Lake George Land Conservancy, Southern Adirondack Audubon Society, Seeking Volunteers to Help with Annual Christmas Bird Counts on Saturday December 14 and Sunday, December 15
Lake George, NY – Volunteers are needed to help the Lake George Land Conservancy (LGLC) and Southern Adirondack Audubon Society (SAAS) with the longest running Citizen Science survey in the world, Audubon’s annual Christmas Bird Count (CBC), on Saturday, December 14 and Sunday, December 15.
The Christmas Bird Count is a fun way to increase birding skills. New birders do not need to be bird identification experts. They can help spot birds and keep team records. Birders may choose to survey routes by foot, car, or boat, and volunteers can help for any amount of time during the 24-hour period. Observations and other details then get reported to their respective organizer, which then provides all of the compiled information to Audubon.
The Hudson Falls CBC, organized by SAAS, will take place on Saturday, December 14. This circle covers the Glens Falls region, including Glen Lake in Queensbury, Moreau Lake State Park in Gansevoort, Fort Edward, Kingsbury, South Glens Falls, and east out to Argyle.
The Bolton CBC, organized by the LGLC, will take place on Sunday, December 15. This circle covers the southern end of Lake George, including Amy’s Park in Bolton south to the Schumann Preserve at Pilot Knob in Fort Ann, and the Schroon River in Warrensburg east to Sleeping Beauty and Black Mt on the eastern side of Lake George.
For more information about joining the Bolton CBC, visit lglc.org/calendar, or email Janice Reynen at jreynen@lglc.org. For more information and to be a part of the Hudson Falls CBC, contact SAAS count compiler Linda White at least a week before the count, at (518) 222-5675.
The event is now in its 125th year. The Christmas Bird Census started in 1900 when ornithologist Frank Chapman suggested it as an alternative to Christmas “side hunts,” which were competitions to see which teams could shoot the most birds and other animals. Now, birders simply count every bird they see in the designated count areas. Now a long-standing program of the National Audubon Society, with over 120 years of community science involvement, it is an early-winter bird census, where thousands of volunteers across the U.S., Canada (where Audubon partners with Birds Canada), and many countries in the Western Hemisphere go out over a 24-hour period on one calendar day to count birds.
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About the Lake George Land Conservancy
Protecting the Land that Protects the Lake since 1988. The LGLC is an accredited, nonprofit land trust dedicated to working with willing landowners and other partners to protect the land that protects the world-renowned water quality of Lake George and the natural resources of the Lake George watershed.
Since its inception, LGLC’s land protection program has worked directly and with partners to permanently protect 12,345 acres of Lake George wilderness and more than 7 miles of shoreline, and owns and/or manages 15 featured parks and preserves that are open to the public year-round with nearly 40 miles of trails for hiking, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, and, at some preserves, hunting and snowmobiling. More information: lglc.org.
About the Southern Adirondack Audubon Society
Southern Adirondack Audubon Society, Inc. (SAAS) is a chapter of National Audubon serving Warren, Washington, northern Saratoga and southern Hamilton counties of New York State, since 1984. SAAS’s primary goal is to protect the environment by preserving natural habitats and promoting environmental education. More information: https://www.southernadirondackaudubon.org.
About the Christmas Bird Count
More information about the Christmas Bird Count can be found on Audubon’s website:
https://www.audubon.org/community-science/christmas-bird-count.