Eco Alley

Living Green with Connie Pumphrey

This is the 111th year of the Audubon Society’s Christmas Bird Count and, from Dec. 14 through Jan. 5, many volunteers take part in the effort and post their results with the Audubon Society.  I decided to do it because our small property is filled with a variety of bird species because it offers two basic necessities - food and shelter. 
Bird identification is not easy for the novice so I went to BassPro Outdoor World and bought a laminated card that identifies birds in the mid-Atlantic region.  Color photos and basic habitat info are included on the card and it, along with a pair of binoculars, help with the effort.  (It doesn’t hurt to have long-suffering husband with pencil and paper writing down your observations.) 
What’s the point of counting birds?  Native bird species have been traveling to and from our area forever and are the “canary in the coal mine” when identifying environmental and habitat issues.  Identification also helps when habitat invasion from a rogue species threatens our native birds. As an example, Pennsylvania was surprised to find that “Baltimore” Orioles have been nesting in larger numbers in their state recently, suggesting that our state bird has moved north because it’s too warm for them in Maryland these days.  Also, local trends in bird populations can indicate habitat fragmentation or warn us of an immediate environmental threat, such as groundwater contamination or poisoning from use of pesticides - birds figure these things out fairly quickly.
Why don’t you and your family take the challenge this year and count your birds?  Visit audubonsociety.org for more information.

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Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 12/06/10 at 07:56 PM

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