SUPERIOR — Birders of all experience levels are invited to participate in the Audubon Christmas Bird Count on Saturday, Dec. 28.
The count, hosted locally by the Friends of the Lake Superior Reserve, runs from dawn until dusk with participants signing in and out as needed. Participants of all ages can choose what area they’d like to search and how long they want to be out in the weather conditions.
“We’re counting everything,” said Callie Grones, community outreach coordinator for the Friends group.
The community researchers will look for birds throughout the city of Superior, from Barker’s Island to Wisconsin Point, and Pokegama Bay to the Superior Municipal Forest. Binoculars can be signed out on loan upon request and support is available for novice birders.
“We’re hoping for some really great weather, some good winter weather, but you know,” Grones said, “if it happened to be like 20 below or really heavy snow, this is kind of a ‘choose your own adventure.’ Part of the data collection is you log how much you walked, how far you walked and then what birds you see and where. So it depends on the individual.”
This is the second year the Superior count has been organized by the Friends of the Lake Superior Reserve. The
Audubon Christmas Count
is a nationwide event that has taken place annually for 125 years.
“I believe this is one of the largest community science databases that exists,” Grones said. “It is really helpful to see those birding trends over the years, especially with climate change now because birds are a really great indicator of what’s going on in our environment and, you know, we can see migration trends. And so that data that people collect is really, really important and it’s possible because of communities that gather together to collect that data for Audubon.”
Participants are asked to stop by the Lake Superior Estuarium at 3 Marina Drive in Superior the morning of the count to check in and gather maps, data sheets and supplies. Counters will then head to assigned zones to identify the species and numbers of birds in the area.
To sign up to participate, send an email with your information, including a phone number, to Callie Grones at
outreach@folsr.org.
Maria Lockwood covers news in Douglas County, Wisconsin, for the Superior Telegram.
