West Virginia Wildlife from Eyewitness News

Christmas Bird Count

Cabin fever? Get out and count the birds!

December 12, 2007
Reporter: Patrick McMurtry
Videographer: Brad Rice

EYEWITNESS ONLINE WEBCAST VIDEO
C L I C K T O P L A Y

If you happen to be around the spring hill cemetary and see a bunch of folks with binoculars looking into the skies, they're not looking for incomming planes, they're checking out the birds.
It's time for the annual christmas bird count.

Jim Waggy/Kanawha Valley Bird Club says:
"The Christmas Bird Count is an excellent example of citizen science in action.

The first count was on Christmas Day in 1900 and there were 27 participants but the idea caught on and now there are nearly 60,000 people that are involved in the counts every year, over 2,000 bird counts in the Western Hemisphere."

Don't let the sheer scope of this project frighten you away from taking part in the christmas bird count. Waggy says newcomers are welcome to join the club heading to the kanawha state forest and elsewhere to count birds.

Jim Waggy/Kanawha Valley Bird Club says:
"We always try to match up less experienced birders with more experienced birders so they learn while they do it.

"It's fun to just be outside spending the day outdoors seeing whay you can find. There are always surprises. You see species of birds you weren't expecting, it's good practice-you see behavioral practices in birds you haven't seen before."

It will be a long, but eventful, day spent outdoors on a brisk fall day. Then the fun really starts, the food flows and the stories grow as everyone shares their experiences.

Jim Waggy/Kanawha Valley Bird Club says:
"It's always fun at the end of the day, we go to a member's house, we have some good food after the cold weather, we compile our results and exchange stories about what we've seen during the day."

Just another way for folks to get outside and enjoy nature. You'll also be helping out dnr biologists who use this valuable information. For west virginia wildlife, i'm patrick mcmurtry, eyewitness news.

LEARN MORE

W. Va. DNR

MORE WILDLIFE NEWS

WCHS-TV8 Online brings you the current Fishing and Stream Conditions Report updated every week.

Hunting Report updated every week in season.

No video? Get Flash Player from Adobe. (It's Free!)