The Christmas Bird Count - more than a century of citizen science
I am sure that birders in Vancouver Island are hoping that the Common Pochard will hang around long enough to be included in the local Christmas Bird Count.
Since 1900, North American birdwatchers have been contributing counts of local bird populations made in December to the Audubon society. The first count was held in 25 locations with 27 observers and recorded about 18,500 individuals of 89 species. Two Canadian locations participated: Scotch Lake, York County, New Brunswick and Toronto, Ontario.
In Winnipeg, the first Christmas bird count on record was held on December 20, 1925. Fourteen species were identified in the 24-km count circle centred on the intersection of Portage Avenue and St James St. More recently, the Christmas Bird Count has been organized by Nature Manitoba. Last year, the Winnipeg count was completed by 104 observers who found 40 species. I was curious to see how the results of the last count stacked up against with the INat observations uploaded so far for birds seen in December in the area we have chosen for the CNC21. Remember that if you are always welcome to upload images of any of the birds 'missing' or underrepresented in iNat, no matter when they were taken.
At the moment, the 121th Christmas Bird Count is still going forward - the same but different. As Birds Canada reiterates "If you choose not to participate this year, Birds Canada and our US partner, National Audubon Society, fully support your decision."
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