Choctawhatchee Audubon Society | Christmas Bird Count

CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT

 

2022 December 16 SATURDAY Choctawhatchee Audubon CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT 2023. Malcolm Swan and Bruce Purdy coordinate our Audubon CBC circle in this worldwide citizen science event (all experience levels welcome). The 15-mile-diameter circle is centered 4 mi N of the Marler (Destin) Bridge over East Pass, and the circle is divided into many sections for the different parties of observers. Contact Malcolm (210`452`4899 to text) to participate in one of the parties or your own party. PDF with local bird ID tips


NOTE: The following chart has NOT BEEN UPDATED FOR THE DECEMBER 16, 2023 COUNT

 

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The Choctawhatchee Audubon Society began its Christmas Bird Count in southern Okaloosa County in 1976. You are invited to participate. Malcolm Swan will assign about 10 sites to you in your preferred Count Area. Participants write numbers of birds of each species seen or heard about every 15 minutes on our official check-list. We will send check-lists to people who text or email Malcolm about their interest in participating. Our check-list shows the most likely species of Okaloosa County on the front page, and rarer species on the back. Our participants cannot possibly find all of the birds in our official Count Circle. We simply keep track of the miles and hours spent birding. The ratio of birds to hours (or miles) gives scientists data to compare other Christmas Counts across the U.S., across the World, and from year to year, from decade to decade.

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THE FOLLOWING HAS NOT BEEN UPDATED FOR THE 2023 COUNT - PLEASE "STAY TUNED"

This year's official Check-list PDF

A recent Rare Bird Documentation Form PDF

A summary of Count Instructions PDF

The following link shows a map of the Count, with Count Areas and the Count Circle turned on (visible) by default.

VIEW our Christmas Bird Count map at GOOGLE MAPS

Look at the map to see which Count Area interests you. To dig deeper, you can turn on & off map layers in the Legend (which hides if you use a phone, so try clicking Cancel when prompted, Open in "Google Maps"?). Once the legend works for you, try the layer named Sites (click the box to show the list). Each site is labeled with a Number (indicating the Count Area) and a letter (unique to each site in the Count Area). If you live in the Count Circle, you may want to choose the Count Area in which you live. Some sites are covered very well by very experienced birders, notably the Okaloosa Holding Ponds, the Wright Landfill, Veterans Park on Okaloosa Island, and the Destin jetties.

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Many of us try to dedicate much of the day to birding. We hope you can do whatever pleases you. But please contact us soon so we can send you the paper check-lists. Thank you for helping in this effort to educate ourselves about local birds and to help learn more about their populations.

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Good Birding,

Malcolm Mark Swan and Bruce Purdy

Choctawhatchee Audubon Christmas Bird Count

210`452`4899

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