Supporting Citizen Science – The Christmas Bird Count
December 13, 2016
What is citizen science? Loosely defined as “the collection and analysis of data relating to the natural world by members of the general public,” citizen science can be a very useful tool. While scientists are not able to be in numerous places all at once, crowd sourcing scientific data from the general public has proven to help large projects that require a broad set of information. Conservation organizations will often partner with other groups to conduct studies in order to gain valuable data about their lands and contribute to various scientific studies.
Pileated Woodpecker
This year, Downeast Lakes Land Trust is supporting the 117th Annual Christmas Bird Count (CBC), the nation’s longest running citizen science program. Sponsored by The National Audubon Society, the CBC is an event that hosts “count circles” in many areas across North America to monitor bird populations. The 2015 CBC covered over 2,500 count circles with over 76,000 birders recording all birds seen throughout one day, species and number. DLLT is sponsoring the count circle for Grand Lake Stream, a new circle to this year’s count that will encompass most of the 55,578-acre Downeast Lakes Community Forest.
The Grand Lake Stream circle count is scheduled for Friday, December 16th. Interested participants will meet at the DLLT office at 8 am, and lunch will be provided. If you are interested in birdwatching and would like to volunteer for this exciting project, please contact DLLT Education and Outreach Manager Colin Brown to register at (207) 796 – 2100 or email cbrown@downeastlakes.org. Good birding!
