Bird feeder watchers from all around The Woodlands are needed on Saturday, December 19th, 2020, to help with the Spring Creek Christmas Bird Count (CBC).
Each year between December 14th and January 5th, the Audubon Society involves people to help the birds by participating in a Christmas Bird Count (CBC). The Audubon Society’s goal is to capture a snapshot of bird populations during the early winter, comparing this data with snapshots from scores of previous years to help understand fluctuations in bird populations that show which species are thriving and which are struggling.
One of these CBCs is the Spring Creek CBC on the north side of Houston and sponsored by volunteers from the Piney Woods Wildlife Society. This CBC is scheduled for the first Saturday of the CBC period – this year it falls on Saturday, December 19, 2020. It is centered roughly at I45 and Rayford/Sawdust and extends 7.5 miles in all directions. This 15-mile diameter circle makes up the “Spring Creek Christmas Bird Count”. (You can see this and many more CBCs in Texas by visiting https://houstonaudubon.org/birding/christmas-bird-counts/.)
There are two ways to count birds for a CBC. The first consists of teams of bird feeder watchers that go outside and count all the birds that they find in the count circle. The second consists of people watching their backyard feeders and counting those birds. All this information is turned into the CBC compiler and reported to the National Audubon Society.
If you live inside the Spring Creek CBC count circle, have bird feeders in your yard, and will be home part of the day on Saturday, December 19th, please contact the Spring Creek CBC compiler, Claire Moore, and volunteer to help by counting the birds that visit your feeders on that day. Most all of The Woodlands is within the Spring Creek CBC, except for the far north and far northwest portions of The Woodlands. (See the accompanying map for an idea of which areas are in the count circle. Send your address or a nearby intersection to Claire and she can confirm if you live inside the count circle.) To volunteer to be a feeder watch for the CBC, please contact Claire via email at cdmoore3i@gmail.com. Claire will then email you further information on how to count and report your sightings.