The Laramie Audubon Society will again take part in a 100+year-old tradition: the annual "Christmas Bird Count." Volunteers are welcome to join in the count with the LAS chapter as it conducts the Albany County CBC on Saturday, December 18. This will be the 44th count of the Albany County circle and the 122nd national event. Volunteers are needed to help count every bird present in the 15-mile diameter circle around Laramie on the day of the count. All types of bird watchers, including feeder watchers, are welcome.
The Albany County CBC will again be modified to provide for social distancing. All volunteers for the Albany County circle must pre-register or attend one of two drop-in Zoom calls to receive a route assignment. There will be no in-person meetings prior to the count. Contact Shay Howlin (286-1972*; wolfhowlin@gmail.com) for information and to register.
Volunteers are the backbone of the Christmas Bird Count and are encouraged to participate despite continued changes to the format this year due to public health (Covid-19) considerations. As usual, some teams will walk, while others will drive through their territory. Per national Audubon CBC rules, masks will be required when social distancing is not possible in the field. In addition, we will not facilitate carpools, in order to limit carpools to existing familial or social pod groups. If you will be traveling over the holidays and would like to participate in the CBC in the region that you are visiting, look for event dates and locations here: https://www.audubon.org/conservation/join-christmas-bird-count.
Virtual compiling will take place at 6 pm on the day of the count. Electronic submission of data forms will be encouraged to facilitate the compiling event. Please contact Shay if you would like to be assigned a route early, would like forms for feeder watching, or have any questions.
We hope to be able to resume the traditional event format (complete with Shay's famous chili supper) next year! (*Area code 307)
