Christmas Bird Count
Hayward Fremont County CBC
The Christmas Bird Count is an annual nationwide volunteer-based bird survey effort coordinated by the Audubon Society to promote bird conservation and assess long-term trends in winter bird populations. In the largest citizen science effort in the world, tens of thousands of volunteer birders and scientists armed with binoculars, bird guides and checklists will take part in Christmas bird counts throughout the Americas from mid-December through early January. Audubon and other organizations use data collected in this longest-running wildlife census to assess the health of bird populations and to help guide conservation actions.
The Ohlone Audubon Society has been completing the Hayward-Fremont CBC since 1967. The count area is very rich in avian diversity from the salt marsh habitats of the Hayward hills, Fremont's wetlands to the south, and all the parks and canyons in between.
In 2009, Rich Cimino and Jeff Miller organized the first ever Eastern Alameda County CBC. The count area is in the vicinity of Sunol, Pleasanton and Livermore, and includes five East Bay Regional Parks, significant San Francisco watershed lands, and birding hotspots such as lower Mines Road, Sunol Wilderness, Del Valle Reservoir, and the Springtown area in Livermore. You can view a summary of 2009-2014 bird count data for eastern Alameda County by clicking on the link. More than 2 million individual birds counted in 6 years, of 177 different species.
Each count day culminates with a festive dinner where final counts are tallied and stories exchanged about rare bird sightings and locations. Local CBC data, sent to the National Audubon Society, are a crucial part of this country's natural history monitoring database provide valuable insight into the past and present status and health of continental bird populations and the general health of our environment. Recent and historical CBC results are available on the National Audubon Society's website.
You can now access the count at: http://netapp.audubon.org/CBCObservation/CurrentYear/resultsByCount.aspx. Just click on the country and state and add our codes: cahf or caea.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Sign up for Audubon's Citizen Science Newsletter to Receive CBC Results
As you may know, Audubon is moving to digital delivery of the Christmas Bird Count (CBC) results rather than printing and mailing American Birds, the CBC summary, to participants. In its place, Audubon will be producing a quarterly citizen science eNewsletter which will contain the results of all our Citizen Science programs, including the articles and summaries that previously were distributed in the printed CBC summary editions of American Birds.
If you would like to receive this citizen science eNewsletter, you must sign up online at www.audubon.org/citizenscience by entering your email address just to the right of "Want to keep up with Citizen Science?" If you have already signed up to receive the new Citizen Science eNewsletter, many thanks--you will receive the first issue of American Birds online next week.
Joining Audubon's online citizen science network ensures you will receive updates on the latest research results, reports from Audubon scientists, and quarterly notification about count summaries posted online. In addition, you will learn about other citizen science programs and opportunities that may interest you. Please take a moment to sign up now and also to share this information with others who may find it of interest.
---------------------------------------------------------------
SUNDAY DECEMBER 17, 2023
Join us for the 142nd National Audubon Christmas Bird Count. Please come out again this year and participate in this worthwhile Citizen Science.
Last year, our team of 76 field participants and 20+ feeder watchers found 180 species, our second-highest total ever. Let’s see if we can beat that total this year! As always, we're looking for more volunteers to help out, including possibly some more experienced birders who would like to take over leading an area (all birding skills levels are welcome, though).As in past years, we are also encouraging feeder counters. Involve your family and neighbors! If you would like to participate as a feeder counter, please contact us with your address and we will let you know if your home is in the count circle. Data, including species seen and numbers, along with hours watched, can be submitted to the compiler, Bob Toleno.
Our in-person, catered CBC dinner will be held at the Math-Science Nucleus at 4074 Eggers Drive, Fremont. Doors will open at 5pm on the evening of the count, with dinner served at 6PM. Please bring own dinnerware.
We have been successful in years past and need your help to be successful once more. Community science projects like the CBC benefit from broad participation, consistent coverage from our 17 section leaders, and the work of each field and feeder counter.
Want to help? Email our compiler Bob Toleno-bob AT toleno.com
---------------------------------------------------------------
Eastern Alameda County Count Details
FRIDAY DECEMBER 15, 2023
The annual Eastern Alameda County bird count was initiated in 2009. The 15 mile radius count circle is in the vicinity of the towns of Sunol, Pleasanton and Livermore, and includes five East Bay Regional Parks, significant SFPUC watershed lands, and East Bay birding hotspots such as lower Mines Road, Sunol Wilderness, and Sycamore Grove Park. Birders and volunteers with any level of experience can participate in the Christmas Bird Count. Please send an email to eac.cbc AT gmail.com