It’s beginning to look a lot like . . . Christmas Count time!
Each year, a group of Del Rio birders participates in the largest citizen science effort in the world, the annual National Audubon Society Christmas Bird Count.
This year, the two local bird counts held in Val Verde County will be on Sunday, Dec. 27, and Monday, Dec. 28.
We will be counting birds in and around Comstock on Dec. 27 and in and around Del Rio on Dec. 28.
My husband, the inimitable Michael G., has served as the count compiler for both of our local counts for more than two decades, and for us, “being together for Christmas” has meant
spending two whole days in the field counting birds.
The Christmas Count is exactly what it sounds like – you spend as much time as possible in the field over the course of a single day, counting every individual and every bird species you can see or hear and identify.
This year, COVID-19 has affected everything, and it will affect the Christmas Count as well.
Mike and I are trying to minimize contact between volunteers by communicating via text and email.
This year we are also dispensing with that annual count tradition of gathering together at the end of a day of counting for a meal and compiling our results and sharing stories about the “good” birds we were able to see.
The count always takes place within a 15-mile-wide circle. The center of the Del Rio count circle is the “Y” where U.S. Highways 277 and 90 meet just northwest of Del Rio, and the center of the Comstock circle is the parking lot outside the Seminole Canyon Visitor Center.
We have a loyal cadre of out-of-town volunteers who make the long trek to Del Rio to assist us year after year, and we are looking forward to seeing most of them returning this year.
We also have a number of die-hard birders from the local area who help us out every year. Chief among these are our friends Connie Hoke and Sarah Howard, and they will be joining us again this year.
Every volunteer helps, and the data compiled here will go on to the National Audubon Society, where its scientists will use it to protect birds and the places they need to survive.
We need every volunteer we can get. If you are able to identify birds, please call and give us all or part of your day.
Even if you only count the birds that come to your backyard feeder, you will be helping us out.
If you are interested in participating in one or both counts, please call me on my cell at 830-734-3021 or email me at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com
Mike and I look forward to hearing from you! Merry Christmas!
