This season's Audubon Christmas Bird Count kicks off this weekend in Wyoming. Locally, counts will take place Saturday, December 15th, tallying bird populations within a 15-mile radius of Casper.

Wanda Peters, is nature center director for the Audubon Center at Garden Creek, and she describes it as a citizen's science event that tracks where the birds are and how they're doing, "and also we're finding that birds are shifting a little bit. They're moving their range. So, that's what's really helpful, as far as getting data every year, because we can start to see trends."

A planning meeting for the counts this Saturday takes place Thursday evening at 7pm at the Audubon Center at Garden Creek. If you'd like to participate this weekend, that would be a good way to find out more. Peters says you don't need to be an expert birder.

"That's one of the great things about it is that anybody can count birds. You don't have to be an ornithologist or have a PHD. You can just count birds."

A second local count, the Bates Hole Christmas Bird Count happens January 1st at the 2-Bar Ranch.

If you'd like to join a local count contact Stacy Scott at 307 262 0055.

According to a release from Rocky Mountain Audubon there are 21 bird counts in Wyoming between December 15th and January 5th.

Additional bird count opportunities take place in February with the Great Back Yard Bird Count and on January 12th Audubon and the Bureau of Land Management partner in an annual Golden and Bald Eagle count. Contact Wanda Peters at the Audubon Center on Garden Creek for more information on the eagle count. (307) 473-1987

The Audubon at Garden Creek is located at 101 Garden Creek Road, Casper, WY 82601

 

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