2014 Eugene Christmas Bird Count Set for Sunday, Dec. 28

This year marks the 73rd Eugene Christmas Bird Count (ECBC) and the 115th National Audubon Society (NAS) Christmas Bird Count. Our count this year will be on Sunday, December 28th.  Our 15-mile diameter count circle is centered in the Danebo area of Eugene and is divided into 27 areas, each with a Team Leader. The Team Leaders organize the teams, lead the groups through the area during the count day, and then submit the results to the ECBC Steering Committee.

Count Coordinator

Dick Lamster is the Count Coordinator, and he will work with NAS on the administrative tasks of the count. He will also coordinate with the Team Leaders, handle publicity, cowrite the postcount narrative, and assign new participants to teams. If you want to participate this year and were not on a team last year or if you want to change teams, call Dick at 541-343-8664. Otherwise, call your Team Leader from last year (although he or she might be calling you soon). 

Birds

Dan Gleason (541-345-0450) will accept the bird checklists from the Team Leaders at the end of the count, hopefully at the chili feed. He will also review rare and unusual bird sightings and then submit all the results to NAS. Dan will also work with Dick to prepare the postcount narrative. 

Feeder Watchers

If you cannot participate on a count team but would like to count the birds that visit your yard, please call Herb Wisner at 541-344-3634. Herb is in charge of the Feeder Watchers and will assist you in recording the birds you see and including them in the official count. He will send you a form to help you record birds, coordinate your sightings with the leader of the count area you live in so that birds are not reported twice, and submit your sightings to Dan to be included in the official results. Please call Herb by December 19th if you would like to be a Feeder Watcher.

Chili Feed

All Team Leaders and count participants are invited to gather after the count at the Eugene Garden Club at 1645 High Street, Eugene, for the traditional chili feed. Allison Mickel, assisted by Sandy Poinsett and Kathy Wilson, will once again provide her homemade vegetarian chili for this fun ending to a day full of birding. We will tally results and swap stories of the day’s sightings. The door to the Garden Club will open around 3:30 p.m. so you can stop by as soon as you finish your count. The free chili feed will begin around 5:00 p.m. Lane County Audubon Society will furnish the chili along with salad, dinner rolls, chips, coffee, tea, and hot chocolate. Please bring a dessert to share with others plus your own table service, including plate, bowl, cup, and silverware. If you would like to drink something other than what we provide, bring that too. We really encourage you to join us for this delicious ending to a long day.

Last Year’s Results

Last year we had 139 birders in the field and 99 Feeder Watchers, for a total of 238 participants. The entire group identified 133 species on count day, which is about average for the ECBC. Our record, established in 2005, is 140 species plus two more during count week.

We recorded 126,929 individual birds.  This is a high number for our count, but does not surpass the record of 129,874 in 2000. You can view results of last year’s ECBC, as well as all the other Christmas Bird Counts in North America, at www.christmasbirdcount.org. Our count code is OREU.

We hope you can join us for this year’s ECBC. If you have questions, please call Dick at 541-343-8664 or contact any of the other committee members listed above. We look forward to seeing you on December 28th!