Christmas Bird Counts in NCW

In our four-county region of North Central Washington there are at least seven Christmas Bird Counts for birders of all skill levels to enjoy. This is an entirely volunteer-driven citizen science effort. Your rewards for getting up early include seeing and learning about the wintering birds of our area, camaraderie with other birders over coffee and throughout the potentially, cold day, and usually a warm meal when darkness falls to share sightings and stories! And if you love to go owling, or just want to learn more about owls, there are usually some hardy folks who will be up in the very early morning cold and darkness looking and listening for owls! How much more fun can a person have in December and early January?

Want to know more? Here are the local counts with information to help you get involved with them.

Leavenworth: December 17.
Contact Karen Haire karenhaire@nwi.net or Gretchen Rohde, gretchenrohde@me.com. CBC counters will get together at Barn Beach Reserve to warm up and share bird stories and enjoy a potluck dinner at 4:30 p.m.

Bridgeport: December 17.
Contact Meredith Spencer merdave@homenetnw.net or 686-7551. Meet at 7:00 a.m. at the Brewster McDonalds. Afterwards, enjoy a lasagna potluck at Mike and Leslie’s house at 1530 Douglas Avenue in Bridgeport.

Twisp: December 18.

Contact Leahe Swayze. leahe@methownet.com or 997-2549. Meet at the Hoot Owl Café at 123 North Glover Street in Twisp. Those who would like to eat breakfast should arrive by 6:30 a.m. (they have a good menu selection), while those who are ready to count should arrive by 7 a.m. A potluck dinner, followed by count tally, will be held at 5:30 p.m. at 521 Burgar Street. (corner of Burgar Street & Peters Road), Twisp. Leahe will provide soup — something with beans.

Grand Coulee: December 21

Contact David St. George. dstgeorge@TNC.ORG Participants will meet at Flo’s Café, 316 Spokane Way, Grand Coulee at 7 a.m. They will break up into four to six groups to cover a diverse variety of habitats from the large reservoirs, pine/fir woods, sagebrush, agricultural lands and small towns that make up the count circle. Maps and field sheets will be provided. Meet again at 4:30 p.m. at Pepper Jacks Bar & Grill, 113 Midway Avenue in Grand Coulee to compile the day’s numbers.

Chelan: December 29

Contact Steve Easley. seasley@nwi.net The plans for the Chelan CBC are identical to the past few years: Meet at 7:00 a.m. at the Apple Cup Cafe - 804 East Woodin Avenue - for breakfast and to receive assignments. At 4:45 p.m meet in the banquet room of the Apple Cup Cafe for dinner and to share results of the count. Keep in mind that whoever covers the lake in front of Campbell’s Lodge will have to ignore the swans - they’re plastic!

Wenatchee: January 1

Contact Dan Stephens. dstephens@wvc.edu or 782-4890 or 679-4706. The 50th Wenatchee CBC will be Saturday January 1st. Following the count birders will meet at the Nature Conservancy Office for a Chili feed. Please contact Dan before the count to be assigned a group and area.

Omak/Okanogan: January 2

Contact Heather Findlay heather@eaglesun.net 429-8167 or Gordon Kent at 422-6116 The count will start off at Todd and Heather’s house at 2050 James Avenue in Okanogan at 6:45 a.m. Birders may see various woodpeckers, Red Crossbills, perhaps Pygmy, White- and or Red-Breasted Nuthatches, grebes and maybe Chukars, Horned Larks and Snow Buntings. Counters are welcome to join for all or part of the day. For the diehards, when Gordon is finally dragged away from his spotting scope, when it begins to get dark, around 4:30 or so, it’s back to Todd and Heather’s for a chili feed and tallying up lists and sharing some stories from a fun day of birding!

Editor’s note: I really would LOVE to have some photos and stories from the Christmas Bird Counts to share with our Wild Phlox readers. Please keep that in mind as you enjoy your cold day of counting birds for Citizen Science!