Wednesday, December 13, 2000
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Wednesday, December 13, 2000 |
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The birds are here . . . and so are the bird counters
By SALLIE SATTERTHWAITE
When daylight has dwindled to a precious few hours, when the sky is most likely gray and heavy with rain or worse, when temperatures have sunk to new lows, more than 50,000 Americans decide it's time to... go birding? And you can be part of this natural-history-making enumeration. Ah, yes. It's time for the annual census known as the Christmas Bird Count, a project of the National Audubon Society and the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology. Begun in 1900 as an alternative to the Christmas Day "sport" of shooting down as many birds as possible, the CBC has become a critical part of the U.S. government's ecology-monitoring database. As go the birds, so goes the environment, researchers have known for decades. Birds are among the first animals to be affected by threats like pollution and habitat destruction, and the numbers compiled by generations of volunteers paint a picture of change for better or for worse in the health of not only bird populations, but of the environment all living things share. The Peachtree City CBC, next Saturday, Dec. 16, is one of about 1,800 separate 24-hour counts that will take place throughout the Western Hemisphere in a two-and-a-half-week period in late December and early January. Counters will cover a circle 15 miles in diameter, centered on Sharpsburg, documenting species and counting individual birds. This year's data will be entered on-line at Cornell's Internet database, to add to records produced since 1900 and now available to the public. The lab's wealth of information about birds, including bird-related Christmas gift ideas, may be found at http://birds.cornell.edu. For the first time, CBC coordinator Brock Hutchins is seeking volunteers for the local count. Job changes and health have reduced the number of participants here, he says, and he would welcome experienced birders to the all-day effort. That includes feeder-watchers, persons who can give two or three hours during count day to observing the birds that come and go within their own backyards. Additionally, Hutchins says, he'd like to hear from property owners who would allow enumerators onto their land to count birds. Access to any property, including industrial, would be helpful, but open fields, woodlands and wetlands are especially good habitats. There is a nominal fee if one wishes one's name entered in Audubon and Cornell databases, but participation in the bird count itself is free. The count is Saturday to learn more about taking part, phone Hutchins soon at 770-461-5042 or e-mail brockhutchins@msn.com.
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