Seneca Christmas Bird Count, Sunday, Dec. 18-- we need counters and feeder watchers

[Jim Nelson]

The annual Seneca Christmas Bird Count (CBC) will be held Sunday,
December 18. The count circle has a radius of 7.5 miles, centered on
Violette's Lock on the C&O Canal on the Maryland side of the Potomac
River, and covers a good portion Montgomery County (and areas of Fairfax
and Loudoun counties in northern Virginia across the Potomac).  Our
count circle is divided into 16 sectors each with a Sector Leader.

I am the compiler for the Seneca CBC. The Seneca CBC has been conducted
almost every year since 1955. This will be the 64th recorded count. Last
year, our counters in the field and feeder watchers racked up 97 species
and 28,621 individual birds. We could not have done this without the
many volunteers who helped us, both old timers and new participants,
counting in the field and in their yards. We always need new people to
help with the count.

The Montgomery County portion of our count circle (described below)
contains lots of interesting habitat and is very important to the
success of our count. We need additional folks, regardless of your
birding skill level, to help count birds in the field. Doing a CBC can
be a lot of fun, a great learning experience, and a chance to meet other
birders. Those of you who use eBird will find the CBC to be a natural
fit. If you are interested in counting in the field, please contact me.
Let me know where you are located and your level of birding experience,
so I can place you in an appropriate sector. We love having newer
birders join us, and we will make sure you are teamed with a more
experienced person for the count.

There is also an important role for folks who can't get out in the field
on December 18 but live inside the count circle and like to watch birds
in their yards and at their feeders. You can contribute very useful
information to the CBC too.

In Montgomery County, on the east side, the border of the count circle
extends from the C&O Canal downstream of Great Falls, swinging up
through Potomac north through the western parts of Rockville and
Gaithersburg, and then arcing through the southern part of Germantown,
passing just south of Boyds, taking in most of Poolesville, and then
swinging south back to the Potomac a bit south and east of Edwards
Ferry. If you live inside this area and you are interested in reporting
the birds you observe in your yard and at your feeders on December 18,
please let me know. I can confirm whether you fall inside the count
circle and make arrangements for you to send in your yard/feeder count.

I will be happy to answer any questions you have about the CBC.

I look forward to your participation.

Thanks in advance.

Jim Nelson
kingfi...@verizon.net