By Jean Zirnhelt
Members of the Weminuche Audubon Society welcome all local residents and visitors to join us in conducting the Christmas Bird Count on Saturday, December 16.
This is the 124th year that people from across the western hemisphere will participate in this early winter census of birds. The count provides critical data on bird population trends and you can help contribute.
Following protocols established by the National Audubon Society, we will tally all of the birds that we can identify within a 15 mile diameter circle centered near the transfer station on Trujillo Rd. Areas covered include town, about 6 miles east; most of Pagosa Lakes including Meadows subdivisions; west to Elk Park; Alpha, Rockridge, Timber Ridge, Mill Creek and Holiday Acres areas, Snowball, Cemetery and the first part of Fourmile Roads; Loma Linda; south to the Lower Blanco area; Trujillo Road to Burns Canyon; and areas in between.
You don’t need to be an expert to join in the fun. Our members who are more experienced are happy to share their identification skills. If you live within the count circle, you can also participate by counting birds at your feeders or letting us know that we are welcome to stop by and see who’s in your yard.
In preparation for the count, Audubon Rockies Community Naturalist Keith Bruno will be conducting the final bird identification class on raptors on Wednesday, December 13. Classes are held at the Community United Methodist Church on Lewis St. We will start promptly at 6pm and finish by 8pm.
Further information and a link to join the class by Zoom are available on our website, weminucheaudubon.org.
Teams are forming now to survey each of the 8 zones within our count circle. Volunteers are needed to make our effort a success. For more information or to sign up with a team, email us at weminuche.audubon@gmail.com.
Jean Zirnhelt writes on behalf of the Weminuche Audubon Society.