This year is the 125th for the Christmas Bird Count (CBC), sponsored by the National Audubon Society and the nation’s longest-running community science bird project. Each year between December 14 and January 5, volunteers across the United States, Canada, Latin America, and the Caribbean and Pacific Islands count bird species and individuals in almost 2,500 count areas. Each area is a 15-mile diameter circle. Skagit Audubon’s role in this large effort is organizing the Padilla Bay Christmas Bird Count, named for the location of the count circle’s center on March Point peninsula by Padilla Bay.

 The 2024 Padilla Bay Christmas Bird Count will take place Saturday, December 28th. Because the CBC is such a long-running project its data make an important contribution to avian science. Rather than a birding field trip, the CBC is an effort to collect the most complete and accurate data possible on the birds within the count circle. We particularly need participation from experienced birders. For information about helping with this all-day, rain or shine survey birders should contact Tim Manns (conservation@skagitaudubon.org) or 360.333.8985. Photo credit: Brown Creeper by Joe Halton