traveling past in cars filled with feeders  and snacks and coffee and hopeful birders.
      One reason I wanted to write this blog is to encourage novice and young birds  alike. Often people avoid participating in the Christmas bird count out of concerns that they do not know there birds well enough. I always envy folks that are just starting out in birding because there is so are so many birds waiting to be discovered. We have a Christmas bird count just for kids scheduled for the 30th of December  which is a wonderful event to encourage kids but this count on the 16th is for all ages including kids but the main emphasis of the count is driving around the circle looking for birds.
      The origin if the count apparently was to inspire people to look for birds rather than hunt them. That year, 27 observers took part in the first count in 25 places in the United States and Canada the count has evolved into a hugely popular event and the efforts of all the counts have been tabulated for 116 years providing scientists with a huge amount of data. Count circles are still popping up and as I mentioned before the marsh count started back in 2005. Currently there are
 2, 369 counts and last year there were 52,471 observers.
    One criticism that the count has is whether or not a group of birds that are flying can be counted by multiple observers  making the integrity of the data questionable. The response to this is that the count  is basically a snap shot of what species are in the circle for a given day. The snap shot provides a reasonable idea of relative abundance of the various species that are in the area. Overtime these snap shots can reveal trends and a lot of the Christmas bird count data when used with other studies can be extremely helpful. The marsh count is one of several counts in our area and some local birders participate in all of them a keen bunch indeed!
     If you are interested in participating in the marsh count we will be meeting in "the birdhouse" just off of wool mill road. I promise to have the building nice and toasty with the Wood stove on  and hopefully some treats. We are meeting at 8:30 and will divide the route based on the number of participants we  have and the number of vehicles.  People are welcome to cover an area by foot if they wish or by snowshoe we could have someone head out to where I last saw a boreal chickadee and see if we can find it for the count. We have maps and tally sheets  and will make every effort to have an "experienced" birder available  if we have a group of novice birders that would like to have someone join them. The days is super low key and while we will meet around 330 to compile the lists if folks  prefer  to only bird for part of the day and call in their numbers later that is fine too. Hope to see you at the marsh and hope we can find something that will get everyone excited . I am including an email I received from Mike Werner regarding the dates and times and contacts of the other area counts . If anyone wishes more information regarding the marsh count please give me a call at 705-650-0640

The Temiskaming Shores count will happen the next day, on Sunday the 17th. We meet at McDonald's Restaurant in New Liskeard at 8:30 AM. Following tradition, some of us are meeting for breakfast between 8:00 and 8:30 AM. The count will start at 9:00, and we usually finish birding around 3:30 or 4:00. It is customary for us to get together afterwards and compile results, so bargain on the day taking until 4:30 or so.


If you would like to watch your feeder for the day instead, and report your feeder results for the day to us, please contact the coordinator for your area. We will need to know in advance if people are watching their feeders so that these locations will not be counted during the "roving" tally to prevent double counting.


When & Where?
If you plan on joining us, please call in advance so that we can prepare maps & tally sheets and make sure we have enough vehicles.
 
  Haileybury Count Circle - Sunday, December 17th by 9:00 AM Sharp.  To participate in the Haileybury Count, call Mike Werner at 705-544-8333.
  Mountain Chutes Count Circle (including Elk Lake) - Sunday, December 31st. For the Mountain Chutes Count, call Mike Werner at 705-544-8333.
  Kirkland Lake Count Circle - Monday, January 1st, 2018. To participate in the Kirkland Lake Count, call Mike Leahy at 705-642-1982.

For the keeners out there, "Count Week" includes three days before and three days after the chosen Count Day. So for the Hilliardton Marsh circle, Count Week  begins on the 13th and ends on the 19th. For the Hilliardton Count, the dates are 14th to the 20th. Species not recorded on the official day of the count, but within the official count week and inside the count circle, can be recorded if observed between those dates.

See you there!