CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT 2016!

"Lakewood" count circle includes western areas of Cuyahoga County, from Lake Erie south into Berea and Olmsted Falls, and Lakewood and Cleveland Zoo too.

CHRISTMAS BIRD COUNT 2016!
By Nancy Howell, compiler for the Lakewood Christmas Bird Count

Do you like birding? How about watching birds at your feeder? Would you like to be a “citizen scientist” and add to data about the birds you have seen? If any or all of these are something you like to do or would like to know more about, then consider helping with the Lakewood Christmas Bird Count - 2016.

The Lakewood Christmas Bird Count, with its center point of the count circle located in Lakewood, OH, will take place on Friday, December 30, 2016. For those unfamiliar with the Christmas Bird Counts, they are the longest running “citizen science” projects with over 100 years of collected data. Information from the count goes to the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology’s database. ​

The Lakewood count circle covers a large portion of the Lake Erie shoreline west of the city, south to the northern Strongsville border, east to the Tri-C West campus in Parma/Parma Hts and western Cleveland neighborhoods, west into Lorain County just beyond the Cuyahoga County line (North Ridgeville, Avon and Avon Lake). ​

​​Left: Lakewood Christmas Bird Count (CBC). Like all CBC circles, the circle is 15 miles in diameter. The center of the Lakewood CBC circle is approximately Center Ridge and West 214 St. Click the map to enlarge.

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Participants tally all bird species and numbers of birds, yes Rock Pigeons, European Starlings and House Sparrows are included. Birders may  go out in groups or individually as long as the tallies are in the count circle. We would love to have as much of the count circle covered as possible which means neighborhoods, parks, cemeteries and any green space are fair game.

Weather is not a deterrent so participants go out in whatever the weather condition is at the time. Some people spend time early in morning, or late in the evening doing some owling as long as it takes place on that December 30th date. For those not wishing to be outdoors, feeder watching is another part of the count as long as the feeder being observed is in the count circle.

One of the nice aspects of the day is the “thank you” dinner held at the Rocky River Nature Center on Friday, December 30 at 6:00 p.m. Participants dine and gather with their list of species sighted. Species are tallied with everyone anticipating what has been found that day. Recruit new friends, families and young folks, the more eyes, the better!

​Contact me if you’d like to add areas in the count circle that have not been covered, or if you know of areas needing coverage, or would like to join a group planning to go out. ​

This is a terrific way to get out during the holiday season and enjoy the birds around us.

​For questions and additional information, send your email to nhowell@wcaudubon.org or you can reach me at 440-891-1710. Thanks in advance for your participation!

You'll find 2016 Christmas Bird Count calendar details by clicking the “Christmas Bird Count” button above.

Above: ​Lakewood Christmas Bird Count Report by Nancy Howell, Lakewood Circle Compiler, on Sunday, December 27, 2015. What will our report this year be?

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Above: Nancy Howell

​Nancy Howell has been involved with Western Cuyahoga Audubon almost since the chapter was formed. Nancy presently serves on the Western Cuyahoga Audubon Board as treasurer, in membership and as program coordinator and is the compiler for the Lakewood Christmas Bird Count which is sponsored by Western Cuyahoga Audubon. In the past Nancy has served in the role of vice-president, president, education coordinator and field trip coordinator. Nancy is also one of the many leaders for the Spring Bird Walks, sponsored, in part, by Western Cuyahoga Audubon.

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